How They Broke Britain cover art

How They Broke Britain

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

How They Broke Britain

By: James O'Brien
Narrated by: James O'Brien
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

‘Made me so angry I had to stop listening to it while driving. Superb’ THE SECRET BARRISTER

Something has gone really wrong in Britain.

Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?

Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists complicit in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees.

.

©2023 James O'Brien (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Politics & Government Thought-Provoking Funny

Listeners also enjoyed...

How to Be Right cover art
The Conspiracy Tourist cover art
How Not to Be Wrong cover art
How Westminster Works . . . and Why It Doesn't cover art
Depraved New World cover art
The Decade in Tory cover art
The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson cover art
Rambling Man cover art
Jonathan Pie cover art
There Is Nothing For You Here cover art
Blue Murder cover art
All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class cover art
The Abuse of Power cover art
Lying in State cover art
The Hunting of Hillary cover art
Breaking the News cover art

Critic reviews

"How They Broke Britain made me so angry I had to stop listening to it while driving. Superb work." (The Secret Barrister)

"A damning account of how the country ended up in the current mess . . . O’Brien’s scathing voice provides a thorough record of the self-serving actions and pronouncements of those who have held power in Britain." (Tim Jonze)

"The most important political book of the year and a fascinating must-read for anyone who cares about Britain. Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, heart-breaking." (Carol Vorderman)

All stars
Most relevant
A work of pure FACT… James has dotted every single I and, microscopically, crossed every single T. It’s like reading a Venn diagram of the corruption, nepotism, sleaze, traitorism, and evil that has been woven in to British society by the propagomists in this book. I had to take a hot bath after every chapter just to try and wash the stench of these utter barstewards of my skin.!! Thank you James. Keep fighting the good fight !

Forensic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Read by the author himself, this is a clear and chilling account of how a minority in the media affects the way the government is run and how the public is regularly lied to and governed. It is an account of how the country is in the mess it is currently in.

Essential

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you were angry before you'll be seething with rage after reading this meticulously researched work. While its an open secret that the brexit result was illegally bought and paid for not least by using social media algorithms to manipulate swing voters with alarmist made up and/or improbable propaganda organised by those that stood to personally gain. Its fortifying to hear JO'B's unbending arrows of rectitude targeting the goons that got us into this utterly lamentable divisive disarray and national foreclosure, championed by Mr Farage like an infected Admiral Ackbar hailing the EU as the Evil Empire with a token defense from ineffectual stormtroopers Cameron and Osbourne from the planet Wet Blanket. Boris gets an angry assasination and blunt dissection, the wallpaper roll cost number of 840 should be tattooed on Boris's head in the shape of Damien's 666. A great but depressing listen.             

Not so angry about it all, you will be...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

brilliantly researched and documented factors resulting in the mess of the UK today. Very well written and the performance is great; I liked the impressions😉

well documented history beautifully written and performed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Usual great quality of writing.
Sad he had so much material to choose from really, but he’s never going to be short.
Love his style and clarity of writing.
Shame I have to wait now for another one.

Another excellent book from James O’Brien.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews