True Blue

Whatever happened to middle England? Two of our funniest writers set out on a journey through conservative country – with hilarious results.

The Women's Institute. Polo matches. The Duke of Edinburgh. Nimbys, shooting and game fairs. Pall Mall clubs, the Countryside Alliance and Boris Johnson. Hampshire Police’s brass band, the rubber chicken circuit – and of course the Conservative party itself.

Middle England, with all the social rituals, institutions and traditions that hold it together, has lasted for a long time. And Chris Horrie and David Matthews, two left-leaning journalists – Chris is from Manchester and David's parents are from Guyana – are fascinated by it.

So off they go, armed with two ballpoints and a sharp sense of humour, to see what they can see. Sometimes, it’s as simple as hanging out at the proms, munching scones with the vicar at a village cricket match, or chatting with Michael Howard. And other times, a bit more guile is needed – so Chris and David baffle Conservative party members by helping out with their campaigns.

With backgrounds as investigative reporters, the authors infiltrate Middle England and capture its denizens at their least guarded. What they find is at times cheering, and sometimes a bit worrying – but it is always very entertaining.

True Blue is Bill Bryson meets Spitting Image – and a must-read for fans of John O’Farrell, Private Eye and Jon Ronson.

Reviews

Praise for Live TV by Chris Horrie:

"Laugh. This searing and utterly brilliant expose of tabloid television made me guffaw and wheeze so much I nearly collapsed from hyperventilation. This is the funniest book I've ever read, perhaps the funniest book ever written" – Val Hennessy, Daily Mail

"Hilarious is an over-used adjective, but chunks of this book reduced me to fits" – Matthew Parris, Sunday Times

Praise for Stick It Up Your Punter by Chris Horrie:

“This is the funniest book of the year, perhaps the decade” – The Times

Praise for Disaster – The Rise and Fall of News on Sunday by Chris Horrie:

"A tract of our times… an important and genuinely brilliant book" – William Deedes, The Daily Telegraph

Praise for Looking For a Fight by David Matthews:

'If he's half as good with his fists as he is with a pen, I'd be loathe to start an argument with him' – The Mail on Sunday

'It would not be fair to tell whether David himself was as unputdownable in the ring as his riveting work was to read’ – The Guardian

About the author

Chris Horrie is an author, journalist, and expert on tabloid journalism. He writes regularly for the Guardian and the Observer.
David Matthews spent two years becoming a professional boxer for his book Looking For a Fight. He is a feature writer for the Mail on Sunday and a contributor to the New Statesman.