On New Year's Eve 2019, Rafael Behr had what is clinically known as a massive bloody heart attack. In part, it was the result of his compulsive relationship with politics, working as a journalist in Westminster, on the front line of bitter information wars. When he was discharged from hospital, he asked himself how he would ever re-engage with politics - how would he care enough to write about it - without the stress? Something had to change.
In 2021, Rafael published an essay about that experience and some of the lessons he had learned. The response was overwhelming. Well over 250,000 people read the article online on the first day it appeared. Within hours of publication, he had raised thousands of pounds for his local heart charity. Messages poured in from strangers, colleagues and Westminster contacts. They recognised Rafael's account of toxic politics.
This book is both an unflinching account of the disease in our politics and an upbeat look for the cure. As Rafael says, to change the way we do politics we need to understand the failure at its heart - the bad habits and toxic diet of rage and misinformation that obstruct the flow of trust and decency that are essential for a functioning democracy. The story involves encounters with politicians, internet trolls, tech giants, Kremlin-sponsored robots, some neuroscientists and a lot of ordinary voters. It is also a personal journey, charting how one heart failed under the weight of broken politics - and how it recovered.