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  • Out of the Blue

  • The Inside Story of the Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss
  • By: Harry Cole, James Heale
  • Narrated by: Emily Pennant-Rea
  • Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (92 ratings)
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Out of the Blue cover art

Out of the Blue

By: Harry Cole, James Heale
Narrated by: Emily Pennant-Rea
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Summary

Liz Truss’s journey from schoolgirl revolutionary to Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister

The Sunday Times Politics Book of the Year

Despite being written off and mocked by even her closest colleagues, Liz Truss slowly but determinedly achieved her goal of taking over 10 Downing Street – only to instantly plunge her administration into chaos and announce her resignation after a record-breaking 44 days. How did she do it? And what exactly went so wrong?

With unrivalled access and insight, award-winning political journalists Harry Cole and James Heale provide the answers, drawing on interviews with Truss’s friends and supporters, as well as her worst critics and rivals, from Kwasi Kwarteng to Michael Gove.

Tracking Truss’s transformation from geeky teenage Lib Dem to Tory PM, with the inside scoop on her first – and only – month in office, Out of the Blue is the unmissable behind-the-scenes account of Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister.

©2022 Harry Cole and James Heale (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"An insightful and at times riotously entertaining account of the lengthy rise and abrupt fall of Britain’s 56th Prime Minister. What was intended as a prologue to her premiership is now a riveting political obituary in which every page drips with the seeds of both triumph and disaster. Cole and Heale have produced a meticulously reported account of Truss’s drive, impulsiveness, eccentricity and ideological certainty which reads like a warning from history. It has elements of tragedy but is frequently very, very funny." (Tim Shipman)

"Make sure you put your seat belt on. Heale and Cole put you in the passenger seat of the fastest car crash in recent political history. It's an unmissable romp through Liz Truss's long journey to the top, fuelled by ambition and espresso. The clues that foretold the extraordinary catastrophe are all there, as the authors reveal in gory detail how Liz Truss nearly had the last laugh, before finally, as her government imploded, the joke was on her." (Laura Kuenssberg)

"Completely absorbing and, in places, astonishing. It is the story of a gigantic error, well told. And important lessons can be learnt." (Daniel Finkelstein)

What listeners say about Out of the Blue

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The well told story of our most inept PM

The authors have done a great job producing a well told story of our most inept PM. It's a good thing that the back story of this woman who changes her mind like most folk change their socks, is so interesting, as we follow her move from the left of British politics to the right, heading it seems further right with every utterance. The woman is a shambles, and this book does a great job exposing her, and some of the great stories from the party she sort of led for little over a month in the autumn of last year. Well worth a credit!

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Repeat of the news

Didn’t like it. Felt repetitive and not engaging enough. Skipped through most of it. What a mess the UK has become.

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4 people found this helpful

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Long Form Reporting - Really Interesting

Coming so soon after Truss exited Downing Street this is more "reporting" than a detailed history of her brief tenure. The history here is her rise to power and stories of her life and ever changing political views. For me the lesson we learn from this book is that the current class of PR obsessed, career politicians are a disaster for the wider electorate. The hubris, egotism and complete disaster demonstrated by her days in power should be a lesson to us all.

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4 people found this helpful

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Interesting

This was an interesting book. Such a tragic story. You realise quite what a competent woman she was and how hubris got the better of her. And of course it was the country which suffered.

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2 people found this helpful

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Very eye-opening

A real insight to her career. I had to put this down at times because it made Me Too! Angry. It's unbelievable how some people behave.

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Respect

This was a fast changing political career and on the day of the resignation I felt so sorry for the authors after they’d worked so hard on the book but they have pulled it out the bag and it’s as up to date as it can be. Great listen and some really interesting insider information from a hugely historical time in the country. Excellent!

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Compelling listen

Although you know the end of the story, it’s a great insight of why it happened that way.

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Worth a listen

Interesting and well told. A real chapter in history clearly set out . . . Lessons for all.

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Oh Dear!

At 11 hours this book is only marginally shorter than the premiership it narrates. I still find myself struggling to believe what my country has become.

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Great summary about one of the bleakest premierships in UK Politics

Really enjoyed the insight in this book and shows the mess this country is in right now, and the rise of self interest over public interest. This book demonstrates that the Truss Premiership was doomed from the start and shows why it is important that the whole electorate should get a say. Damning review of Truss and can’t say im surprised.

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