How They Broke Britain
Published on 25. April 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-7535-6036-5 (ISBN)
Description
***THE RUNAWAY BESTSELLER, WITH NEW MATERIAL FOR THE PAPERBACK***
THE REVEALING, DEFINING ACCOUNT OF THE DARK NETWORK THAT BROKE OUR COUNTRY.
Something has gone really wrong in Britain.
Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?
Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists involved in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees.
Instant Sunday Times bestseller, November 2023
THE REVEALING, DEFINING ACCOUNT OF THE DARK NETWORK THAT BROKE OUR COUNTRY.
Something has gone really wrong in Britain.
Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?
Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists involved in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees.
Instant Sunday Times bestseller, November 2023
Reviews / Votes
How They Broke Britain made me so angry I had to stop listening to it while driving. Superb work -- The Secret Barrister A damning account of how the country ended up in the current mess . . . O'Brien's scathing voice provides a thorough record of the self-serving actions and pronouncements of those who have held power in Britain -- Tim Jonze * Guardian * The most important political book of the year and a fascinating must-read for anyone who cares about Britain. Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, heart-breaking -- Carol Vorderman O'Brien is a punchy and compelling writer. The book is fluent, engaging and thoroughly researched . . . O'Brien eviscerates all of his targets * Times Literary Supplement * A compelling, thought-provoking and illuminating read. O'Brien doesn't hold any punches . . . It is a book that will make you gasp in shock, shake your head in bewilderment and wonder how any of this was allowed to take place in 21st-century Britain * Herald * [A] brilliant expose of those who deliberately turned a once admired country into an economically poorer, lamentable parody of its former self: the Brexiteer neoliberal right, their Tory MPs, journalists and think tanks who inflicted such massive self-harm -- Peter Hain O'Brien's new book confirms that not only are our politicians and their backers as corrupt and incompetent as you suspected they were, it's actually worse than that. And it's packed full of facts about Brexit, Think Tanks and Tory sleaze that will help you win argument after argument with your irritating relatives -- Stewart Lee Excoriating -- Jon Sopel It's essential. It should make you angry. Fuming * Adam Rutherford * Intelligent, forensic, devastating and shocking - How They broke Britain is as terrifying as it is brilliant -- Peter StefanovicMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Ebury Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 124 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
284 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7535-6036-5 (9780753560365)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
11/2023
Virgin Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Person
James O'Brien is an award-winning writer and broadcaster whose journalism has appeared everywhere from the TLS to the Daily Mirror. His daily current affairs programme on LBC is the most popular talk show on commercial radio with over 1.4 million weekly listeners and his first book, How To Be Right, was a Sunday Times bestseller, which won the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Political Book by a non-politician. He is often to be found on Twitter trying not to get into arguments unless absolutely necessary.