Out: How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone cover art

Out: How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone

How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone

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Out: How Brexit Got Done and the Tories Were Undone

By: Tim Shipman
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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About this listen

The hotly anticipated final book of bestselling author Tim Shipman’s Brexit quartet. The Johnson Years to Rishi Sunak

'Magnificent… Pacy and packed with delicious details… Shipman puts you in the room… His analysis is sharp and full of insight… For those seeking a moment-by-moment insider history it will not be topped' FT

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.

©2024 Tim Shipman (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Elections & Political Process Europe Great Britain Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Government

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Critic reviews

A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Out is a magnificent work … pacy and packed with delicious details … Shipman puts you in the room with tremendous detail, with all the horror, swearing and macho loutishness… When Shipman raises his eyes, often in summing up a leader’s time in office, his analysis is sharp and full of insight… For those seeking a moment-by-moment insider history it will not be topped'

Financial Times

‘Filled with the same mix of serious analysis, gossip and eye-opening anecdotes as the first three… as he has done throughout the series, he does his best to avoid caricature, explain the tricky trade-offs faced by everyone involved and highlight politicians’ talents as well as their flaws. This is not an easy thing to do when you’re writing about Liz Truss'

The Times

' An Iliad of Tory misery, infighting and political failure covering the implosion of the Johnson, Truss and Sunak premierships’

The Times, A Book of the Year 2024

‘Magisterial… a wild ride through the rapids of Britain's unforgettable, disturbing Brexit years… a lively mix of high politics [and] low gossip’

Evening Standard

‘The definitive blow-by-blow history. I cannot imagine this account ever being superseded in its mastery of political detail. An important and often surprising book, one of lasting significance, and moreover a really good real’

British Journalism Review

‘It is addictive. The detail is jaw dropping and the narrative drive outstanding. These Shipman books are for the ages. Any future historian wanting to understand what happened will need this quartet'

Iain Martin, Reaction Life and Times columnist

All stars
Most relevant
A thoroughly enjoyable listen. A nuanced and meticulously pieced together story of how events unfolded during this insane time.

The authoritative story of Brexit and beyond

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The story of Brexit and the Boris years told in impressive details. However, the narration sounds like an AI bot. Strange stresses and a robotic read. This is a shame as it lets down an otherwise excellent book.

Fantastic story let down by the narration

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In terms of content this final book in Shipman's Brexit saga is just as engrossing, fascinating, hilarious and depressing as the previous three. It takes a real gift to make some of the more tedious drudgery of political process and chicanery interesting, and Shipman does it here just as well as he does in the earlier books.

A particular highlight for me was explaining why the (utterly fatuous and misnamed, we HAD a People's Vote with the referendum itself!) People's Vote campaign floundered at a key time due to egos, something that i had little knowledge of and hasn't really ever been discussed elsewhere. As with the first book in this series in particular (All Out War) an overriding sense for me was that NOBODY comes out of the various scheming well, and as with everything in this series this meant that i absolutely feel that the author is unbiased, combining masterful storytelling with clear objective judgments.

I have to agree with other reviews bemoaning the narration though; I have no idea why Rupert Farley didn't return to finish the job he carried out so expertly in the previous books, but the narrator here is several rungs below his brilliant reading and places strange stresses on some words and at times sounds like an automaton. Unfortunately this really did affect my enjoyment, especially across the 43 hours this runs for,

Shipman has received multiple accolades for this series and deserves them; he expertly dissects motives, events and outcomes, and makes it a gripping ride. As with most series of books this book whilst great on its own can't properly be appreciated and digested without reading/listening to the previous ones and in order; the narration didn't completely stop me thoroughly enjoying this listen as much as the others; these are 4 credits really well used!!

A triumphant conclusion to a fascinating quartet

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An outstanding commentary of an important episode in the history of the United Kingdom. The detail and balance enables an informed and important discussion and conclusion.
Presentation and production is outstanding

detail & balanced

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Once again Shipman reminds us what a bunch of clowns we’ve had running the UK. They took us all for fools and seemed to always mistake their own fortunes and those of their party with what the country needed.

So awful it’s funny - not the book but the PMs we’ve endured

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