Unleashed (book)

Unleashed

Author	Boris Johnson
Language	English
Genre	Memoir
Published	10 October 2024
Publisher	William Collins
Publication place	United Kingdom
Pages	784

This article is part of a series about Boris Johnson
Political positions Electoral history Public image MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP for Henley Electoral history {{{2}}} 2008 mayoral election 2012 mayoral election 2016 EU referendum causes aftermath 2019 leadership election polling endorsements 2019 general election 2021 local elections 2022 local elections Mayor of London Mayoralty 2008 mayoral election London Britannia Airport Santander Cycles New Routemaster 2011 riots London Cable Car 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Summer Paralympics Garden Bridge Brexit Vote Leave 2016 explored candidacy Foreign Secretary Tenure as Foreign Secretary Yemen intervention Zaghari-Ratcliffe case 2018 Salisbury attack Chequers plan Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Premiership International trips Minister for the Union First ministry and term (July – December 2019) First ministry (minority) Suspension of rebel MPs Benn Act 2019 prorogation Supreme Court case Brexit deal renegotiation revised deal Get Brexit Done Second ministry and term (December 2019 – September 2022) Second ministry (majority) departures 2020 reshuffle 2021 reshuffle EU Withdrawal Agreement Northern Ireland Protocol EU trade negotiation cooperation agreement COVID-19 pandemic government response lockdown vaccinations contracts contract controversies Dominic Cummings scandal Partygate Evacuations from Afghanistan Levelling up COP26 Refurb controversy Owen Paterson scandal Rwanda asylum plan Murder of David Amess Proposed NI increase British support for Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Cost of living crisis Conservative Party confidence vote Chris Pincher scandal Government crisis July 2022 reshuffle leadership election House of Commons confidence vote Resignation Honours Post-premiership 2022 explored candidacy endorsements Privileges Committee investigation 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election Bibliography Friends, Voters, Countrymen Seventy-Two Virgins The Dream of Rome The Churchill Factor Unleashed
v t e

Unleashed is a memoir written by Boris Johnson, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022. It was published by HarperCollins in the UK on 10 October 2024 and is forthcoming in the US on 15 October 2024.

Johnson's forthcoming memoir was announced in January 2023.^[1] He received a £510,000 advance.^[2] The title, Unleashed, and UK and US publication dates on 10 and 15 October 2024 were announced in June 2024.^[3][4][5] Excerpts were published in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday on the weekend of 27–29 September.^[6]

Two days before the publication date in London, a launch party was held at the headquarters of the Institute of Directors, attended by James Cleverly, Michael Gove, Kit Malthouse, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Grant Shapps, and Ben Wallace among others.^[7]

In the lead up to release Unleashed topped Amazon UK Books' Best Sellers list.^[8] The book stayed at number 1 in the top 50 in its second week since publication even though sales for that week were down 62% on the first week.^[9]

Reports on Unleashed have noted that Johnson's style is unconventional for a prime minister's memoirs, dramatic and full of wordplay like his speaking style or his newspaper columns,^[10][11][12] and also full of exclamations like "kerchingeroo!" and "BIFF!"^[13][14] The book contains several revelations: that he considered a military raid on The Netherlands to secure the release of Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses,^{[6][11][15][16]} that he himself became seriously ill with Covid and "might have carked it" but for the care he received in hospital,^[15][16][17] that on a request, he vainly attempted to dissuade Prince Harry from leaving the UK by means of a "manly pep talk",^[16][18][19] and that he considers it possible that a listening device found in his personal toilet at the Foreign Office in 2017 had been placed there by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.^{[11][16][20][21]} He also writes that Queen Elizabeth II's cause of death was bone cancer.^[11][13][16]

In interviews promoting the book, Johnson also said that Donald Trump would have prevented the Russian invasion of Ukraine if he had been re-elected in 2020,^[21] and that he is "optimistic" about a second Trump presidency.^[22]

A reviewer for The Times characterised Unleashed as "important historical document, but not necessarily a valuable one ... very generously seasoned with juvenile gags, some of more than acceptable quality";^[13] a reviewer for the Washington Post as "Funny. Frustrating. And not entirely believable."^[11] The Observer review warned: "No phrase that Johnson writes in this book comes entirely unlaced with hyperbole or self-serving spin. You'd hope the copy editors were being paid by the marginal note and had access to physiotherapy for RSI."^[23] Under the headline "Memoirs of a clown", the reviewer for The Guardian noted that Johnson "does not do reflective" and called the book "entertaining but ... irritating for its lack of structure".^[10] Reviewing the book for The New Statesman, Nicola Sturgeon, the former Scottish First Minister, characterised it as "not as bad as I thought it would be" but too unserious: "There is nothing that he won't make a crass joke about if it serves his narrative purpose."^[12] The reviewer for The Independent called it "shameless, sour, predictable, self-exculpatory stuff";^[24] the review in The Economist is titled "Boris Johnson shows how not to write a political memoir".^[14]

The Daily Mail, in introducing its serialised excerpts, called Unleashed "the political memoir of the century".^[11][10] The reviewer for The Telegraph gave it five stars, praising Johnson's writing but noting that "the games with words ... can distract" and that the book offers little insight into his "inner life".^[25]