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A book co-written by a Nottingham academic has won the prestigious Political Book of the Year award in the Paddypower Political Book Awards 2015.
Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain, by The University of Nottingham’s Dr Matthew Goodwin and Manchester’s Dr Rob Ford, was praised as ‘ground-breaking’ and ‘an essential and enjoyable reading’ by the judges.
The award-winning book beat off stiff competition from Alan Johnson, Luke Harding, Simon Danczuk and Matthew Baker, Anne de Courcy, Andrew Roberts and Chris Bryant.
Unanimous decision
The judges, Lord Ashcroft, Professor Mary Beard, Keith Simpson MP, Lord Adonis and Ann Treneman reached a unanimous decision when they met to choose the winner.
Lord Ashcroft said: “Revolt on the Right is an insightful book which is scholarly and analytical yet accessible and readable at the same time. It is a superbly timed work that does exactly what it says on the tin, charting the reasons for the rise of UKIP as a political force. Once again, I am delighted to have supported this prestigious event.”
Revolt on the Right has attracted major attention this year. Since its release in March 2014, the book was reviewed in almost every national newspaper, described in The Spectator as “one of the most important books on British politics for years” and in The Times as “the book to arm yourself with for those dinner parties when the talk turns to politics.”
One of the best books of 2014
Throughout the entire year Revolt on the Right was mentioned in more than 170 national newspaper articles on British politics and was also cited in speeches by the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, and the two Conservative Members of Parliament who defected to Ukip, Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless. The book was subsequently listed by both the Financial Times and The Guardian as one of the ‘best books of 2014′
Goodwin and Ford were also awarded the Political Studies Association ‘Communicator Prize’ for their efforts to share the research findings widely, described as providing “a model for how political science research should be disseminated.”
Dr Goodwin said on his win: “I am delighted to receive this award, with my co-author Robert Ford. We wanted to deliver a book that was anchored in rigorous research but which is also accessible to a wide audience. I would like to thank both The University of Nottingham and Routledge for their support throughout the project.
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