Exclusively available through the Guardian Bookshop.

Polly Toynbee and David Walker, sharp dissectors of the Blair and Brown record in their book The Verdict, now report on Cameron's first half in a fast-paced and lively book.
Their title sums up their interim conclusion. This is an ideological regime, but also peculiarly inept. Recent fiascos over border control and security at the Olympics underline the point. But Cameron has serious intentions. Thatcher privatized the nationalized industries but he wants to privatize the state itself.
Looking in detail at the government’s policies during their first two years in power, Toynbee and Walker warn in this lively analysis that by the next election the welfare state may be in irrecoverable ruins - unless the Tory mission to downsize and diminish the publish realm is brought down first by Cameron’s incompetence.
A must-read for anyone interested in the fate of the country by the award-winning Guardian journalist and her partner, who wrote The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain?

Praise for The Verdict

‘It is a joy to find journalists who want to engage with the substance rather than the melodrama’ James Purnell, Guardian.

‘Combining meticulous research and interviews, bringing to light the experiences and attitudes of ordinary voters’ London Review of Books