Year of the Rat

WINNER OF THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD ‘A tense account of going undercover inside Britain‘s far-right groups. At times it reads like a novel... only the stakes are real‘ Sunday Times ‘Important and courageous‘ James O‘Brien Harry Shukman led a double life. Friends and family knew him as a journalist, but unbeknownst to them he was secretly infiltrating the British far right. Equipped with a hidden camera, he posed as ‘Chris‘ and set out to expose right-wing extremists. From canvassing with Britain First to befriending Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis and a Silicon Valley-backed race-science organisation, Shukman again and again risked his safety and sanity to remove the far right‘s terrifyingly everyday mask. Now, we must ensure it stays off. ‘Boldly and bravely, Shukman achieves something only the best novels manage. He sits with far-right activists long enough to understand them, and in doing so, makes the movement far more frightening and far more human than any polemic ever could‘ Lea Ypi ‘Brave and humane, Harry Shukman delivers a nuanced and insightful portrait of a world many of us would prefer not to see‘ Graham Norton ‘Year of the Rat reads like the perfect thriller. Nail bitingly tense, darkly funny, unexpectedly compassionate and urgently important. I was caught up with it from the first page‘ Esther Freud ‘The rise of the far-right is one of biggest and most challenging stories around, and Harry tells it with clarity, compassion and humour. There are episodes in the book that could be set pieces in a fine novel, they really stay with you. And I found his personal bravery humbling and inspiring‘ Sathnam Sanghera ‘Year of the Rat is that rare thing: investigative journalism with the nerve of a thriller and the wit of a great piece of reportage... Courageous, sharply observed and very timely‘ Johanna Thomas-Corr