The Times 'Politics Book of the Year 2022'

Selected as one of the New Statesman's 'Best Books of 2022'

Selected as one of Morning Star's 'Best Books of 2022'

From the Great Depression to the cost-of-living crisis, a new history of British democracy, revealing how politics is transformed through fear.

Over Britain's first century of mass democracy, politics has lurched from crisis to crisis. How does this history of political agony illuminate our current age of upheaval?

To find out, journalist Phil Tinline takes us back to two past eras when the ruling consensus broke down, and the future filled with ominous possibilities - until, finally, a new settlement was born. How did the Great Depression's spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher's road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change course once again?

Tinline brings to life those times, past and present, when the great compromise holding democracy together has come apart; when the political class has been forced to make a choice of nightmares. This lively, original account of panic and chaos reveals how apparent catastrophes can clear the path to a new era. The Death of Consensus will make you see British democracy differently.

'Tinline has a wonderful gift of making political history fun. Carefully researched and vividly written, this book is about personalities as much as principles. He has a keen eye for telling biographical details.' - The Sunday Times

'One of the most original books on British politics published this year.' - The Times

'One of the most original and enjoyable books on British politics to have appeared for many years.' - New Statesman

'An insightful and timely new book.' - The Spectator

'[A] fascinating analysis of the bad dreams that have fashioned Britain's dominant narratives.' - Morning Star

'An excellent book about the death of successive political orders.' - Prospect

'An engaging anecdote-packed history.' - Foreign Affairs