Atlantic snaps up Seldon's 'authoritative' account of Boris Johnson's tenure

Atlantic Books has acquired Johnson at 10, an account of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s time in office by political and social commentator Sir Anthony Seldon. 

Senior editor James Pulford acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, as well as audio and serial rights, from Martin Redfern at Northbank Talent Management. Johnson at 10 will be published in hardback and e-book in spring 2023.

"After his sudden rise to power in the summer of 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock, Boris Johnson presided over the most dramatic period of British history in almost a century," states the synopsis. "From the controversial prorogation of Parliament in August 2019 to the Conservative Party’s historic landslide victory later that year, the agonising upheaval of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, the Afghanistan crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, and the series of devastating scandals that were ultimately Johnson’s undoing, his premiership has been more explosive than any other in living memory.

"In this gripping work of contemporary history, Anthony Seldon, one of Britain’s leading political and social commentators, gives the first fully insider account of Johnson’s seismic time in office from the summer of 2019 to the autumn of 2022. Based on remarkable interviews with key aides and allies, and full of new revelations, Johnson at 10 is the definitive portrait of the most divisive prime minister since Margaret Thatcher and the latest instalment in Anthony’s bestselling Prime Ministers at 10 series."

Seldon, a former headmaster and vice-chancellor, is a historian, writer and commentator. He co-founded the Institute for Contemporary British History and Action for Happiness, is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a former honorary historical adviser at Number 10, and is chair of the National Archives Trust. He is author or editor of more than 45 books on contemporary history, politics, wellbeing and education, including The Impossible Office? (Cambridge University Press), May at 10 (Biteback) and The Path of Peace, which will publish this autumn with Atlantic.

"The premiership of Boris Johnson is one of the most controversial in the 300 years of the office," Seldon said. "Visionary or self-server? Remarkable leader or utter incompetent? Courageous, chameleon or charlatan? This book, the seventh in the series that uniquely gets inside the mind and court of each prime minister to reach objective historical conclusions, will be the definitive judgement on Boris Johnson for years to come."

Pulford added: "With his extensive experience and unparalleled access, Anthony has established himself as the foremost historian of Downing Street and the office of prime minister at work today. From the heady, hubris-filled days of July 2019 to the nerve-shredding collapse in confidence just three years later, this is the authoritative account of the most turbulent time in British politics in almost a century. We are thrilled to be publishing Johnson at 10."