Hardback: You could unleash demons of which ye know not. - David Cameron on being asked to sum up the argument against a referendum
Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it. - The Fool, King Lear, Act II, Scene IV
So what was it about? People's emotions matter even when they don't seem wholly rational... There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales. It is not about the EU, of course... - Boris Johnson, writing ten days after the referendum
As David Cameron's director of Politics and communications, Craig Oliver was in the room at every key moment during the EU referendum - the biggest political event in the UK since World War Two.
Craig Oliver worked with all the players, including David Cameron, George Osbourne, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Theresa May and Peter Mandelson.
Unleashing Demons (2016) is based on his extensive notes, detailing everything from the decision to call a referendum, to the subsequent civil war in the Conservative Party and the aftermath of the shocking result.
This is raw history at its very best, packed with enthralling detail and colourful anecdotes from behind the closed doors of the campaign that changed British history.
About the author: Before entering 10 Downing Street in 2011 as Director of Politics and Communications, Craig Oliver was an award-winning journalist. His roles included editing the BBC's News at Six and Ten, Controller of BBC World Service and Executive Editor of ITV's flagship news programmes. He has three daughters, lives in London and was recently knighted.
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