Announcements

Biteback Publishing has acquired Wobblechops: How Entertainment Broke the News, a sharp insider account of the transformation of political media by commentator and broadcaster James Matthewson.

News, politics and current affairs are no longer confined to newspapers or the evening bulletin. They follow us everywhere – on our phones, laptops and social media feeds. In place of the measured voices of traditional political punditry, there is a relentless stream of hot takes, outrage and opinion, all engineered to win clicks, shares and views.

Wobblechops explores the rise of opinion-led media in this rapidly changing world, drawing on Matthewson’s career at the centre of modern broadcasting – from his heated debates with government ministers and extraordinary newsroom rivalries to how he became the target of a terrorist group. With his trademark wit and candour, Matthewson shows how an industry built to inform has become increasingly driven by the demands of profit-driven ‘infotainment’.

As the media becomes faster, louder and harder to recognise, Wobblechops asks the troubling questions: what are we sacrificing at the altar of entertainment and what happens when the spectacle becomes more important than the truth?

World rights were acquired directly from the author by Biteback commissioning editor Melanie Scagliarini.

Scagliarini said: ‘I am thrilled to bring James’s remarkable insider perspective to readers. At a time when news is increasingly cut into bite-sized, attention-grabbing pieces, we urgently need to examine what that means for the way we understand the world. Funny, unsettling and consistently illuminating, Wobblechops is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the media has changed and how it shapes our daily lives.’

Matthewson said: ‘In one year alone, I took part in more than 300 televised debates – most of them explosive arguments about political or culture-war issues. Those experiences immersed me in a world that has rapidly grown into an empire of opinion, as our news media has mutated into a factory for outrage and entertainment.

‘In this book, I reflect on my past five years as a broadcaster and political pundit and ask myself: what role have I played in entertainment’s gradual destruction of the news? Writing it has been equal parts maddening and cathartic; I hope reading it is less so.’

 

James Matthewson is a broadcaster, writer and political adviser, who worked as a Labour Party spokesperson during his time in Parliament. Known for his regular appearances on the BBC, Sky News, ITV, as well as for his fiery clashes with presenters and guests at GB News and Talk, James has become a prominent voice raising concerns about the ever-growing world of political entertainment. James now lives in Edinburgh, retaining his accent from the years spent growing up in his native Northumberland.

 

Wobblechops: How Entertainment Broke the News will be published on 20 May 2027, supported by a major marketing and publicity campaign.

Price: £20 hardback

ISBN: 9781837361045

 

For more information, please contact Kate Cunnington at kate.cunnington@bitebackpublishing.com

Biteback Publishing has acquired Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID by Nicholas Enrich.

When Enrich achieved his lifelong dream of leading USAID’s global health programmes, he expected to be helping to save lives around the world. Instead, he found himself at the centre of an unprecedented assault on one of the US’s most effective humanitarian institutions.

Revealing and deeply personal, Into the Wood Chipper is an urgent intervention into one of the US’s most devastating modern crises. At once a story of conscience under pressure and the cost of speaking out, it offers a gripping first-hand account of the fight to protect millions of lives around the world.

UK and Commonwealth English language rights were acquired by Biteback’s commissioning editor, Melanie Scagliarini, from Anna Boyce and Felicity Rubinstein of Lutyens & Rubinstein Literary Agency.

Scagliarini said, “I am thrilled to bring this book to UK readers. The dismantling of USAID sent shockwaves around the world and cuts to UK development spending have only deepened the global humanitarian crisis. Enrich’s compelling reporting takes readers through the decisions behind the destruction, showing how a handful of impactful choices can devastate lives, dismantle institutions and reshape the world far beyond Washington. Urgent, revelatory and deeply human, Into the Wood Chipper is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the profound consequences that can follow when decisions affecting many are placed in the hands of a powerful few.”

Enrich said, “I never set out to be an author, but this story of incompetence, indifference and cruelty as Elon Musk and the Trump administration destroyed one of America’s best ideas needed to be told. However bad you might imagine it was inside Trump’s government, I’m here to show you that it was far worse.”

Nicholas Enrich is a former civil servant who worked at USAID under four administrations. He served as the director of policy, programmes and planning at the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy until January 2025, when he became USAID’s acting assistant administrator for global health. In March 2025, he was placed on administrative leave for exposing the Trump administration’s illegitimate and dangerous dismantling of USAID and was removed from federal service later that year.

Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID will be published on 11 February 2027, supported by a major marketing and publicity campaign.

Price: £20 hardback

ISBN: 9781837361021

 

For more information, please contact Kate Cunnington on kate.cunnington@bitebackpublishing.com

Biteback Publishing has acquired A Son Never Forgets, a powerful memoir by campaigner Jason Evans, charting his decades-long fight for justice for the victims of the infected blood scandal.

When Jason Evans was just four years old, his father, Jonathan, died after being infected with HIV and Hepatitis C through contaminated Factor VIII blood products supplied by the NHS. For years, the truth surrounding Jonathan's death was buried beneath silence, stigma and institutional denial. Determined to uncover what had happened, Evans embarked on a relentless search for answers that would take him from personal loss to the forefront of a national campaign. His efforts helped secure the establishment of the UK Infected Blood Inquiry and ultimately contributed to the creation of the UK's largest-ever state compensation scheme, worth more than £12 billion.

Blending investigative reporting with deeply personal memoir, A Son Never Forgets explores grief, memory, inherited trauma and identity, while revealing the extraordinary resilience required to challenge decades of official secrecy. In a twist of fate, just as Jason thought the battle was won, a surprise discovery reframed his family history in ways he never expected. This is an unforgettable story of one man's determination to uncover the truth, fight for justice on behalf of thousands of affected families and ensure that one of Britain's greatest public scandals is never forgotten.

Richard Humphreys, Biteback’s commercial director said, “Jason's book is a powerful and deeply moving account inspired by the devastating impact of the infected blood scandal. He shines a light on one of the UK’s most significant public health tragedies through a very personal story of loss, resilience and the pursuit of justice. The book highlights the importance of transparency, accountability and will – hopefully – ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated.”

Jason Evans said, “I was four years old when my father died, so I grew up with a mystery where he should have been. My fight for the truth took me into archives, courtrooms, Parliament, Downing Street and to evidence I could never have imagined. For years, I thought the story was about uncovering what had been done to my father and to thousands of other families. But just when it seemed that battle was reaching its end, the biggest revelation was not hidden in a government file: it had been living inside me all along. I hope A Son Never Forgets shows how the infected blood scandal was finally exposed, through evidence, archives, media pressure and the determination of a small group of people who refused to let the truth stay buried.”

 

Jason Evans is former lead campaigner at and founder of Factor 8, the UK campaign group established to seek truth, justice and compensation for those infected and affected by the infected blood scandal. His father, Jonathan Evans, had haemophilia and was infected with HIV and Hepatitis C through contaminated Factor VIII blood products supplied by the NHS. He died in 1993, aged thirty-one, when Jason was four years old.

As an adult, Jason helped to expose the scale of the scandal and the institutional failures behind it. His campaigning has been featured widely across national and international media. Jason was awarded Campaigner of the Year by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation in 2023 and received a Pride of Britain Special Recognition Award in 2024. His work was also featured in the ITV documentary In Cold Blood. Since January 2025, Jason has worked at the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, helping to deliver the compensation scheme he spent years campaigning for.

 

A Son Never Forgets will be published on 26 November 2026, supported by a major marketing and publicity campaign.

Price: £20 hardback

ISBN: 9781785909221

 

For more information, please contact Kate Cunnington on kate.cunnington@bitebackpublishing.com

Biteback Publishing is to publish Challenge!, the autobiography of television presenter Anneka Rice, marking 50 years since she joined the BBC.

Editorial and production manager Catriona Allon acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Caroline Michel at PFD. The memoir will be published in October 2026, supported by a major marketing and publicity campaign.

Best known for fronting Challenge Anneka, Rice reflects on the career that made her one of British television’s most recognisable presenters while revealing, for the first time, the childhood experiences that shaped her resilience.

The memoir explores her upbringing, the responsibility of caring for her younger sister as a teenager, and the journey that took her to Hong Kong at 19, where time spent volunteering in a refugee camp transformed her outlook on life.

Rice said: “As I celebrate 50 years since I joined the BBC as a young trainee, it is timely to work out how on earth I’ve survived this long without falling out of a helicopter. My childhood was definitely before health and safety was invented, as was most of my career, so it’s a miracle I’m still in one piece – ish. I look forward to sharing my life with you. Wear a seat belt and don’t try any of it at home unless you have reinforcements.”

Allon said: “Anneka is nothing short of a TV legend, and what better time to look back on her incredible life and career than this exciting milestone? Filled with warmth, wit and a touch of wackiness, this wonderful memoir is trademark Anneka and her compelling and authentic voice shines through on every page. We’re so excited to get it into readers’ hands – we know everyone will love it just as much as we do.”

Biteback Publishing has acquired a unique insider’s guide to the 2016 Brexit referendum, written by the key strategist behind the Vote Leave campaign, Matthew Elliott. Ten Years On: The Untold Story of Brexit – Reflections on a life of campaigning takes the reader behind the scenes of the most significant episode in modern British politics, revealing what really went on during the campaign and its bitter aftermath.

The 2016 Brexit referendum caused a political earthquake, with aftershocks still being felt a decade later. For many, including some who voted to leave, the result came as a shock. But for Matthew Elliott, it was the culmination of two decades of work.

Elliott is one of Britain’s most successful political campaigners – a reserved and strategic operator. In his twenties, he launched a movement to challenge wasteful public spending and advocate for lower taxes. He then played a central role in defeating an attempt to change the UK’s voting system in 2011, before steering the Vote Leave campaign to victory in 2016 as its chief executive.

In this extraordinary political memoir, Elliott lifts the lid on life at the heart of power. He reveals what it was like working alongside Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, their dealings with Nigel Farage and the tricks of the trade that campaigners use to shape the news.

Here, a decade after the EU referendum, is a definitive, tell-all account of Brexit: from its roots in the 1990s to the high-stakes drama of the campaign itself, the fallout that followed and the crucial decisions that will shape Britain’s future relationship with Europe.

Matthew Elliott said: ‘Ten years on from the referendum, with the fog of the Brexit battle having cleared, and with six years’ experience of living outside the EU, I felt it was now time to share my Brexit journey and to make an early assessment of its success. I’m delighted that Biteback are publishing my second book with them, and I hope that readers of all political persuasions will enjoy my candid perspective of where the UK now stands with the EU and – crucially – how we got here.’

Richard Humphreys, commercial director at Biteback Publishing, said: ‘Love it or loathe it, the Brexit referendum was the single most important political event since the Second World War. Widely regarded as one of the most effective political strategists around, Lord Elliott’s account of his time as one of the key players in the Brexit campaign team is a must-read for anyone interested in politics, history and the tricks of the trade that campaigners use to shape the news.’

Ten Years On: The Untold Story of Brexit will be published on 23 June 2026, supported by a major serialisation campaign.