Unveiling the Impact of Brexit: A Comprehensive Look at the Political Fallout of All Out War in Britain

Monosabio: Thorough history of this fascinating period in our political history. Well written without any bias - which is refreshing in these times. Centred around SW1 most of the time there is no analysis of who Brexit voters really were but that is not the subject of the book. All the more interesting to read this book 7+ years down the line. I look forward to the third book in this series later this year but you sense that the author can be usefully employed writing the political history of the time forever, for when will things ever settle down?

United Kingdom on Jun 17, 2023

Amazon Customer: Brexit may well now be in the final stages of this part of the pantomime but in many respects the interesting parts of this book will persist for a long time, mainly as an insight in how campaigns take off, react to issues and most important of all, apportion blame.

For a start, having Cameron take the lead in this campaign (putting aside his error in calling the ref in a completely unprepared way) was significant. It made it way too much about the party and because the real battle was in the tories, he was badly hamstrung by thinking as much (or even more) about the fortunes of his party. If ever someone must have preferred losing a general election, it was surely Cameron.

While there is plenty of bitching in both teams, the worst comes from the anti Corbyn lot in the Labour Party. The decision not to join a campaign but to run one of their own was taken before Corbyn took control so that too causes issues but was the right decision given the long term damage done in Scotland as a result of their referendum.

Those in Labour who did not support Corbyn, had told every one for years they had all the answers, were better politicians and knew how to campaign yet...

United Kingdom on Jan 04, 2020

JEDrury: Tim Shipman's book is an intense journalistic focus on the politics leading up to and about Brexit (from mid 2015 through Sept 2016). The book is long (600 + pages) and it could have been edited effectively without losing its color and analytical depth. Its vivid, even-handed portraits of the players (Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Jeremy Corbyn, David Cameron and Theresa May, Dominic Cummings) are enlightening, the "Remain" and the "Leave" landscape and strategy are fairly presented, its June 2016 outcome is dramatic (even though known) and its finale is a Shakespearian political scramble within the Tories leading up to the election of Theresa May as party leader. Shipman reserves his well thought out opinions for his thirty (30) page conclusion. The beginning includes an informative timeline and he adds Johnson's "In" Article and Cameron's "Victory" speech.

United States on Jan 04, 2018

Andreas Falke: If you want to understand the craziness of Brexit, here is a detailed account of the political dynamics, and the pressures Cameron was subject to. But with a cool head, it could have been prevented

United States on Oct 08, 2017

cryptopsyftw: I'm conflicted about the 4 stars; the missing star represents a flaw that has nothing to do with the author's ability to convey information in a non-biased manner. In fact he does quite the opposite; All Out War is compulsively readable. The story is complex, but Shipman navigates it well, covering each point in enough depth to demonstrate its importance without getting bogged down. Both the leave and remain sides of the debate are given roughly equal coverage, and the author keeps his personal biases enough in check that he does not advocate for one side nor disparage the other. Whatever your political slant, you won't put this book down feeling persecuted or misunderstood.

The way this story plays out in places feels akin to a novel; this is Game of Thrones with cups of Earl Grey. All the interactions between all the different characters build upon each other to form a deep but easily followed narrative up to Theresa May taking over. There will be players within this particular drama that you'll naturally be drawn to and others that you may wind up detesting, according to your own personal politics. It gives people the benefit of the doubt, suggesting frequently - and not...

United Kingdom on Jul 25, 2017

Retro Brit: I was engrossed in this book from the word go. We go through the whole process of how David Cameron was forced by his own Eurosceptics and UKIP pressure to do his famous Bloomberg speech. What followed next was the chain reaction and the underestimating of the Brexiteers’ ability to put together a substantial fighting force. This combined with events and powerful personalities brought about one of the most interesting political shockwaves I can remember in my 56 years of life.

This book is very detailed and looks at both Remain in the EU and Leave the EU camps and the consequences that brought it about. We also see some egotistical characters in the form of Dominic Cummings and Aron Banks with their different aggressive approaches.
We get a good look at how David Cameron watered down his demands after the Bloomberg speech and then tried to sell it to the electorate, thinking he had got a victory for the British people and his ministers.

Every chapter gives the reader an interesting angle and development as we edge close to the referendum day. It is not for the faint-hearted for it is packed with cunning ways to attract attention, good for one group and bad for...

United Kingdom on Jun 30, 2017

Amazon Customer: Fascinating instant - history of the Brexit campaigns and immediate aftermath. Even this yank across the pond could not put it down once I started reading - even knowing how it ends!

United States on Mar 19, 2017

Chris DeRose, NYT Bestselling Author: One of the best books I've ever read, and, as a political work, in the league with Cramer's masterpiece "What it Takes" (the greatest book ever written on politics) and Caro's Lyndon Johnson series.

I've been following British politics since the 1990's and intensely since the 2000's. But I wondered whether 688 pages on the Brexit referendum was more than I needed. On the contrary, Shipman provides all the necessary context of Britain's long and tumultuous relationship with the European Union without lingering or engaging in tedium.

What follows is a gifted storyteller mining an epic drama for all of its narrative worth. Imagine a national referendum over the future of the country with fissures running through party lines and pitting leaders of the two major parties against one another.

Underlying this national battle is the psychodrama among a group of friends who attended Oxford in the 80's: Boris Johnson, who watched as his younger classmate David Cameron ascended to the leadership of the Conservative Party and the premiership ahead of him, who emerges as the front man of the Leave campaign, putting him on the path to being prime minister; Michael Gove,...

United States on Jan 24, 2017

Marshall Lord: "All Out War" by Tim Shipman, the Political Editor of the Sunday Times (subtitled "The full story of how Brexit sank Britain's political class") is an immensely readable and very well informed account of the campaign leading up the referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. It has been described as "the first draft of history" and I suspect this book will be an essential first source for future historians for as long as there are historians to whom the history of 21st century Britain is of interest.

I strongly recommend this book.

I agonised when writing this review about whether I should compare Shipman's book to the best account of the 2014 Scottish Referendum campaign,  Project Fear: How an Unlikely Alliance Left a Kingdom United but a Country Divided  by Joe Pike. The reason I nearly decided not to make that comparison is that this book is in a different league: "Project Fear" is merely a very good book but "All out war" is a great one. The reason I did in the end decide to make the comparison is that both are head and shoulders above other accounts published in the immediate aftermath of their respective referenda and both are extremely readable...

United Kingdom on Jan 19, 2017

Tom Jennings: Fascinating look at the actors, the plans and the gaffes that led to Brexit. Shipman interviewed extensively and provides an almost day-by-day in progress review of the run-up to Brexit. The players on display are shown at their brilliant best and their lewd, bumbling worst. A must-read for political junkies, those trying to make sense of internationalism in retreat, and those curious about the parallels between Brexit and Trumpism.

United States on Dec 22, 2016