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W H Allen acquires How They Broke Britain by O'Brien
W H Allen has signed How They Broke Britain by James O’Brien, author of How Not to be Wrong and How to be Right.
Editorial director and head of W H Allen, Jamie Joseph, acquired world all-language rights directly from the author, for publication on 2nd November 2023.
The publisher says: “The mood in Britain feels bleak. The economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are rapidly growing. We are living in a country that is almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But who is at fault? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?”
O’Brien said: “Callers to my radio show are angry and confused about what has happened to this country. And so, to be honest, am I. There has been no grand conspiracy, but public discourse has been so horribly skewed by vested interests that we sometimes struggle to see what has unfolded in plain sight.
“Politicians high on the patronage of shady lobby groups can hobble the economy while being hailed as visionaries by right-wing newspapers. The same lobby groups pop up all over the media to peddle the vampiric prioritisation of profit over people without ever being asked to disclose their credentials or their funding. Unprecedentedly dishonest politicians, aided by weak opposition and a cowed BBC, see their lies go unchallenged and then, finally disgraced, waltz off to lucrative berths in the same client media that amplified their lies and deceptions.”
He continued that by focusing on 10 people at the heart of power – and their countless acolytes – he hopes to map “the shady network of influence that has transformed Britain into a land of strikes, shortages and scandals while a tiny group accrued ever greater reserves of wealth and power".
“From dark think tanks to self-serving politicians, cynical media barons to tame journalists, I hope to call out the people who have contrived – by incompetence and design – to bring Britain to its knees.
"More than anything, I hope in some small way to contribute to the much-needed process of rehabilitation and recovery. Because we all deserve better,” he said.
