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The Assault on Truth
- Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism
- Narrated by: Peter Oborne
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
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Summary
The Sunday Times Top 10 Best Seller
When Peter Oborne wrote The Rise of Political Lying, looking at the growth of political falsehood under John Major and Tony Blair, he believed things had got as bad as they could be. With the arrival of Boris Johnson at No 10 in 2019 began a new and unprecedented epidemic of deceit.
In The Assault on Truth, a short and powerful new polemic, Oborne shows how Boris Johnson lied again and again in order to secure victory so he could force through Brexit in the face of parliamentary opposition. Johnson and his ministers then lied repeatedly to win the general election in December 2019. The government’s woeful response to the coronavirus pandemic has generated another wave of falsehoods, misrepresentations and fabrications.
The scale and shamelessness of the lying of the Johnson administration far exceeds the lying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and other issues under Tony Blair. This book argues that the ruthless use of political deceit under the Johnson government is part of a wider attack on civilised values and traditional institutions across the Western world, especially by Donald Trump in the USA. The Johnson and Trump methodology of deceit is about securing power for its own ends - even when they get exposed for lying, they shrug it off as a matter of no consequence.
It matters because all Western institutions are built around the idea of integrity and accountability. This means that an assault on truth is an assault on the rule of law, state institutions and the fundamental idea of fairness, and even democracy itself.
Critic reviews
"A clinical and merciless account of Johnson's mendacity... gripping." (Guardian)
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What listeners say about The Assault on Truth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Arkhidamos
- 14-03-21
Solid book
I’m a Marxist - one of the “progressives” excoriated by Peter Oborne’s very reductive views on political philosophy for privileging ends over means, in the vein of Rousseau, the French Revolution and, it turns out (at least according to Mr Oborne’s rather eclectic views), Dominic Cummings and Boris Johnson. So it’s safe to say I have little in common with the author, although I too voted for Brexit and loathe the myriad hypocrisies of Remainers. Moving on from political philosophy, I disagree with the author’s attack on the dishonesty that permeates his profession of journalism as stemming from the 1960s and the endemic dishonesty in politics as stemming from Tony Blair. I think this is a selective and superficial explanation at best.
But. I heartily recommend this book. It’s a damning indictment of the rot at the top of the British political class and an important record of events including the clearance of the top of the civil service by the government. I could wish for more structural commentary on some of the causes, such as why politics has hollowed out from the mass engagement and collective identities of “trade union, party, regiment” that Mr Oborne describes, as I’d be interested in hearing the views of a conservative thinker who isn’t frothing at the mouth. So enjoyable did I find this erudite rant that I can’t even hold against it the invocation of god or the almost-naive view that by simply leaning on our MPs we’ll push back against lying, when it is a structural feature of a political democracy attempting to maintain its legitimacy amidst the contradiction of democratic political institutions with a mass franchise being used to rain down endless attacks on the vast majority of working class people.
I was sorry to learn that for a brave stand against lying Peter Oborne had lost his perch amidst the media. There seems to be an uptick in this kind of thing, cf Ronan Farrow’s ouster from NBC for pursuing Weinstein.
17 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-02-21
A stark reminder Bojo is a liar and cheat
The story is narrated with gusto, passion and no small amount of bitterness by the author, J Oborne. It's a clinical dissection of our Prime Minister's character lest we forge the man we've elected. Oborne only focuses on politics, with no mention of his private life, and it's quite enough to leave the listener feeling queasy.
The driving force behind Johnson is made clear; namely what's best for himself. This is hardly Churchillian. One is left feeling we have truly left Kansas and entered another world of politics, and the only other leader to have stepped through the same looking glass (sorry for switching fantasies) has been recently been seen to have no clothes.
11 people found this helpful
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- Andy lane
- 21-03-21
I like the content but the narration makes me feel anxious.
I think the content is great and needs exposing but the narration is so bad I can’t listen anymore. Apple started a strange speech pattern of putting massive and artificial emphasis on the bingo words they want to sink in and the tori’s BJ especially have copied this voice pattern. Months ago I stopped being able to watch BJ as this strange emphasis seemed all the more sick for the lies it carried and the death toll as a consequence. I still can’t watch Boris because of the speech pattern I associate with dishonesty and propagandistic content so to find the same content on a book opposing BJ and supporting my beliefs about what BJ has done to our country is just too much to take. I really want to listen but can’t get past that pattern of speech because of its associations. Try it yourself though, I’m blind so put much more emphasis on tone, intonation and patterns. You may not have the same problem and I think the content is good.
5 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-06-21
Too many inaccuracies
While a lot of what Oborne says in this book is true virtually every comment (with the exception of his take on the care home situation) about the Corona "pandemic" has been proved wrong by history and by the data.
He wrongly lauds Merkel and Drosten for their handling of Covid (Drosten is now widely recognised as a total fraud) and he claims that Trump's suggestion that people take Hydroxychloroquin was dangerous and led to many deaths. That is nonsense and we now see governments and the WHO recommending its use.
He also claims that being late locking down meant that Johnson had cost thousands of British lives. Wrong again, all the data shows that lockdowns have no significant effect on outcomes.
Any serious journalist should know that a rush to judgement before all the facts are known is a dangerous path to follow but Oborne has followed it anyway and it has cost him and his book an awful lot of authority.
4 people found this helpful
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- Paul Williams
- 11-05-21
A Very Timely and Sobering Warning For Everyone
This book is both opportune and in many many ways vital reading. It fills the gap by reporting the facts that the press have not been allowed to report. It is amazing to hear a main stream eminent politics reporter of long standing like Peter Oborne come clean about the complicity of editors and their newspaper owners, in both reporting false government propaganda as well as not challenging government lies. Like Peter Oborne I have long wondered how Tony Blair got away with lying to Parliament and why Boris Johnson's reward for well substantiated lies during the Brexit campaign was to be made Prime Minister. Peters well written and well research book has gone a long way to help me understand both phenomena. The fact that I cannot get this information as part of everyday news discussions shows what a dangerous position we are in as a so called modern democracy with a supposed free press. To avoid a catastrophic loss of rights we really have to put our vote to good use rather than throwing it away of celebrity politicians who openly lie to us. Thanks Peter a very timely and very well written book
4 people found this helpful
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- jan w.
- 24-03-21
Essential reading for those wanting integrity and truth from politicians
Very well documented account of the many distortions and lies from this Conservative-government- I appreciated someone identifying these with the sense of moral outrage we should all feel, highlighting the insipidness and obsequiousness of our press and weak interviewing or ignoring lies from our broadcast media- owned by those press owners who are so inextricably linked with the Tories and who promote the many lies told to the public- especially during the Brexit campaign, 2019 general election and towards Parliament and the judiciary.
4 people found this helpful
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- D. Cottam
- 26-04-21
An important and absorbing account of our times
Peter Oborne is not a left wing firebrand. His account of Johnson’s ignominious rise to power is detailed and shocking even to someone who already had a low opinion of our PM.
Osborne’ s patrician tone make’s his analysis even more powerful. He has worked with Johnson and noted his methods.
He even mentions the grudging regard he once had for Johnson as a comic journalist with the popular touch.
He has written for all the established conservative papers but retained a respect for the importance of honesty and truthful journalism.
He pays close attention to events and writes with the dignity and outrage of a moral philosopher about the damage wrought by narcissistic populists with no respect for the truth.
This book is not long but it is a valuable analysis that deserves a lot of attention.
It is very well read by the author. He does a creditable impersonation of Johsonian bombast when required.
It is a lethal book.
2 people found this helpful
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- G. Findlay
- 14-04-21
Shockingly good...
I knew how shockingly bad Johnson was, this confirmed that and more. Proper journalism. Great listen/read.
2 people found this helpful
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- Battleton
- 12-04-21
Very good
Peter Oborne is an unlikely author for such a devastating critique of Boris Johnson. The content and sentiment expressed deserves to be more mainstream than it is at present. But it’s not mainstream precisely because of people who should known better either aiding and abetting or choosing to look the other way.
1 person found this helpful
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- Citizen M
- 23-03-21
Excellent!
One of the best recent books on British politics. Cannot recommend highly enough! Thoroughly enjoyed.
1 person found this helpful