'Richly argued and brilliantly written... a deeply thoughtful analysis that should be mandatory reading for anyone seeking to understand where we have gone wrong.' Vernon Bogdanor, Financial Times


As with his previous bestsellers, WHO RUNS BRITAIN? and HOW DO WE FIX THIS MESS?, in Robert Peston's new book WTF he draws on his years of experience as a political, economics and business journalist to show us what has gone bad and gives us a manifesto to put at least some of it right.

Framed by two letters to his father (who died earlier this year) WTF is Robert Peston's highly personal account of what those who have ruled us for years got so badly wrong, and what we need to do to mend the terrible fractures in our society.

With characteristic passion and clarity he looks at what must happen to prevent democracy being subverted by technocratic geniuses with the ability to manipulate social media, how and whether it is possible to make a success of leaving the EU, what the lessons should be of the appalling Grenfell Tower tragedy, whether robots can be stopped from taking our work, what can be done to staunch the widening gap between rich and poor, and how to raise living standards for all.

WTF is a trenchant, often entertaining account of the recent past. It is also a call to action, giving hope to all of us who believe that taking back control is not only vital, but possible.

'Richly argued and brilliantly written... a deeply thoughtful analysis that should be mandatory reading for anyone seeking to understand where we have gone wrong.'
--Vernon Bogdanor, Financial Times


'Read the book, everyone. It's a superb analysis of the state we're in and what we can do about it. WTF?'--Cole Moreton
'An unbuttoned and vitally even-handed analysis that takes in everything from the decline of social mobility to the tyranny of social media.'--Metro
'Informed, personal, angry and funny: Peston lets rip in an immensely readable and thought-provoking book.'--Eddie Mair
'Elegant analysis of long term forces driving our politics (inc some solutions). Also a moving tribute to his dad.'--Paul Waugh, Huffington Post
'Robert Peston's WTF is a work of meticulous analysis that is also an inspiring, and often moving, manifesto for change. Beautifully-written, it is a manual for our times that everyone should read.'--Matthew d'Ancona
'This gripping and persuasive account of the mess facing liberal democracy ends with some optimism that politicians will rise to the challenge of responding to the tide of hopelessness.'--i newspaper
'This is a more radical, more passionate, swearier book than I would have expected from Peston - and the better for it... WTF is a great primer on how we ended up here. To escape this mess, we must first understand that.'--London Evening Standard
'The chapters on Tony Blair's and Gordon Brown's approach to borrowing, the handling of the banking crash and the failure to address economic inequality in its aftermath are well worth bookmarking.'--Guardian
'Essential reading.'--Stylist

Robert Peston is ITV's political editor, presenter of the politics show Peston on Sunday and founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools (www.speakers4schools.org). He has written four books, How Do We Fix This Mess?, Who Runs Britain?, Brown's Britain and WTF?. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor. Previously he was City editor at the Sunday Telegraph, political editor and financial editor at the FT, a columnist for the New Statesman, and at the Independent in various roles. Peston has won more than 30 awards for his journalism, including Journalist of the Year from the Royal Television Society. His blog is itv.com/robertpeston, on Facebook he is facebook.com/pestonITV and he is @peston on Twitter. Kishan Koria is the Editor of Peston on ITV where he also makes the channel's election debates. He's worked in television for seven years throughout which his colleagues have frequently suggested to him that British politics would soon calm down after a period of chaos! Prior to that he had a short stint as an Economics teacher for sixth form students. Bust? is the first book Kishan has co-written though he previously served as the researcher for Robert Peston's 2017 release, WTF?.