Masters of illusion: the World Bank and the poverty of nations

So what exactly is this vast institution and how does it operate? Since its inception in 1945, the World Bank has ensured unrivalled power and privilege through an insulation from public scrutiny which has surrounded it in mystery and intrigue. It was set up with a pledge to bring the Third World into the First, but fifty years later the gap between the two is wider than ever.
Catherine Caufield peels back the World Bank's bureaucratic layers to reveal a development agency so focused on economic factors and political interests that it has consistently failed to see the human equation. Finished projects were never properly evaluated and whole communities relocated to make room for another dam or motorway.
Masters of Illusion is a compelling study of one of the most powerful institutions in the world, of good intentions gone wrong, of how economic development leads to environmental degredation and what this promises for the future.