All out war. The full story of Brexit

This is the only book to tell the full story of how and why Britain voted to leave the EU.

Based on unrivalled access to all the key politicians and their advisors including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, George Osborne, Nigel Farage and Dominic Cummings, the mastermind of Vote Leave Tim Shipman has written a political history that offers a gripping, day-by-day account of what really happened behind-the-scenes in Downing Street, both Leave campaigns, the Labour Party, Ukip and Britain Stronger in Europe.

Shipman gives his readers a ringside seat on how decisions were made, mistakes justified and betrayals perpetrated. Filled with stories, anecdotes and juicy leaks the book does not seek to address the rights and wrongs of Brexit but to explore how and why David Cameron chose to take the biggest political gamble of his life and explain why he lost.

This is a story of calculation, attempted coups, individuals torn between principles and loyalty. All the events are here from David Cameron’s pledge to hold a referendum, through to the campaign itself, his resignation as prime minister, the betrayals and rivalries that occurred during the race to find his successor to the arrival of Theresa May in Downing Street as Britain’s second female prime minister.

All Out War is a book about leaders and their closest aides, the decisions they make and how and why they make them, as well as how they feel when they turn out to be wrong. It is about men who make decisions that are intellectually consistent and by their own measure morally sound that are simultaneously disastrous for themselves and those closest to them. It is about how doing what you know has worked before doesn’t always work again. Most of all it is about asking the question: how far are you prepared to go to win?

Contents:

Part 1: Skirmishes. From Bloomberg to Brussels, October 2011 to February 2016
1. 'My Lily-livered Colleagues...'
2. For Britain
3. Dom and Arron
4. Stronger In
5. Cornering Corbyn
6. Guerrilla Warfare
7. The Coup
8. The Deal
9. Boris and Michael

Part 2: Battle Is Joined. The Campaign, February to June 2016
10. Project Fear
11. The IDS of March
12. Designation's What You Need
13. 'Back of the Queue'
14. The Economy, Stupid
15. Blue On Blue
16. Turning Points
17. Aunty Beeb
18. Debating Points
19. Labour Isn't Working
20. Immigration Crisis
21. George's Monstrous Medicine
22. Breaking Points
23. Wembley
24. The Waterloo Strategy
25. Brexit Night

Part 3: All Out War. Leadership, June to August 2016
26. Fallout Friday
27. Jexit
28. The Dream Team
29. Anyone But Boris
30. Brexecuted
31. Mayniacs v Leadbangers
32. Iron May-den

Conclusion: Why Leave Won