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*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE*

‘An Orwell for today’s poor’ – The Times
‘The standout, authentic voice of a generation’ Herald
‘McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say’ Nick Cohen, Guardian

Why are the rich getting richer while the poor only get poorer? How is it possible that in a wealthy, civilised democracy cruelty and inequality are perpetuated by our own public services? And how come, if all the best people are in all the top jobs, Britain is such an unmitigated bin fire?

Join Darren McGarvey on a journey through a divided Britain in search of answers. Here, our latter-day Orwell exposes the true scale of Britain’s social ills and reveals why our current political class, those tasked with bringing solutions, are so distanced from our lived experience that they are the last people you’d want fighting your corner.

Praise for Darren McGarvey:

‘Utterly compelling’ Ian Rankin, New Statesman

‘Brilliant’ Russell Brand

‘An absolutely fascinating individual’ Owen Jones

‘Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right… articulate and emotional’ Financial Times

Publisher Review

This is McGarvey at his best, asking discomfiting questions of many-most?-of his readers and also pointing out that class inequality is endlessly reproduced by people who either do well out of it or are too institutionalised to see what is in front of them. The quality of McGarvey's reporting and storytelling is first-rate... he makes no end of astute points * John Harris, Observer (Book of the Week) * An Orwell for today's poor... By the end readers will be left in no doubt about the fact that our society is still riven by class inequality * The Times * Breaks your heart and boils your blood * The Big Issue * Vital and indispensable. Documents how we succeeded in creating a 21st century ruling class who - in their complacency, their lack of engagement, their blinkered ideology and dead-hand managerialism - are themselves, now, the principal source of the social problems they so confidently locate elsewhere, and which they therefore cannot even begin to solve * Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman * An essential read for every politician, civil servant, councillor, charity worker, police officer and teacher. [An] angry, but controlled, expose of the wide gap between Britain's decision-makers and those most affected by their thoughtless, stupid or selfish actions. * Susan Dalgety, The Scotsman *