Year of the Rat: Undercover in the British Far Right

by Harry Shukman (Narrator)

The British far right is working to dismantle our democracy. This shocking, eye-opening undercover journey reveals who they are, how they operate and how they are normalising extreme ideologies including eugenics.

In summer 2024, riots swept England in the biggest wave of far-right violence in the post-war period. But far-right activity takes many other forms as well, all of them dangerous.

Journalist Harry Shukman knows the dangers all too he’d gone undercover to infiltrate these groups. For over a year, he carefully attached his hidden lapel camera and pretended to be an extremist named Chris.

We follow Shukman as he hangs out in the pub with a secretive community network, canvasses with political party Britain First and attends a neo-Nazi conference. We meet a circle of Holocaust deniers, a race science organisation with a major Silicon Valley investor and right-wing think tanks supported by Conservative policymakers. What we witness is hard to believe, or stomach.

Year of the Rat is a gripping and urgent exposé – nail-bitingly tense, darkly absurd and utterly chilling. Risking his safety and sanity, Shukman has removed the far right’s terrifyingly everyday mask. Now, we must ensure it stays off.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Audiobook, History, Far Right, Race, British Literature

Audiobook

Published May 8, 2025

Reviews

[Kate]

Wish men could be lonely without making it everyone else’s fucking problem

[Roman Clodia]

Andrew [Sabisky] is hoping to build contacts within the Labour Party to continue influencing the next wave of policymakers... Tantalisingly, he says he ‘made friends with a spad in Starmer’s policy unit’. I ask as directly as I can who this might be, but he refuses to be drawn.
Andrew’s claim, the night we met at dinner last year, that he was ‘well-networked’ was not bluster. Despite his defenestration from the government for supporting race science, he is back in politics, almost as powerful as before... Andrew may not have changed since he first started talking about race and intelligence. He has, however, learned to alter his tactics. During our conversation, he reveals that he has been involved in pronatalist lobbying in the UK.

Tracing a year of being undercover and infiltrating a number of far-right extremist organisations, this starts off exactly where we would expect with the neo-Nazi, Holocaust deniers of groups like the Basketweavers who prey on the loneliness and alienation of young men; Patriotic Alternative, Identity England and Britain First. Their rhetoric of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim feelings and generalised racism intersects with misogyny (they lament their lack of girlfriends and wives while asserting women shouldn't be allowed to have bank accounts) and, sometimes, a desire to replace democracy with authoritarian dictatorships. So far, so expected, even while we are stunned at the conspiracy theories that abound in these communities who profess proof for a flat earth, time machine technology which 'elites' are withholding and the idea that Stonehenge is as fake as Auschwitz.

But it's the second half that becomes really chilling as Shukman traces the resurgence of race science, eugenics and pronatalism alongside a far smarter far-right mode of operating. Backed by Silicon Valley investors, the Kremlin's shady presence and networks that penetrate to Number 10 (under Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and now targeting Keir Starmer's government), these are the seemingly 'rational', 'objective', scientifically-based' people we really need to watch as they seek to control the gene pool and limit women's rights not just to conception but to, ideally, restrict our access to education, money and work as a means, apparently, of forcing white women to have more babies.

Backed by Hope Not Hate and having published a series of articles based on this undercover research in The Guardian, this is as much about Shukman's probing of his own conscience at his methods as it is on what he finds - particularly in the first sections, he feels a sympathy and empathy for young men searching for a solution to loneliness that leads them to being deliberately exploited and radicalised by the far-right. But that falls away in the second half, as a far slicker, globalised, well-funded movement centred on race science, eugenics and pronatalism emerges.

Obligatory reading, I'd say, for anyone interested in UK politics and beyond.

[Paul]

Harry Shukman is a reporter with Hope not Hate, an advocacy group with campaigns against racism and neo-fascism. It has also looked at antisemitism and islamophobia. He spent a year from 2023 undercover with several far right organisations trying to find out what they were up to and what sort of people were involved. He did this whilst wearing a wire and sometimes a minicam at some risk to himself.
He infiltrates a number of organisations and groups. It is investigative journalism rather than academic study or survey. These include the Basketweavers, Britain First, Traditional Britain Group and a number of others. The far right in Britain is fragmented into a number of groups with individuals moving between the groups or belonging to more than one.
Inevitably most of the people Shukman met were men, usually lonely, misogynist and with tendencies towards violence. They were looking for somewhere to belong. Shukman went to meetings in the UK and abroad, principally in Poland and Eastern Europe. He also met a number of significant figures on the far right including Paul Golding.
There’s a lot about Eugenics, Holocaust Denial, deporting all those with a different colour skin, plenty of nonsense about IQs and how white people have higher IQs (I kid you not), pronatalism (having as many children as possible, if you meet certain criteria), differential breeding and lots more disturbing ideas. There’s even a flat earther or two!
The New Statesman suggested Shukman had been on a Neo-Nazi safari. This is almost funny, almost because these are really disturbing people and their views are in danger of filtering through to the mainstream via parties like Restore Britain and Reform UK. The movements and ideas around race science are particularly worrying. It’s a bit depressing all in all.

[William K.Z.]

Unbelievable journalistic furever, this guy goes above and beyond to give us a peek behind the far right curtain.

Unfortunately, it’s exactly as terrible, disorganised and unconvincing as you might imagine. Very enjoyable read though.

*Audio book listen

[James Abbott]

We need community more than ever. How is the far right a viable option for so many lonely men.

[Viktoria Ungvari]

made me miss pubs (really not the point of the book)

[Charlotte]

i feel conflicted because while i understand that it's important to understand these groups from the inside to really get to grips with the problem of the stain of the far right on british society, shukman makes several good points about the morality of his part in it all. he does, as he acknowledges, put money directly into a neo nazi's pocket, and spends several days campaigning for a far right political party, the impact of which can't be measured by a disclaimer. the mental and emotional impact it also had on shukman himself to have to put himself in these dangerous situations is also commendable but in a way i feel morally unjust. i also can't say i feel any of the sympathy shukman attempts to make us feel that these men in horrifically racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic fringe groups are just victims of a non existent male loneliness epidemic. maybe they'd be less lonely if they weren't so horrendously politically aligned - they don't need a social programme to remedy or realign their political views, they need their brains rewiring.

[Lisa - *OwlBeSatReading*]

Equal parts fascinating/horrifying.

[Emma]

Despite the serious topic, I laughed multiple times…. But as amusing as it to be reassured large parts of the far right are currently the pathetic cliches we envision - just some bastard love child of BrassEye & Monty Python sketches, acted out by flat roofed pub regulars - it’s also deeply troubling to look at the educated, rich & politically connected contingent, their unhinged beliefs, & how they are manipulating greater support & insidiously spreading their ideology.

Harry spent a year undercover in various groups, including well known ones like Britain First, & his reflections on this are an engaging read for anyone from the UK. Because sadly, these groups have mastered the art of drawing in men who are lonely, who want to matter, to feel important, or whose lives haven’t turned out how they envisioned, & offering them the mirage of community, purpose, & value (&/or scapegoats). It’s easy to feel sorry for some of them, to see how better social emotional support & education would have avoided their far right journey. But what’s left largely unexamined here is what came first, the chicken or the egg / loneliness or abhorrent beliefs.

What I found most interesting was the tactics of courting negative press, in the hopes it gains traction with people who hate to see others ‘unjustly’ attacked. This is a serious issue with the rise of the ‘respectable’ Right & Reform. When the Centre & Left won’t engage properly in the discussions of the negatives associated with our immigration systems, or the aspects of genuine concern with the slide towards a real life Idiocracy, the door is left wide open for xenophobia, nationalism & eugenics - when what is really needed is reduced wealth inequality (financially & geographically), improved education, community building & facilities.

Pick up & embrace the rollercoaster of horrified giggles through to stomach churning revulsion at the morality void operating near the top of these systems. Those embracing the far right to justify their own privilege are the worst - including some who support “not genocide”-ing a people out of the gene pool & promoting speciation. Sometimes we need to look inside the other echo chambers.

[Euan Washbourn]

Quite interesting and very depressing in places. Didn’t learn anything ground breaking though. Chapter on race science could’ve have been half as long and wasn’t really about brits. Hard to make something as serious and frightening slightly dull but the author manages it

[Joe Groom]

Damn, some scary people live among us. Read the conclusion and cried but the stories w in this are crucial to understanding the current uk political system and how/why people are becoming so radicalised. We have to regulate tech companies and they have to be socialised rather than allowing them prioritising a profit based model.
In addition, hearing some of the language that is used among this “red pilled” community is terrifying to see how the current US Administration openly talks to their base through mainstream broadcasts.

[Jade Anastasia]

First of all, huge props to Harry for even wanting to go undercover for this research let alone managing to keep his sanity while doing it, this was some heavy journalism!

Terrifying but also we kind of knew this was the shit going on behind closed doors in the far right. Broaching topics like immigration, eugenics, antisemitism and race science alongside the people in these groups opinions on them, this isn’t a light read. It does cover up to reform elections and Stockport riots so it is incredibly relevant to right now and I feel in these next few years leading into the next election in 29.

I do feel like this book does a good job on also discussing how these groups really do exploit vulnerable people who are lonely and in search of community and it’s really a slippery pipeline of beliefs from that point. As I’m sure many others have, I’ve seen friends and family go down this route and it did make me better understand how it happened and what I can do in those conversations going forward.

[Rosie]

Wow. What a read. Harry Shukman is so brave for going undercover around some incredibly dangerous men. He is a brilliant writer and I really enjoyed how he laid out the hate and division he discovered in a powerful and unflinching way but was also looking for the ‘why’ for what brings people into joining the far right, without being overly-sympathetic.

I don’t know if I feel hopeful or just like there’s more despair there now for me, reading this in 2026 when everything he covers in the conclusion from 2024 has grown worse, it’s a bit of a gut punch.

My main takeaway is to confidently assume any far right individual or collective is far more racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, islamophobic, antisemitic, classist and ableist behind closed doors. Pronatalism, race science and eugenics are being pushed by the far right in the UK and across the globe, and are happening insidiously, funded by Silicon Valley.

I still have no idea how we challenge it, Shukman answers this with “there is no silver bullet”.

[Jesh]

honestly at the end i was just left staggered. it all goes so deep, and it’s so well funded

[Kirsten Irvine]

This is near perfect journalism. The findings are deeply important and a warning to us all about how easily elements of fascism can integrate into society. After the recent election results, this seems more relevant than ever. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the current political landscape and the importance of having an acute awareness of how right wing narratives are trying to change how we live, feel and think.

[Willy]

Unreal read from The Sunday Times young writer of the year. Harry/Chris seems like a good guy too. Buzzing for the next one

[Travis]

Really fascinating and obviously somewhat terrifying. I was struck by despite the varying political success of these different factions, just how socially dysfunctional many of these siloed communities or big characters proved to be in private settings.

It obviously makes sense, right? These people are losers by definition, pushed to societal fringes and extreme ideas. But couples squabbling at length over menu options, self-proclaimed betting aficionados admitting their next bet is all they have left, and supposedly serious political leaders raging at their social circles constituting unreliable layabouts and drunks who piss on tents. There’s moments of brief respite as you sort of revel in the failures and awkwardness of these groups in which Shukman has embedded himself.

Then, of course, the fear comes back - for every story of supposed influencers overstating their reputations and then feeling betrayed when their communities don’t support them in times of need, there’s a political operative unable to keep quiet about just how close they’ve gotten to the levers of power, and just which big names have provided them with ample financial backing.

I would’ve liked more discussion/analysis on these individual characters or the ways in which the different subfactions operate (how they recruit, who do they target and how, what are their biggest barriers to success, etc) as Shukman has obviously picked up a lot of insights, and sometimes it feels like he might have more to say. However, it feels hard to ask for any more from a journalistic perspective because the sheer scope of the project, which is really impressive. Good book, horrendous topic!

[Chris Botham]

Interesting insights into the far-right in Britain, who thankfully are largely unorganised and without significant funding.

I'm not sure if there were loads of new insights through this book, but I enjoyed the parts in particular where he analysed how lonely, young men are drawn-in and eventually wrung-out by far-right figures.

The author says there's no silver bullet to stop the far-right, which I don't necessarily agree with. The draw to the far-right, as he highlights in his book, always stems from alienation from work and wider society. A Marxist analysis here gives a clear solution; empower the working class and raise living standards for all. The author needed better analysis here to draw the book to a better close.

Some really interesting parts to the book for sure, but not revolutionary.

[Marybeth ❤️]

I enjoyed this book, I was quite scared for him in some parts with the undercover work and cameras!
However, I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that these neo Nazi men are finding it hard connecting with real people, especially in pursuit of their “perfect white race”.
I wasn’t surprised to find the funding came from wealthy Silicon Valley morons either.
Elon musk continually popping up is also a frightening reminder that we really need to pay heed to what these delusional rich people are saying.

Some men are not lonely enough!

[Lizzie]

One of the most interesting parts of this book is just the pure logistics of going undercover!

Well written, gripping and informative. I would really recommend this book.

I knocked off a star as it was slightly inconclusive (but this is almost to be expected due to the constraints of being undercover with a cap of just one year).

[Julia]

At first this was so shocking and insane that I was telling everyone to pick it up, but reading about the most vile and hateful people in the country for nine chapters gets tiring. Fair play Harry for sticking at it for a year

[Larry Brown]

Deeply, deeply terrifying

[Kathryn Hancock]

4.5 stars- this was (obviously) deeply depressing. Perhaps these lonely men should try filling their time with something other than racism????

[Fer Prz]

I always approach books that delve into right leaning or left leaning politics with a healthy dose of skepticism. There’s always an agenda at play. Facts and tangible actions should always complement this kind of reading, no matter which side.

This book draws on a definition of the far right as outlined by Cas Mudde, a political scientist at the University of Georgia. He describes it as an 'anti-system' ideology, hostile to liberal democracy. Far-right beliefs tend to encompass a mix of authoritarianism, sexism, xenophobia, racism and populism. Extreme right ideologies believe that inequalities are natural and outside of the purview of the state.

I enjoyed the book since it covered a lot of topics that are mentioned by young streamers. Right/Left wing grifting through social media is something I’ve spoken about with my teenage kids. The more informed we all are the better.

The author Harry Shukman is a journalist and activist based in the UK. He works for HOPE not hate, a self proclaimed anti fascist organization. Using a pseudonym, Harry develops an alternate persona named ‘Chris’ to infiltrate several right wing groups.

Chris spends a year commingling with several groups to understand their motivations, aspirations, and investors. It should come as no surprise that there are targeted and well funded efforts to influence society and it is happening in the digital and physical space. These right leaning groups are fringe and don’t have a lot of influence or resources. Based on the author’s findings, the great replacement theory or the fear of being manipulated by Jewish propaganda through the mainstream media are used by actors to recruit people that are easily fooled or are vulnerable to outlandish ideas such as semen retention.

It mostly discredits the groups and minimizes them to simpletons but the threat of violence is always present. After all a simpleton with a weapon and wicked thoughts is very dangerous.

Race science, eugenics, deportation, asylum protest/attacks were some of the topics that overlapped within these groups. As a Puerto Rican, I got reminded of our past with the recent performance by Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl. Some of these ideas were put to practice on the “second tier” U.S. citizens a few decades ago.

I have a 30 something year old family member that’s always parroting some points raised in this book. But when we offer push back or offer counter arguments, the response is “it’s just to get people to react”. Right wing radicalism and extremism sometimes just needs a small gap to make a breakthrough. It has happened in the past and is ever developing in the present.

[Robert Robinson]

SPOILERS FOR THE LOUIS THEROUX DOCUMENTARY

At the end of the Manosphere documentary, which has already done well to showcase how truly disgusting Theroux's subjects are, there is a section where all of the manosphere bigots suddenly turn antisemitic, blaming everything on - well, you can guess! As someone who was aware of Manosphere figures and see their TikToks (hate watch - I promise!), I was really surprised - I actually gasped at the TV. That wasn't something publicised about them often, but there they were spouting obscene racism, knowing they were being recorded! It felt jarring - and I guess I was ignorant towards how antisemitism still exists today.

That's part of the reason I read this book, and god is it enlightening. Shukman walks us through the so-called Basketweavers, isolated men with a chip on their shoulder who - if Shukman's representations are right - turn Far-Right because they feel abandoned and hateful of society. We see UKIP canvassing voters and its leader begging for money everyday. At the end of the book, most chillingly I think, we see someone fired from Cummings' team in the government having a WhatsApp group with 30 members, including mainstream British reporters. Racism is alive and kicking, and insidious. As one of them says to Shukman, "Everyone puts on a mask and they get into the machine and that's how it works."

Another thing that surprised me is how codified the talking points are - a new Far-Right figure is rising in the ranks at the moment (turns out Hope Not Hate has a file on him - they work quick!), and he spouts the same thing. It's clear that some racists are part of an organised group, and it is mobilised and working for their ends. Definitely something to watch out for - an important work for anyone interested in anti-racism and the need to defend equality.

--

I was going to explain an issue I had with the Gonzo Journalism aspect of this book, but it seems trite now. Truly an important work, so five stars.

[Mark O'Connell]

*Feeling like one's life isn't exactly what they'd expected and maybe in need of more genuine human connections*

• Normal people: "Maybe I'll join a club, get active and try to engage with society."

• Absolute losers: "I'm going to become a literal Nazi."

Fair play to the author for undergoing what he did to learn about the English far right. This book is entertaining and terrifying, eye-opening but obvious.

[Martha Watkins]

My first audiobook and my first non-fiction in like 3/4 years

Bit of a crazy listen, the type of crazy conspiracy stuff I am convinced doesn’t happen actually does happen?

I need someone with kindle highlights to read this book so everyone can see how unhygienic the far right are x

I hate that we have to be nice to loser lonely men to make them believe minorities and women are people too :(

[Annabelle]

This book is really compelling both in terms of the content and the story - it’s tense the whole way through as Shukman describes his time undercover. It helped me to connect some of the dots on the far right in the UK and to understand why it is important not just to be not racist; you must be anti-racist. I recommend.

[Lottie Whiley]

Listened to on Audible. Nothing in this book surprised me, but it's still shocking to hear. Harry Shukman did an amazing job in 3 ways - his undercover work, his book writing, and his reading of it for audio. An important read, no matter what way you lean!

[Emma]

this is one of the best non fiction books I’ve read in a long time; such a brave and important look at the rise of hatred in the uk. this was genuinely terrifying at times