Nigel Farage has written a book that promises to reveal how he and his supporters have been “secretly courting MPs in the tearooms and wine bars of the House of Lords” for the last few years to usher in what he claims will be “a very English revolution”.
Independent publisher Biteback has announced that it has acquired the Ukip leader’s new book, The Purple Revolution: The Year That Changed Everything, with publication lined up for March. The title, which follows Biteback’s release of Farage’s autobiography Flying Free, was turned down by other major London publishers before ending up with the independent press run by rightwing commentator Iain Dale.
Dale said: “I am delighted to be publishing Nigel Farage just before what will be one of the most exciting general elections in decades. What self-respecting publisher wouldn’t be interested in taking on the politician everyone is talking about? Having published his bestselling autobiography, Flying Free, we know people are desperate to learn more about Nigel Farage as a man and what he stands for. This is a book that could influence the outcome of the election.”
Alan Samson at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, one publisher to have declined to publish Farage’s new offering, told the Guardian: “Of course we publish books which we don’t personally agree with – we have all sorts of political books on our list, from Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs, peers and political commentators, and some of them don’t necessarily accord with my personal views.”
“Publishing and bookselling should be part of the national debate, but we didn’t feel a Ukip book suited our programme. I just didn’t think it was something for us,” he added.
Biteback said the book is not an autobiography, rather “the untold story of the journey Ukip has travelled under [Farage’s] leadership, from the icy fringes of British politics all the way to Westminster, where it is poised to claim the popular vote.
“This book details what Ukip would be prepared to accept in the event of a hung parliament. It tells how the party continues to woo politicians from left and right, and, for the first time, reveals exactly how, over the last few years, Farage and his supporters have ushered in a very English revolution: secretly courting MPs in the tearooms and wine bars of the House of Lords,” said the publisher in its description of the book, promising that it “takes us beyond the caricature of the beer-drinking, chain-smoking adventurer in Jermyn Street double-cuffs, to describe the values that underpin Farage’s own journey; from successful City trader to critic of the European Union and champion of Britain’s right to govern itself, revealing his loss of faith in the mainstream parties and his personal vision for a Britain outside the EU”.
Farage’s previous book Flying Free, published in 2011, has sold 3,558 copies to date, according to book sales monitor Nielsen Book Research.
