Jason Farrell

The first half of this book provides an excellent ( detailed and simply explained ) history of the the EU and British politicians inability and unwillingness to understand it or be an integral part of it.
It explains the high level ambitions of the EU right from the 1950s and the Treaty of Rome in 1957; the UKs reluctance to join and then continual petulance once we became a member in 1973.
It highlights the immense complexity of the EU project and tangled web of treaties and protocols; how the UKs aloof stance and lack of attention of what was actually happening in the European Parliament has undermined any influence or negotiating position we may / should have had

The latter chapters cover the Referendum itself. I am not a political student and so found the section on the campaigning a fascinating insight into how these things actually work and why Leave had a better campaign than Remain.

From a context and historical perspective I found this book highly informative, students of politics and experts on the EU may find it facile, but for a laymen who likes to be informed - it was excellent.

This book does not try to argue whether we should have voted Leave or voted Remain - it just lays out some well researched and well explained reasons why the UK voted Leave.
Whichever way you voted this is worth reading just to gain a better understanding of the EU / UK relationship

Some reviewers have said this it is too soon after the Referendum to publish this book. My thought is that it should have been compulsory reading before the voting took place.
Maybe is Cameron had read it , we wouldn't have had a referendum at all!… (meer)