Tag Archives: Harry Shukman

Year of the Rat: Undercover in the British Far Right by Harry Shukman won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 2025. A former journalist and researcher for the campaigning group HOPE not hate, Shukman went undercover as “Chris” for a year, infiltrating nine extreme far-right groups, starting with lesser-known networks like the Basketweavers whose lonely members meet in dingy pubs to discuss conspiracy theories. Shukman used his connections from those groups to infiltrate others, including canvassing with Britain First and attending neo-Nazi conferences and eugenicist circles. Shukman paints portraits of the activists, their motivations and the pathetic power struggles within the mostly disorganised groups which provide some unexpected light relief amidst the alarming political and social implications of the extreme ideologies they promote. The stress of working undercover clearly took its toll on Shukman but the resulting book he has produced is tense, bold and brave.

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