All Out War
The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain’s Political Class
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All Out War
Narrated by:
Rupert Farley
Buy Now for £31.42
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Narrated by:
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Rupert Farley
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By:
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Tim Shipman
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2017
#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘The best political book of the year’ Andrew Marr
‘A superb work of storytelling and reporting. Sets new benchmark for the writing of contemporary political history’ Guardian
The only book to tell the full story of how and why Britain voted to leave the EU.
This is the acclaimed inside story of the EU referendum in 2016 that takes you behind the scenes of the most extraordinary episode in British politics since the Second World War.
With unparalleled access to all key players, this is a story of calculation, attempted coups and people torn between principles and loyalty. It is a book about our leaders and their closest aides, the decisions they make, how and why they make them and how they feel when they turn out to be so wrong.
In All Out War, Tim Shipman has written a political history that reads like a thriller, exploring how and why David Cameron chose to take the biggest political gamble of his life, and why he lost.
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Critic reviews
‘I can't imagine a more even-handed or better sourced, all points-of-view account of the biggest story in British politics since WWII … A fine book’ ANDREW MARR, Sunday Times
'Shipman's dispatches are a must read if you want to understand what happened beneath the smog and beyond the noise of the conflict’ NICK ROBINSON
‘Shipman is brilliantly qualified to write the inside story of the referendum, with his unrivalled access to all the players’ JOHN RENTOUL
‘One of the best political journalists of his era … It’s impossible to fully comprehend what happened on June 23 and the ensuing two weeks without reading this book … Brilliant’ – IAIN DALE, LBC
‘Shipman’s book is by far the best. It is a detailed, often pitch-perfect account that delivers the tale with an infectious sense of human drama – no mean feat, given the task of completing the whole thing so quickly’ JOHN HARRIS, New Statesman
‘The essential account … Shipman has spoken to every key individual to produce the definitive first draft of history, a comprehensive yet impartial study of how Brexit won’ Financial Times
‘Excellent … Shipman convincingly marshals fresh evidence to prove what we already half-knew’ WILL HUTTON, Observer
‘The best political book of the year was undoubtedly Tim Shipman’s masterly ‘All Out War’’ New Statesman
‘Stonkingly good: if you’re vaguely interested in politics buy it. It won’t be bettered’ FRASER NELSON
‘Thorough, comprehensive and utterly gripping. It is hard to imagine a better first draft of history’ – Economist
‘Undoubtedly the British political book of the year’ ALEX MASSIE
‘Shipman, one of the most brilliant, best informed and well-connected journalists in Westminster, has written a superlative book which does full justice to a momentous time’ PETER OBORNE
‘Don’t think any of the quotes do justice to quite how good it is. A superb work of reporting and storytelling, and sets new benchmark for the writing of contemporary political history’ ANDREW SPARROW
Tim Shipman's book manages impartiality by only expressing opinions through the mouths of the participants he interviews. Sometimes these are named - like Farage or Arron Banks - more often they are " a source close to Gove" (for example). He only expresses opinions himself to drill down into situations where accounts differ - amazing considering he was writing just weeks after these events took place.
There does seem to be a little bias - though it is buried deep, and may simply be down to contrasting natures of the two campaigns. The characters in both main Leave campaigns, for instance, come across as much more colourful than those in the worthy but duller Remain camp, but that may just be because they probably were. The otherwise-admirable multitude of options that pervade the book seem to go missing when considering the somewhat lackluster Labour Campaign and Corbyn's remarkable effect at galvanizing new party members is dismissed, suggesting (without comment) that they are mainly leftist nutters.
So, if you want a quick and/or biased (one way or the other) account, then look elsewhere. If you want a riveting, beautifully written (and read) day by day historical account of what happened to who and when, then you will enjoy this. Shipman does examine the reasons that Leave won - and offers plenty of often contradictory opinions from his sources - but never reaches a definitive conclusion. After all, he'd have to interview tens of millions of people to do that, and that's probably a bit much, even for him!
Magnificent blow by blow account
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Beyond parody
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Gripping political drama
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Educational
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Probably the biggest shortcoming in my view is the absence of any discussion of the actions of the EU or European leaders, especially concerning the limited deal they offered Cameron. Whilst I can appreciate that the author consciously wanted to focus on the British angle, a chapter or two would have been of significant interest in contextualising events.
That aside, an engaging yarn, well told, without obvious, aggravating bias.
Engaging with some short comings
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