Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • How They Broke Britain

  • By: James O'Brien
  • Narrated by: James O'Brien
  • Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,809 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

How They Broke Britain

By: James O'Brien
Narrated by: James O'Brien
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

‘Made me so angry I had to stop listening to it while driving. Superb’ THE SECRET BARRISTER

Something has gone really wrong in Britain.

Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it?

Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists complicit in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees.

.

©2023 James O'Brien (P)2023 Penguin Audio
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

How to Be Right cover art
The Conspiracy Tourist cover art
How Not to Be Wrong cover art
How Westminster Works...and Why It Doesn't cover art
Depraved New World cover art
The Decade in Tory cover art
The Plot cover art
Rambling Man cover art
Jonathan Pie cover art
There Is Nothing For You Here cover art
Blue Murder cover art
All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class cover art
The Abuse of Power cover art
Lying in State cover art
The Hunting of Hillary cover art
Breaking the News cover art

Critic reviews

"How They Broke Britain made me so angry I had to stop listening to it while driving. Superb work." (The Secret Barrister)

"A damning account of how the country ended up in the current mess . . . O’Brien’s scathing voice provides a thorough record of the self-serving actions and pronouncements of those who have held power in Britain." (Tim Jonze)

"The most important political book of the year and a fascinating must-read for anyone who cares about Britain. Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, heart-breaking." (Carol Vorderman)

What listeners say about How They Broke Britain

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,479
  • 4 Stars
    209
  • 3 Stars
    51
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    45
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,376
  • 4 Stars
    216
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    49
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,395
  • 4 Stars
    197
  • 3 Stars
    47
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    48

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential

Read by the author himself, this is a clear and chilling account of how a minority in the media affects the way the government is run and how the public is regularly lied to and governed. It is an account of how the country is in the mess it is currently in.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

James’ Best Work

This is Mr O’Brien’s best book by far. Each chapter takes a different person of interest and details each of the litany of crimes they have committed against the UK. It makes you very angry, but for once directed at the right people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well Excepted

The book is very good, less biased than expected. But it only criticises. It’s very easy to criticise.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Detailed and analytical

Brilliant - Thank you James for so eloquently putting into words what has happened in Britain recently.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

long time listener first time commenter.

Whilst we all love to listen to your dulcet tone a second narrator may bring more focus to the serious points and allow you to direct your wit with more precision. Wishing you Health and Happiness.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very good review of what has gone on

There were many things I knew but had forgotten. Whether you align with his political views or not (I believe I do) the book is heavily based on fact and cannot be disputed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

All UK Voters should read this book

Especially those who watch GB News, talk TV, read the Mail, Express, Spectator and Telegraph.

It just shows the lies, self serving nature of those who have damaged the UK and lead to the terrible state we are in now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excoriating

Would love to see some of the “usual suspects” when they hear this. Mind blowing that they are all still living fat off the land

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Grim is the new Tory Blue

A chronicle of ineptitude barely covers it. Obfuscation and deceit have always been bed fellows in politics but here the author has dug over the dirt that covers it in the hope of a little sun light might disinfect what lies beneath. it won't change anything, Britain has been broken a long time but the pillars of bought privilege and misplaced confidence still stand firm.It maintains a system that allows these characters to fail upwards time after time after time. Very well written and presented I doubt it will change much as it won't be read by those of us who have been gulled by the charade that is British Democracy. One I fear is blundering into fascim. Well worth a read. Better yet get others to read it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sad and painful story but the best description of modern British politics!

A must listen book! James O’Brien research and presentation is superb! Got the app just for this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!