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Brexit collection #4
William Collins Out How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone.
The hotly anticipated final book of bestselling author Tim Shipman’s Brexit quartet. The Johnson Years to Rishi Sunak
How did Boris Johnson supersede Theresa May to become Britain's Prime Minister? How did he pursue his promise to Get Brexit Done amidst multiple Brexit secretaries, repeated coup attempts and reshuffles, and an extraordinarily terse relationship with Brussels? What really happened in Downing Street – from the political choices to the party place settings – as the pandemic took the world in its grip? Out follows from May's resignation through to the tussles over the final Brexit deal, the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our shortest serving PM ever.
If pre-Theresa May Westminster was largely obsessed with the clever idealism of The West Wing, marinated in the farce of The Thick of It, the parable of these years became Game of Thrones, the pseudo-medieval swords and shagging epic pitching warring factions against each other in the quest for the iron throne. At the centre of the action was Tim Shipman, chief political commentator for the Sunday Times, taking notes on the guts and gore and tears.
Out is a riveting, rambunctious account of the most dramatic years in modern British politics.
How did Boris Johnson supersede Theresa May to become Britain's Prime Minister? How did he pursue his promise to Get Brexit Done amidst multiple Brexit secretaries, repeated coup attempts and reshuffles, and an extraordinarily terse relationship with Brussels? What really happened in Downing Street – from the political choices to the party place settings – as the pandemic took the world in its grip? Out follows from May's resignation through to the tussles over the final Brexit deal, the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our shortest serving PM ever.
If pre-Theresa May Westminster was largely obsessed with the clever idealism of The West Wing, marinated in the farce of The Thick of It, the parable of these years became Game of Thrones, the pseudo-medieval swords and shagging epic pitching warring factions against each other in the quest for the iron throne. At the centre of the action was Tim Shipman, chief political commentator for the Sunday Times, taking notes on the guts and gore and tears.
Out is a riveting, rambunctious account of the most dramatic years in modern British politics.
944 pages, Hardcover
Published November 21, 2024
133 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
Tim Shipman
11 books139 followersTim Shipman has been a national newspaper journalist for sixteen years and has a wealth of experience reporting on British and American politics and international relations.
Currently the Political Editor of the Sunday Times, Tim has covered four British General Elections and three American elections from the US. Well known in the Westminster political mix, he is a trusted confidant of politicians from all political parties and has a growing following as a witty observer of the political scene @ShippersUnbound.
Currently the Political Editor of the Sunday Times, Tim has covered four British General Elections and three American elections from the US. Well known in the Westminster political mix, he is a trusted confidant of politicians from all political parties and has a growing following as a witty observer of the political scene @ShippersUnbound.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 29, 2024
The fourth and final part of this monster series will surely be pored over by future political historians. For now it'll have to make do with being pored over by political anoraks. Great read.
December 13, 2024
It is now more than eight years since the referendum on whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union. The decision to leave has probably been the single most significant political issue in Britain throughout my lifetime, and even though it is now a few years since Boris Johnson’s government finally secured the final departure, its reverberations are still being felt.
From the outside it might seem simply to have been a fairly straightforward binary option, with followers of either side campaigning against adherents of the other. Oh, if only it had been that straightforward! This is the fourth volume in Tim Shipman’s comprehensive, and admirably non-partisan account of the Brexit story. I believe that he had initially intended that three books would be enough, but that was before the unfolding pantomime or farce of the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss premierships, which have merited a separate volume of their own, to be published shortly. But even this final volume was delayed because of British political events. It had originally been scheduled for publication back in the summer of 2024, to follow very closely on the heels of the previous volume. However, Rishi Sunak’s sudden decision in May 2024 to call a general election meant that the book had to be held back for further developments to be addressed.
If I hadn’t lived through these events (and working in Whitehall, and regularly attending Parliament as part of my role as a civil servant, I found myself at times uncomfortably close to the unfolding drama), I might struggle to believe that the country that proudly considers itself to have the Mother of all Parliaments could really have been reduced to such farcical political stagnation. Shipman’s third volume followed the struggle that Theresa may’s government encountered as it tried to secure parliamentary agreement to some form of deal with the European Union. For once British xenophobia was misplaced – while the EU was legitimately negotiating to ensure that its interests weren’t unduly harmed by any deal that might eventually be agreed with the UK, Theresa May’s bitterest enemies turned out to be in Parliament, many of them in her own party.
The fourth volume picks the story up with Theresa May’s government continuing to tear itself apart over different options to try to advance a negotiated deal. Perhaps may’s problem was that she was too strictly ruled by a sense of decency. Although she had favoured remaining in the EU, on becoming Prime Minister she was determined to respect the outcome of the referendum, as a consequence of which she moved far to quickly to trigger Article 50, which set the whole juggernaut process in motion.
Unfortunately, her ability to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory also led her to call an election in 2017, in the belief that this would give her a larger parliamentary majority and enable her to push the relevant EU Exit legislation through. She misread the situation and ended up with a hung Parliament, forcing her into a political alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland MPs.
I remember being amazed at the time by May’s resilience. I don’t know how she managed to keep getting up each day and returning to the political fray. Shipman recounts how tortuous a process it was to keep coming up with new alternative suggestions for a pragmatic deal with the EU, each of which would then be shot down by either the official Opposition or, more frequently, by rebel factions within May’s own party. Eventually even that seemingly adamantine resilience was broken, and she acknowledged failure, resigning as Tory leader to enable Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister.
Now cushioned by the passage of a few years on, it still seems to stretch one’s credibility to remember that Boris was ever Prime Minister. It is also bizarre how readily one forgets some traumatic events. While the issue evoked great bitterness and seemed capable even of precipitating the country into civil war, I had forgotten about Boris attempt to prorogue Parliament, essentially suspending it to prevent it from blocking his plan to leave the EU without a deal if necessary. Shipman’s analysis of the legal arguments of that issue for both sides is very clear, rendering an exceptionally complex issue fairly accessible to the lay reader. At the time, I think that my colleagues and I felt that things couldn’t become much stranger. Little dd we know!
It is also odd to read a history of events before the COVD pandemic swept the world. How innocent those days now seem! Of course, Johnson’s premiership will probably now be remembered primarily for the ignominy with which it ended, with Johnson being deposed by his own party (a recurring trope for the British Conservatives). For most of his time in 10 Downing Street, however, his time as leader has to be viewed through the prism of Covid, with most of the world transformed through the medium of lockdown.
Politics remained chaotic, however, with Johnson initially reliant upon, but then fatally falling out with, Dominic Cummings, whom he had appointed as backroom manager at No.10. The handling of the pandemic, and the subsequent ‘Patygate’ investigations are too tedious, and potentially triggering, to dwell on at length here, but they led to Johnson’s departure, and the emergence of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, an appointment that would have stretched credulity a few years previously even further than the appointment of Johnson that preceded it.
Shipman performs admirably here, preserving his non-partisan approach, and also struggling to avoid allowing hindsight to colour his depictions. I find it harder to remained unbiased about La Truss. During her first ministerial appointment, as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, I was briefly her Correspondence Manager. In that role I had a weekly meeting with her, at which we discussed her responses to ministerial post, but had to be introduced to her anew each time as she could not recall who I was. After this had happened four or five times, her PS exasperatedly explained, ‘He’s still your lead drafter.’ Obviously, I realise that that anecdote might be as much a reflection on my utter blandness and failure to register on her awareness, but I understand from colleagues that they all similarly failed to gain her attention.
Shipman despatches Truss fairly quickly, just as the Conservative Party did, dwelling longer on the relative stability that attended Rishi Sunak’s period at the helm. Sunak emerges as an essentially decent, but also politically naïve, man. Hardworking and capable, but lacking the sufficiently sensitive political antennae to understand the flow of public opinion. Shipman’s description of his announcement of the election, standing outside and seemingly oblivious to a monsoon-like downpour is marvellous.
Taken together, the four volumes represent a massive undertaking for the reader, but they are very rewarding. It is fascinating to read such a detailed account of such a tempestuous period.
From the outside it might seem simply to have been a fairly straightforward binary option, with followers of either side campaigning against adherents of the other. Oh, if only it had been that straightforward! This is the fourth volume in Tim Shipman’s comprehensive, and admirably non-partisan account of the Brexit story. I believe that he had initially intended that three books would be enough, but that was before the unfolding pantomime or farce of the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss premierships, which have merited a separate volume of their own, to be published shortly. But even this final volume was delayed because of British political events. It had originally been scheduled for publication back in the summer of 2024, to follow very closely on the heels of the previous volume. However, Rishi Sunak’s sudden decision in May 2024 to call a general election meant that the book had to be held back for further developments to be addressed.
If I hadn’t lived through these events (and working in Whitehall, and regularly attending Parliament as part of my role as a civil servant, I found myself at times uncomfortably close to the unfolding drama), I might struggle to believe that the country that proudly considers itself to have the Mother of all Parliaments could really have been reduced to such farcical political stagnation. Shipman’s third volume followed the struggle that Theresa may’s government encountered as it tried to secure parliamentary agreement to some form of deal with the European Union. For once British xenophobia was misplaced – while the EU was legitimately negotiating to ensure that its interests weren’t unduly harmed by any deal that might eventually be agreed with the UK, Theresa May’s bitterest enemies turned out to be in Parliament, many of them in her own party.
The fourth volume picks the story up with Theresa May’s government continuing to tear itself apart over different options to try to advance a negotiated deal. Perhaps may’s problem was that she was too strictly ruled by a sense of decency. Although she had favoured remaining in the EU, on becoming Prime Minister she was determined to respect the outcome of the referendum, as a consequence of which she moved far to quickly to trigger Article 50, which set the whole juggernaut process in motion.
Unfortunately, her ability to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory also led her to call an election in 2017, in the belief that this would give her a larger parliamentary majority and enable her to push the relevant EU Exit legislation through. She misread the situation and ended up with a hung Parliament, forcing her into a political alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland MPs.
I remember being amazed at the time by May’s resilience. I don’t know how she managed to keep getting up each day and returning to the political fray. Shipman recounts how tortuous a process it was to keep coming up with new alternative suggestions for a pragmatic deal with the EU, each of which would then be shot down by either the official Opposition or, more frequently, by rebel factions within May’s own party. Eventually even that seemingly adamantine resilience was broken, and she acknowledged failure, resigning as Tory leader to enable Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister.
Now cushioned by the passage of a few years on, it still seems to stretch one’s credibility to remember that Boris was ever Prime Minister. It is also bizarre how readily one forgets some traumatic events. While the issue evoked great bitterness and seemed capable even of precipitating the country into civil war, I had forgotten about Boris attempt to prorogue Parliament, essentially suspending it to prevent it from blocking his plan to leave the EU without a deal if necessary. Shipman’s analysis of the legal arguments of that issue for both sides is very clear, rendering an exceptionally complex issue fairly accessible to the lay reader. At the time, I think that my colleagues and I felt that things couldn’t become much stranger. Little dd we know!
It is also odd to read a history of events before the COVD pandemic swept the world. How innocent those days now seem! Of course, Johnson’s premiership will probably now be remembered primarily for the ignominy with which it ended, with Johnson being deposed by his own party (a recurring trope for the British Conservatives). For most of his time in 10 Downing Street, however, his time as leader has to be viewed through the prism of Covid, with most of the world transformed through the medium of lockdown.
Politics remained chaotic, however, with Johnson initially reliant upon, but then fatally falling out with, Dominic Cummings, whom he had appointed as backroom manager at No.10. The handling of the pandemic, and the subsequent ‘Patygate’ investigations are too tedious, and potentially triggering, to dwell on at length here, but they led to Johnson’s departure, and the emergence of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, an appointment that would have stretched credulity a few years previously even further than the appointment of Johnson that preceded it.
Shipman performs admirably here, preserving his non-partisan approach, and also struggling to avoid allowing hindsight to colour his depictions. I find it harder to remained unbiased about La Truss. During her first ministerial appointment, as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, I was briefly her Correspondence Manager. In that role I had a weekly meeting with her, at which we discussed her responses to ministerial post, but had to be introduced to her anew each time as she could not recall who I was. After this had happened four or five times, her PS exasperatedly explained, ‘He’s still your lead drafter.’ Obviously, I realise that that anecdote might be as much a reflection on my utter blandness and failure to register on her awareness, but I understand from colleagues that they all similarly failed to gain her attention.
Shipman despatches Truss fairly quickly, just as the Conservative Party did, dwelling longer on the relative stability that attended Rishi Sunak’s period at the helm. Sunak emerges as an essentially decent, but also politically naïve, man. Hardworking and capable, but lacking the sufficiently sensitive political antennae to understand the flow of public opinion. Shipman’s description of his announcement of the election, standing outside and seemingly oblivious to a monsoon-like downpour is marvellous.
Taken together, the four volumes represent a massive undertaking for the reader, but they are very rewarding. It is fascinating to read such a detailed account of such a tempestuous period.
April 25, 2025
Finally finished the four volume set. A long but worthwhile 2,700 page journey.
I suppose that the greatest achievement of the author is the summing up of Brexit in about 1% of the 4 volume set, with a league table of PMs. Worth reading on its own.
Recently read Rory Stewart’s book and you do wonder just how much power politicians have. I was continually surprised by the number of advisors that ministers had and their influence on strategic and tactical thinking. And at the end you wonder in what order of importance politicians place the Country, the Party and their own interests.
Of the three main Brexit flag wavers, only one was elected through the referendum and negotiations, Boris, and he wasn’t a long serving MP. The other two Cummins and Farage were unelected, but almost certainly affected the course the country took.
Looking back over the period you do wonder why the Tory party allowed the ERG to have such prominence, they were only ever a minority, admittedly a vocal one. Maybe our media, with its requirement for 24 hour news needs them. And monies have been provided for additional right wing TV and Radio channels.
Felt a bit sorry for Sunak, in particular and May as they tried to keep the Tories together, both decent people. Until Keir Starmer broke the sequence we went from extrovert to introvert PMs, maybe starting with Thatcher.
I suppose that the greatest achievement of the author is the summing up of Brexit in about 1% of the 4 volume set, with a league table of PMs. Worth reading on its own.
Recently read Rory Stewart’s book and you do wonder just how much power politicians have. I was continually surprised by the number of advisors that ministers had and their influence on strategic and tactical thinking. And at the end you wonder in what order of importance politicians place the Country, the Party and their own interests.
Of the three main Brexit flag wavers, only one was elected through the referendum and negotiations, Boris, and he wasn’t a long serving MP. The other two Cummins and Farage were unelected, but almost certainly affected the course the country took.
Looking back over the period you do wonder why the Tory party allowed the ERG to have such prominence, they were only ever a minority, admittedly a vocal one. Maybe our media, with its requirement for 24 hour news needs them. And monies have been provided for additional right wing TV and Radio channels.
Felt a bit sorry for Sunak, in particular and May as they tried to keep the Tories together, both decent people. Until Keir Starmer broke the sequence we went from extrovert to introvert PMs, maybe starting with Thatcher.
November 13, 2025
FINALLY FINISHED!!!
It was like reliving the last decade all over again (as in it's felt like it's taken me a decade to read all four books).
Good to know that everyone was just as awful on closer inspection as they seemed from a distance.
Still don't feel like I have a satisfactory answer for why we had to do the whole thing in the first place but as noone who voted leave at the time could give me an actual answer I shouldn't be surprised that I still don't get it.
Finally it'll be nice for the people studying history in the future that there's a nice straight forward route from 2016 to the spiralling bin fire that the world has become in soon to be 2026. If someone described the world we are living in to me in 2016 I'd never in a million years believed things could be like they are now. The fall of the Roman Empire 2.0, let's just hope we don't loose indoor plumbing for 800 years or if we do can it be after I've shuffled off this mortal coil, thanks.
It was like reliving the last decade all over again (as in it's felt like it's taken me a decade to read all four books).
Good to know that everyone was just as awful on closer inspection as they seemed from a distance.
Still don't feel like I have a satisfactory answer for why we had to do the whole thing in the first place but as noone who voted leave at the time could give me an actual answer I shouldn't be surprised that I still don't get it.
Finally it'll be nice for the people studying history in the future that there's a nice straight forward route from 2016 to the spiralling bin fire that the world has become in soon to be 2026. If someone described the world we are living in to me in 2016 I'd never in a million years believed things could be like they are now. The fall of the Roman Empire 2.0, let's just hope we don't loose indoor plumbing for 800 years or if we do can it be after I've shuffled off this mortal coil, thanks.
January 4, 2025
Exceptional. A tour de force series, ended perfectly. Delicious salacious gossip coupled with clear, cogent explanations of the U.K. internal market and various aspects of brexit. Could not recommend more highly. Some minor points of disagreement but I still think the work speaks for itself
April 4, 2025
This is the final chapter in a four book series covering fourteen years of Conservative Government, encompassing Brexit battles, Covid chaos and the Trussterf*ck.
While Brexit runs through much of the series, all three of the themes mentioned above feature heavily in this instalment, which means it is not short of incident.
Shipman provides his typical fascination insights behind the scenes, providing a deeper understanding of the key personalities involved, from the ubiquitous characters such as Johnson, Cummings and Sunak to lesser known backroom figures with huge influence behind the scenes.
I’ve enjoyed the whole series. I have two niggles about this particular book. First of all, at over 900 pages, it is far too long. There’s no reason I can see for it not to be two books - one covering Johnson’s spell as PM and the other moving onto Truss and Sunak.
Secondly, maybe it’s me but this feels like the most subjective of the series. The author’s personal judgement seems to seep into certain passages, when I wanted to read an arms length, objective account.
Don’t let that put you off, like the rest of the series, it’s a fascinating insight.
While Brexit runs through much of the series, all three of the themes mentioned above feature heavily in this instalment, which means it is not short of incident.
Shipman provides his typical fascination insights behind the scenes, providing a deeper understanding of the key personalities involved, from the ubiquitous characters such as Johnson, Cummings and Sunak to lesser known backroom figures with huge influence behind the scenes.
I’ve enjoyed the whole series. I have two niggles about this particular book. First of all, at over 900 pages, it is far too long. There’s no reason I can see for it not to be two books - one covering Johnson’s spell as PM and the other moving onto Truss and Sunak.
Secondly, maybe it’s me but this feels like the most subjective of the series. The author’s personal judgement seems to seep into certain passages, when I wanted to read an arms length, objective account.
Don’t let that put you off, like the rest of the series, it’s a fascinating insight.
June 26, 2025
Probably the best book about British politics 2019-24 that exists.
December 12, 2024
17 days. That's how long it's taken me to read this 906 page tome. That's about 53 pages a day. It was possible because I'm in that less active phase with cold, wet miserable weather. I couldn't have read it much quicker as it requires concentration to enjoy it at its fullest, but I needed to get it done before it was due back at the library as this one you can't renew - it's a hot potato.
We are blessed to have Tim Shipman. He is a master political journalist, revealing what was going on behind the scenes when all we see is the top line, the headline from our 24 hour news bunnies. The stories behind the headlines are riveting and explain the headline. His research, interviews, summaries and analysis are just first class.
Out is the fourth part of his commentary of the tumultuous political history of our nation since the Brexit referendum. If you can, read them all, but if you read just this one, you'll be fascinated and entertained by how very human characteristics, aspirations, talents and failings got us through the political rollercoaster of the past five years.
Tim Shipman's book tells the inside blow by blow story of our three Prime Ministers since 2016 and everything that consumed them, the issues, the people, other politicians and their parties, and their own heads. One thing dominates - Brexit.
Whether you're a leaver or a remainer, you're assured from the off that the author is totally objective. His account is drawn from the facts and the scores of interviews he's had with so many of those involved. In fact, if there's one tiny criticism I have of the book, it's the number of different names constantly being introduced, quite rightly in such a comprehensive account, but resulting in the reader needing to concentrate.
In his objectivity, each of the protagonists and not just the PM's, are praised and criticised for their achievements and shortcomings. In the book's conclusion there's a brilliant critique of how the Brexit PMs shape up against all the PMs throughout history, and an excellent series of what ifs which are as captivating as the rest of the book. The greatest what if is if Boris had become PM rather than May. Had it been that way round, the author concludes through the views of players who were there, that we would probably have ended up with a Canada + Brexit followed by May as PM. Instead we witnessed Gove, who comes out of this book as one of the most measured, intelligent politicians of the age, "knifing" Boris at that moment when Johnson was the favourite for No .10
It's a book about struggle - the struggle of prime ministers to deliver Brexit against the wishes of two thirds of MPs, the struggle with the pandemic which almost cost Boris Johnson his own life, the struggle to win elections, the struggle to engage with advisers, civil servants and awkward EU bureaucrats, the struggle with preening politicians from the same party let alone the opposition, and the struggle with their own demons and their relationships.
In fact, us, the ordinary voters, play little part in this book apart from setting the agenda in the referendum and the elections. As a result, you're left at times thinking how far removed the political ruling class is from the people they're answerable to, a feeling that got us to Brexit in the first place, and a feeling that continues and some would argue, has intensified.
There are hilarious moments, laugh out loud moments, open mouthed moments, tender moments. In fact all human life and its delights and foibles are here.
One of those foibles is lack of self awareness, character weaknesses and self destruction, something each of the Brexit PMs has in differing quantities.
It's a book with fascinating insights - how Sunak placed a model of the Hindu elephant god in his desk to help him, how the smell from the dogs' mess lying in Boris and Carrie's upstairs flat at No 10 was revolting leading to a flea infestation, how lonely a PM behind that black shiny door really is, how a big personality of an unelected official such as Cummings can have on a PM and our democracy, how the unelected spouse of a PM can decide who's appointed to high ranking adviser jobs and in the cabinet, how Johnson ate "slabs of cheese" while Sunak often just had " broth." ....I could go on.
Here's a quiz question for you - which of the Brexit PMs told a confidante "I am weird and I don't have any friends." ?
Ooh....and I found a spelling mistake - page 895 - "instibility." Sorry, Mr Shipman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2024
This was a very long book but covered in detail 5 years of political activity with the characteristic behind the scenes details common to all Shipman titles. It took a lot of time to finish but it stayed concise where appropriate as he covered all wings of the Tory party, the right wing of Labour and a few figures in the Liberal Democrats.
For the first time I questioned the extent to which Shipman was letting each voice have their say and digging their own holes, and lending his own weight to the more right-wing views. Perhaps due to access, the British negotiators were portrayed more positively in the Brexit machinations and hinting that Stephanie Riso had managed to see the British arguments and force a compromise, while his summary suggested the EU got the better of the deal in many respects. At other times, Kwarteng suggested the 12 years of Conservative-led Governments had been a continuation of social democratic policies, while Truss claimed British politics had tacked left - without any comment to question this, or in Truss' case, explicity endorsed by the author.
One of the emergent themes was the extent to which both parties seemed to view the economy as twisting a few dials like a city simulation game, in which balancing the budget was the goal. There was little in terms of what financial policies were advocated beyond their effect on the economy, which was the same for Truss too - only she believed ideology over experts in the city or the Treasury. Once again Shipman's leanings were suggested as the Treasury was presented as blocking Truss' ideas to spite her worldview, even though the financiers were licking their lips at shorting the pound rather than believing that a rising tide of growth would lift all investments. There was little to no evidence given that supported her view, in that lower taxes would lead to growth, beyond ideological belief.
The book was also sympathetic to Sunak, essentially arguing he was a good and decent man who just wasn't going to inspire anyone, although his decisions weren't all perfect. He did at least appear to start from a position of policy and look to make it workable, rather than see what was popular and reverse engineer policy proposals, but even I felt sorry for him when he expressed frustration that Johnson was popular with the everyman Brexit voter, despite increasing net migration figures. At other times Sunak came across as petulant that events weren't to his liking. Johnson himself seemed to be the 'shopping trolley' popularised by Cummings, whose main motivation was narcissistic rather than ideological, even though his natural tendencies are to the right wing.
The assorted voices gave a lot of colour to an often unexciting subject but also meant the reader was presented with several views of how the world is, and not merely political views of what it should be. The worst example of this was the election date, where every possible date had a supporter when it looked to this outsider that it was an argument over which deckchair should be moved first. The main sane voice presented in the work seemed to be that of Steve Baker, who Shipman clearly has access to and admires and is presented as the sensible one of the ERG group. He also escaped any mention of his aborted leadership bid when he claimed in 2022 he owed it to his supporters to stand and clearly didn't have sufficient nominations when he withdrew shortly after.
The 5 years distilled into 900 pages was still very much worth reading, and Johnson's assumption that the customs arrangements under the deal were surely part of the terrible no-deal option seemed to me one of the most revealing of the book, confirming his critics' impression of him. Across the book a good picture was painted of what life was like in number 10, without the dryness of the oft-mentioned Seldon. The distance allowed him to tell the story that could be lost in the day-to-day grind as well as focusing in more details where required. What I had not expected was to come away from it thinking that 'the two parties are the same' in more respects than I'd realised.
For the first time I questioned the extent to which Shipman was letting each voice have their say and digging their own holes, and lending his own weight to the more right-wing views. Perhaps due to access, the British negotiators were portrayed more positively in the Brexit machinations and hinting that Stephanie Riso had managed to see the British arguments and force a compromise, while his summary suggested the EU got the better of the deal in many respects. At other times, Kwarteng suggested the 12 years of Conservative-led Governments had been a continuation of social democratic policies, while Truss claimed British politics had tacked left - without any comment to question this, or in Truss' case, explicity endorsed by the author.
One of the emergent themes was the extent to which both parties seemed to view the economy as twisting a few dials like a city simulation game, in which balancing the budget was the goal. There was little in terms of what financial policies were advocated beyond their effect on the economy, which was the same for Truss too - only she believed ideology over experts in the city or the Treasury. Once again Shipman's leanings were suggested as the Treasury was presented as blocking Truss' ideas to spite her worldview, even though the financiers were licking their lips at shorting the pound rather than believing that a rising tide of growth would lift all investments. There was little to no evidence given that supported her view, in that lower taxes would lead to growth, beyond ideological belief.
The book was also sympathetic to Sunak, essentially arguing he was a good and decent man who just wasn't going to inspire anyone, although his decisions weren't all perfect. He did at least appear to start from a position of policy and look to make it workable, rather than see what was popular and reverse engineer policy proposals, but even I felt sorry for him when he expressed frustration that Johnson was popular with the everyman Brexit voter, despite increasing net migration figures. At other times Sunak came across as petulant that events weren't to his liking. Johnson himself seemed to be the 'shopping trolley' popularised by Cummings, whose main motivation was narcissistic rather than ideological, even though his natural tendencies are to the right wing.
The assorted voices gave a lot of colour to an often unexciting subject but also meant the reader was presented with several views of how the world is, and not merely political views of what it should be. The worst example of this was the election date, where every possible date had a supporter when it looked to this outsider that it was an argument over which deckchair should be moved first. The main sane voice presented in the work seemed to be that of Steve Baker, who Shipman clearly has access to and admires and is presented as the sensible one of the ERG group. He also escaped any mention of his aborted leadership bid when he claimed in 2022 he owed it to his supporters to stand and clearly didn't have sufficient nominations when he withdrew shortly after.
The 5 years distilled into 900 pages was still very much worth reading, and Johnson's assumption that the customs arrangements under the deal were surely part of the terrible no-deal option seemed to me one of the most revealing of the book, confirming his critics' impression of him. Across the book a good picture was painted of what life was like in number 10, without the dryness of the oft-mentioned Seldon. The distance allowed him to tell the story that could be lost in the day-to-day grind as well as focusing in more details where required. What I had not expected was to come away from it thinking that 'the two parties are the same' in more respects than I'd realised.
December 30, 2024
This is a trivial book about trivial people.
I have previously enjoyed these Tim Shipman books and reviewed them positively but ultimately reading this book has caused me to reappraise my view of the others. Perhaps my politics has changed over this period, perhaps the events narrated in this account are more recent (and therefore the need to refresh my memory is less potent) or perhaps the inadequacy of the author’s approach only becomes clear in this interminable volume. Either way, I don’t really recommend this book, and suggest you spend 40 hours doing something more enlightening with your life.
This is essentially a souped up Guardian Long Read article (with a Times slant) of the period in politics beginning with Boris Johnson’s elevation as Conservative leader in 2019, and Labour’s entry into office in 2024. It is basically a simple narrative account of the actions of people who fundamentally do not understand, and have no answers to, the problems of our age. Tim Shipman, rather than calling them out on their utter inadequacy and analysing how it is that these joke characters have ascended the political ladder in the UK, confines himself to breathlessly recounting their tedious conversations and “strategies” as if they hold some epochal significance.
What emerges - though it is barely mentioned by the author - is a group of people who fundamentally do not understand the shifts under way in our society, scrabbling around to eke out limited tactical victories but fundamentally failing to address, or even acknowledge, the forces that are driving Britain’s national decline. There is almost no analysis worth speaking of, just a bunch of foul mouthed rants from political actors (if indeed one can dignify them with such a term) who cannot see the wood from the trees and are motivated by short term power rather than any meaningful zeal for reform.
In the introduction to the third volume of the Brexit series, Tim Shipman mentions that he takes as his inspiration Robert Caro, whose books on Lyndon Johnson and Robert Moses are a genuine study both of power and of the political context of their respective eras. This effort pales in comparison, though perhaps that’s because the people described in this account are minnows in comparison. As a simple narrative account, it does the job, but the chances are that if you’re thinking of reading this book you’ve also read the newspapers over the last few years, so the level of insight you’ll get will be limited. I’d suggest that anyone considering this devotes their time to something more productive and fruitful, that actually attempts to get to grips with the tremendous changes in technology, politics and culture that are coming down the tracks.
I have previously enjoyed these Tim Shipman books and reviewed them positively but ultimately reading this book has caused me to reappraise my view of the others. Perhaps my politics has changed over this period, perhaps the events narrated in this account are more recent (and therefore the need to refresh my memory is less potent) or perhaps the inadequacy of the author’s approach only becomes clear in this interminable volume. Either way, I don’t really recommend this book, and suggest you spend 40 hours doing something more enlightening with your life.
This is essentially a souped up Guardian Long Read article (with a Times slant) of the period in politics beginning with Boris Johnson’s elevation as Conservative leader in 2019, and Labour’s entry into office in 2024. It is basically a simple narrative account of the actions of people who fundamentally do not understand, and have no answers to, the problems of our age. Tim Shipman, rather than calling them out on their utter inadequacy and analysing how it is that these joke characters have ascended the political ladder in the UK, confines himself to breathlessly recounting their tedious conversations and “strategies” as if they hold some epochal significance.
What emerges - though it is barely mentioned by the author - is a group of people who fundamentally do not understand the shifts under way in our society, scrabbling around to eke out limited tactical victories but fundamentally failing to address, or even acknowledge, the forces that are driving Britain’s national decline. There is almost no analysis worth speaking of, just a bunch of foul mouthed rants from political actors (if indeed one can dignify them with such a term) who cannot see the wood from the trees and are motivated by short term power rather than any meaningful zeal for reform.
In the introduction to the third volume of the Brexit series, Tim Shipman mentions that he takes as his inspiration Robert Caro, whose books on Lyndon Johnson and Robert Moses are a genuine study both of power and of the political context of their respective eras. This effort pales in comparison, though perhaps that’s because the people described in this account are minnows in comparison. As a simple narrative account, it does the job, but the chances are that if you’re thinking of reading this book you’ve also read the newspapers over the last few years, so the level of insight you’ll get will be limited. I’d suggest that anyone considering this devotes their time to something more productive and fruitful, that actually attempts to get to grips with the tremendous changes in technology, politics and culture that are coming down the tracks.
June 8, 2025
The problem this book has to overcome - like the previous three, Brexit is the main character, but we’re at the stage of the story where Brexit faded from box office political late night soap opera to dull background noise. Shipman diligently takes the story on, and gives the same blow by blow, minute by minute account we’ve come to expect. Sadly, at this stage, after the symbolic delivery of Brexit in January 2020, we’re left with a mildly interesting narrative that occasionally strays into the tedious. Thankfully, this forms only about a third of the story.
Where the book pops to life is the sections dealing with the human and political psychodrama as two governments fall, and a third is horsewhipped by the electorate. As we all know, these downfalls were dramatic and spectacular - the sharpest satirist couldn’t better the real life events - and the lurid yet delicious details are on full display here. This single book contains three epic tales of hubris, chaos, failure and collapse, and I enjoyed every single word. There were plenty of moments of reading sections aloud, to anybody in my vicinity, in hilarity, horror, disgust, disbelief.
For me, it’s a solid four star read for this alone, but how much enjoyment anybody else will find will depend very much on which aspect of the story appeals most. The previous books were, by nature of the events they covered, more easily able to entwine both the Brexit drama and the Number 10 machinations into one continuous narrative. Here, the strands diverge as Covid-19, and the political fallout it generated, seize centre stage. The Brexit sections are every bit as detailed as the accounts in the first three books, but by this point, it’s hard to stay interested, and I was fighting the ever present urge to skim along to the next explosive instalment in the slow collapse of the Conservative Party.
Finally, as with the rest of the series, this book won’t be an easy read if you can’t leave your politics at the door and treat this as an entertaining insight into events. Shipman does a good job of ensuring balance at moments of controversy, and keeping things reasonably neutral, but if the Corbynite left or the Tory ERG are your political flavour, you’re probably not going to like his centrist interpretation of events. The real value of this finale is the minutely detailed chronicle of how the Tories, hubristic after an election victory that proved to rest on shaky foundations, descended into decay. It’s easy to forget just how many incidents, scandals, blunders and farces added up to the worst election drubbing for a main party in our parliamentary history.
Where the book pops to life is the sections dealing with the human and political psychodrama as two governments fall, and a third is horsewhipped by the electorate. As we all know, these downfalls were dramatic and spectacular - the sharpest satirist couldn’t better the real life events - and the lurid yet delicious details are on full display here. This single book contains three epic tales of hubris, chaos, failure and collapse, and I enjoyed every single word. There were plenty of moments of reading sections aloud, to anybody in my vicinity, in hilarity, horror, disgust, disbelief.
For me, it’s a solid four star read for this alone, but how much enjoyment anybody else will find will depend very much on which aspect of the story appeals most. The previous books were, by nature of the events they covered, more easily able to entwine both the Brexit drama and the Number 10 machinations into one continuous narrative. Here, the strands diverge as Covid-19, and the political fallout it generated, seize centre stage. The Brexit sections are every bit as detailed as the accounts in the first three books, but by this point, it’s hard to stay interested, and I was fighting the ever present urge to skim along to the next explosive instalment in the slow collapse of the Conservative Party.
Finally, as with the rest of the series, this book won’t be an easy read if you can’t leave your politics at the door and treat this as an entertaining insight into events. Shipman does a good job of ensuring balance at moments of controversy, and keeping things reasonably neutral, but if the Corbynite left or the Tory ERG are your political flavour, you’re probably not going to like his centrist interpretation of events. The real value of this finale is the minutely detailed chronicle of how the Tories, hubristic after an election victory that proved to rest on shaky foundations, descended into decay. It’s easy to forget just how many incidents, scandals, blunders and farces added up to the worst election drubbing for a main party in our parliamentary history.
February 11, 2025
This is the final installment of Times journalist Tim Shipman's Brexit Quadrilogy. It covers the period from the rise of Boris Johnson to Prime Minister to Rish Sunak's defenestration five years later.
I remember reading the first of Shipman's books, All Out War. It was 2017 and I was let go from the role I moved to London for.I was advised to make sure I got out regularly so I would go to a local coffee shop and that was what I read.
To say that the last six years have been politically tumultuous and schismatic here in the UK would be about right. In June 2016, the public voted by 52:48 per cent to leave the European Union. Since then, we've had dithering, delays, negotiations, betrayals, defenestrations, shady deals, and much more besides.
Shipman begins with Johnson having become Prime Minister and we get an overview of how he negotiated his "oven ready" deal with the EU. Afterwards, there's an election to get it through Parliament. Isaac Levido brilliantly orchestrates the campaign which results in ultimate victory and the UK leaving the EU on the 31 January 2020 at 11:00pm.
The coronavirus pandemic is not covered in huge detail but Shipman doesn't skimp on the goings-on of "partygate". This was the beginning of the end for Johnson, Dominic Cummings and the rest of the Vote Leave crew.
Then we get the fleeting premiership of Liz Truss and the final decline of the government under Rishi Sunak. Sunak's renegotiation of the agreement with the EU is well told, something I didn't rate at the time. The book concludes with the defeat of Sunak and the rise of Keir Starmer.
It's a fitting end to a quartet a decade in the making. It's clearly rigorously-researched and the author has interviewed just about everyone involved in the whole affair and its nearly eight year aftermath. I do feel like he is overly sympathetic to the Conservatives, Vote Leave, Boris Johnson, and Steve Baker in particular. However, I am a liberal Londoner and Mr. Shipman is a Times journalist.
Ultimately, if you want to know what happened in UK politics between 2015 and 2025, these books are for you. I haven't read anything by Mr. Robert A. Caro but Tim Shipman must be his British equivalent.
I remember reading the first of Shipman's books, All Out War. It was 2017 and I was let go from the role I moved to London for.I was advised to make sure I got out regularly so I would go to a local coffee shop and that was what I read.
To say that the last six years have been politically tumultuous and schismatic here in the UK would be about right. In June 2016, the public voted by 52:48 per cent to leave the European Union. Since then, we've had dithering, delays, negotiations, betrayals, defenestrations, shady deals, and much more besides.
Shipman begins with Johnson having become Prime Minister and we get an overview of how he negotiated his "oven ready" deal with the EU. Afterwards, there's an election to get it through Parliament. Isaac Levido brilliantly orchestrates the campaign which results in ultimate victory and the UK leaving the EU on the 31 January 2020 at 11:00pm.
The coronavirus pandemic is not covered in huge detail but Shipman doesn't skimp on the goings-on of "partygate". This was the beginning of the end for Johnson, Dominic Cummings and the rest of the Vote Leave crew.
Then we get the fleeting premiership of Liz Truss and the final decline of the government under Rishi Sunak. Sunak's renegotiation of the agreement with the EU is well told, something I didn't rate at the time. The book concludes with the defeat of Sunak and the rise of Keir Starmer.
It's a fitting end to a quartet a decade in the making. It's clearly rigorously-researched and the author has interviewed just about everyone involved in the whole affair and its nearly eight year aftermath. I do feel like he is overly sympathetic to the Conservatives, Vote Leave, Boris Johnson, and Steve Baker in particular. However, I am a liberal Londoner and Mr. Shipman is a Times journalist.
Ultimately, if you want to know what happened in UK politics between 2015 and 2025, these books are for you. I haven't read anything by Mr. Robert A. Caro but Tim Shipman must be his British equivalent.
December 22, 2024
Well, it’s good to pass the finishing line on the sorry saga kicked off by the 2016 referendum- this segment starts with Johnson and ends with Sunak being kicked out in the July 2024 Labour landslide. I salute Tim Shipman’s stamina and speed in bringing this well researched and complex story to its conclusion so soon after the events themselves - truly a tour de force of journalism as instant history.
The challenge with such efforts is, of course to make the transition from reportage to history, adding evaluation to anecdote and conclusion to hindsight.
The rollercoaster from Johnson’s leadership, his election win, leaving the EU, COVID and the rapid unravelling of his prime ministership on the rocks of the egos and foibles of an exceptionally unbalanced and flawed set of individuals is well told, and in the telling makes us see we didn’t know the half of it at the time. Truss’s bizarre interlude in this context just seems like a coda to Johnson’s - the same tune of “politics is just a game”, played three times as fast and on a kazoo. Neither emerge well from the rear view mirror of recent history. It is left to Sunak to bring the grownups back and in doing so show just how weird and abnormal the Johnson/Truss interludes truly were. But being a grownup was not enough. Ironically, Labour’s new government has the potential to be more of an extension of Sunak’s efforts to tidy up the playroom after the maladjusted toddlers have been at work. Or the toddlers could be back- history will tell, and Shipman will write it. Not too soon, I hope- I think both he and his readers need a bit of a rest.
The challenge with such efforts is, of course to make the transition from reportage to history, adding evaluation to anecdote and conclusion to hindsight.
The rollercoaster from Johnson’s leadership, his election win, leaving the EU, COVID and the rapid unravelling of his prime ministership on the rocks of the egos and foibles of an exceptionally unbalanced and flawed set of individuals is well told, and in the telling makes us see we didn’t know the half of it at the time. Truss’s bizarre interlude in this context just seems like a coda to Johnson’s - the same tune of “politics is just a game”, played three times as fast and on a kazoo. Neither emerge well from the rear view mirror of recent history. It is left to Sunak to bring the grownups back and in doing so show just how weird and abnormal the Johnson/Truss interludes truly were. But being a grownup was not enough. Ironically, Labour’s new government has the potential to be more of an extension of Sunak’s efforts to tidy up the playroom after the maladjusted toddlers have been at work. Or the toddlers could be back- history will tell, and Shipman will write it. Not too soon, I hope- I think both he and his readers need a bit of a rest.
June 21, 2025
This book concludes the authors quartet covering the Brexit years. This volume weighs in at some 900 odd pages and covers the period from the 2019 to 2024 General elections.
In considerable detail the author covers the self destruction of the Tory Party and the tortured negotiations as the UK left the European Union. Central to the picture is Boris, the stunning victory in 2019 and the how it was lost, not solely but to a great extent due to his character flaws but how ultimately Liz Truss, between the lines "a lunatic" destroyed the party, the relationship between Johnson and Rishi Sunak is detailed and the author presents a sympathetic portrait of Sunak, hard working, tea total, bright and honest. Politics maybe a brutal business but the author contrasts the peaceful handover and warm converstation between Sunak and Starmer as it became clear the Tories had lost in the early hours following the 2024 election and what has happened in America.
I plodded through this book over about 3 months (jn part as it was a library book which had to be returned for another reader before I could get it back) but also as it so dense and long, others have noted this quartet is around 2,700 pages but it is well worth perservering with and it does stand as probably definitive account of recent political history.
In considerable detail the author covers the self destruction of the Tory Party and the tortured negotiations as the UK left the European Union. Central to the picture is Boris, the stunning victory in 2019 and the how it was lost, not solely but to a great extent due to his character flaws but how ultimately Liz Truss, between the lines "a lunatic" destroyed the party, the relationship between Johnson and Rishi Sunak is detailed and the author presents a sympathetic portrait of Sunak, hard working, tea total, bright and honest. Politics maybe a brutal business but the author contrasts the peaceful handover and warm converstation between Sunak and Starmer as it became clear the Tories had lost in the early hours following the 2024 election and what has happened in America.
I plodded through this book over about 3 months (jn part as it was a library book which had to be returned for another reader before I could get it back) but also as it so dense and long, others have noted this quartet is around 2,700 pages but it is well worth perservering with and it does stand as probably definitive account of recent political history.
May 8, 2025
"To adopt the words of Sir Steve Redgrave after his fourth ordeal, ‘Anyone who sees me go anywhere near a [Brexit book] again, ever, you’ve got my permission to shoot me.’"
Guy Verhofstadt wordt een keer vermeld, zo: "'(Sam) Gyimah’s appearance was then delayed by the need to smuggle him into conference unseen. Sam Barratt, the communications director, set up a diversionary press conference with MEP Guy Verhofstadt to distract the hacks while Gyimah slipped in through a fire exit. **Unfortunately, Verhofstadt’s verbosity meant Gyimah’s defection missed the first edition of some newspapers.**" (Conservatieve MP en ex-minister Sam Gyimah defecteerde op 14 september 2019 naar de Lib Dems nadat Boris Johnson hem enkele dagen ervoor, samen met 20 andere rebellen die Johnson's no-deal Brexit met EU tegenhielden, uit de partij had gegooid (juister: de "whip" afgenomen). Gyimah raakte in de daaropvolgende verkiezingen van 2019, waarbij Johnson een "landslide"-overwinning behaalde, niet herkozen.)
Guy Verhofstadt wordt een keer vermeld, zo: "'(Sam) Gyimah’s appearance was then delayed by the need to smuggle him into conference unseen. Sam Barratt, the communications director, set up a diversionary press conference with MEP Guy Verhofstadt to distract the hacks while Gyimah slipped in through a fire exit. **Unfortunately, Verhofstadt’s verbosity meant Gyimah’s defection missed the first edition of some newspapers.**" (Conservatieve MP en ex-minister Sam Gyimah defecteerde op 14 september 2019 naar de Lib Dems nadat Boris Johnson hem enkele dagen ervoor, samen met 20 andere rebellen die Johnson's no-deal Brexit met EU tegenhielden, uit de partij had gegooid (juister: de "whip" afgenomen). Gyimah raakte in de daaropvolgende verkiezingen van 2019, waarbij Johnson een "landslide"-overwinning behaalde, niet herkozen.)
February 4, 2025
This is an entertaining romp through the turbulent premierships of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak as they seek to manage Britain's exit from the European Union, the trade deal with the EU, the Covid 19 pandemic and the attempts to grow the British economy. It is the fourth such book about the politics of the "Brexit" period, and the author is seemingly able to draw on testimonies from so many of the participants. It is a long book but easy to read and digest.
In many ways, it is an extended piece of journalism rather than a cool historical analysis (for which Anthony Seldon has already provided in his work on the Johnson and Truss premierships), and one must await the deeper examination of the official records to know how much weight should be attached to the events and the perspectives described.
Nevertheless, if you have the stomach for reliving these events, this is an excellent way to do so and is therefore highly recommended.
In many ways, it is an extended piece of journalism rather than a cool historical analysis (for which Anthony Seldon has already provided in his work on the Johnson and Truss premierships), and one must await the deeper examination of the official records to know how much weight should be attached to the events and the perspectives described.
Nevertheless, if you have the stomach for reliving these events, this is an excellent way to do so and is therefore highly recommended.
December 23, 2024
Finally finished the fourth and final 900+ page volume of Tim Shipman’s saga of the Brexit years. A consistent villain of part 4 is Dilyn the Johnsons’ dog whose shit, piss and fleas are a recurring theme. Of course he is one of the few featured characters who haven’t spent hours ensuring the author isn’t in full possession of their personal, self-justificatory account of this protracted shitshow.
As ever I’m left at the end of the volume asking myself if we get the politicians we deserve. None of them come out of the saga very well and charitable concluding observations by the author mostly reflect on whether individual inadequacies of key individuals might have been less relevant had they performed different roles at different times. Enough politics, it’s time to read a few thrillers …..
As ever I’m left at the end of the volume asking myself if we get the politicians we deserve. None of them come out of the saga very well and charitable concluding observations by the author mostly reflect on whether individual inadequacies of key individuals might have been less relevant had they performed different roles at different times. Enough politics, it’s time to read a few thrillers …..
January 18, 2025
A marathon read to start the year, as Tim Shipman finally reaches the end of his Brexit road (so far).
Entertaining, interesting, and informative - a return to form after the dull details of Teresa May and Ollie Robbins and their time at the helm.
My takeouts:
Boris - Deeply flawed, hugely intelligence, lacking in common sense. Intends to serve a second term as World King.
Cummings - Nasty human being, devious, clever, massive ego.
Truss - insane and possibly autistic.
Sunak - Decent, geek, smart, hard working, bad at politics.
Starmer - Competitive, likes football, jury's out . . .
Shipman is on record saying he'd like to write spy stories next. He could do worse than starting with a political thriller; he already has the character sketches fleshed out.
Entertaining, interesting, and informative - a return to form after the dull details of Teresa May and Ollie Robbins and their time at the helm.
My takeouts:
Boris - Deeply flawed, hugely intelligence, lacking in common sense. Intends to serve a second term as World King.
Cummings - Nasty human being, devious, clever, massive ego.
Truss - insane and possibly autistic.
Sunak - Decent, geek, smart, hard working, bad at politics.
Starmer - Competitive, likes football, jury's out . . .
Shipman is on record saying he'd like to write spy stories next. He could do worse than starting with a political thriller; he already has the character sketches fleshed out.
March 31, 2025
The final book in Shipman’s quartet is both the longest and zippiest: while the first volume devoted almost 700 pages to the minutiae of the Brexit referendum and its immediate aftermath, and while it took volume two and a good chunk of volume three to cover the Theresa May clusterfuck, ‘Out’ fairly races through the downfall of Boris Johnson, the insanity of Liz Truss’s month and a half in power, the final death rattles of the Tory party as a clearly out-of-touch Rishi Sunak tried to steer a calmer course, and last year’s General Election which delivered Keir Starmer to power. As with the previous instalments, Shipman’s journalistic neutrality slips often enough that his own political prejudices end up informing the narrative more than they should, but ultimately ‘Out’ emerges as a fitting conclusion to the epic psychodrama.
January 14, 2025
Tim Shipman's books on politics are a rare achievement. His access makes the reader omnipresent, even in the most confidential conversations and rooms where the decisions that change a country's fate are made. He finds the exact right focus so that the narrative never stops moving. Richard Ben Cramer and Bob Woodward (now and then) can write about politics like this - I'm not sure of anyone else.
This book (and others in the series, especially ALL OUT WAR) is a riveting drama, which will be loved by anyone, even if you don't especially follow or think about British politics.
While the six year odyssey around Brexit supplied ample material, I hope Shipman will continue to write about politics. Whatever the subject, I'll be reading.
This book (and others in the series, especially ALL OUT WAR) is a riveting drama, which will be loved by anyone, even if you don't especially follow or think about British politics.
While the six year odyssey around Brexit supplied ample material, I hope Shipman will continue to write about politics. Whatever the subject, I'll be reading.
February 17, 2025
The fourth book is great but does not hit the heights of the first two.
In essence is suffers in two ways. Firstly scope - it wants to cover far too long a period, where its predecessors cover a smaller more coherent event or period. Secondly timing - it comes after the mess and with us unable to look at it and say what should be done now. In coming after the conservatives, it acts as history not a political biography of the times we live in.
As a four, the books hang together. In reality this fourth book runs too fast and too far and is left panting by the end. You remember events because they are close by and not because it paints a picture you would have been wholly unaware of.
I still enjoyed it. But mostly because of what came before.
In essence is suffers in two ways. Firstly scope - it wants to cover far too long a period, where its predecessors cover a smaller more coherent event or period. Secondly timing - it comes after the mess and with us unable to look at it and say what should be done now. In coming after the conservatives, it acts as history not a political biography of the times we live in.
As a four, the books hang together. In reality this fourth book runs too fast and too far and is left panting by the end. You remember events because they are close by and not because it paints a picture you would have been wholly unaware of.
I still enjoyed it. But mostly because of what came before.
June 2, 2025
At 0ver 900 pages, Shipman manages to cram in an incredible amount of political history here -- from Johnson assuming the premiership in summer 2019 to the wreckage of the 2024 general election. There's lots and lots of fascinating, gossip-y revelations to be found here, and it's clear that Shipman has talked to pretty much everyone involved. If the book has a flaw, it's that the prose feels rushed -- another pass with an editor would have helped the book flow better and kept writing from being a little clunky at times.
March 4, 2025
900 pages of immensely detailed and insightful descriptions of the damage wrought by Brexit to the country and the Conservative Party. This book lays bare the infighting, backstabbing, deal making and breaking that was required to get Brexit ‘done.’ It goes on to show the absolute catastrophe of the Truss premiership and the vain attempts of Sunak to clear up the mess. We knew it was bad, we didn’t realise it was this bad!!
April 19, 2025
Fourth, final and longest (over 900 pages) of the brilliant ‘Out’ series. This one covers Johnson, Truss and Sunak. I skimmed through the endless Brexit negotiations, but was quite gripped / horrified by the appallingness (if that’s a word) of working inside Number 10 during Covid, Partygate and the 49 days of Liz Truss. Not for the first time, I wonder why so many people want to be Prime Minister or work in the PMs office.
4* because it is so well sourced and gossipy, but not 5 because it is so long and loses its way from time to time. And is it really necessary to quote every single expletive verbatim?
4* because it is so well sourced and gossipy, but not 5 because it is so long and loses its way from time to time. And is it really necessary to quote every single expletive verbatim?
January 10, 2025
How do you write the last few years of the Tory drama without using the word lettuce anywhere? Feels a bit glaring. Feel like it's letting people (Johnson) off the hook a bit much. Fast and entertaining read though, never feels it's length.
Hurrah for boring politics now - crazy to think of some of the stuff that went on for years and years...
Hurrah for boring politics now - crazy to think of some of the stuff that went on for years and years...
February 6, 2025
The gossip of everyday politics is interesting, but after thousands of pages (the series combined) it all blends into one, especially when Brexit stops being the main theme. The book loses too much narrative coherency at that point, and wish he'd chosen a clear end point rather than just "lets do a chapter on everything that has happened in politics - Brexit or not - to the present day"
April 26, 2025
A political rollercoaster told with gravitas, expertise and prodigious historical acumen, Shipman concludes his four-piece examination on Brexit as he set out: with an astute understanding of Tory infighting, and the pains of working with European bureaucracy. It's a mighty work of non-fiction, and rallies a lot of key arguments into one cohesive work.
January 8, 2025
Tremendous. I am sad to have finished this behemoth, and with it the Shipman quartet on Brexit. I sincerely doubt there will ever be a better sourced, better written, or more absorbing account of contemporary politics in my lifetime. Simply astounding.
May 20, 2025
Very long! But a good first draft of history – though it very much feels like a book entirely about Brexit for the first half and then broadens out into a whistle-stop tour of everything that's happened in British politics since.
January 1, 2025
Long and kinda exhausting at times, but a fascinating look at how politics and government in the UK actually worked (or, more often, didn't) during the Brexit years.
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