b"Introduction - what this book is about.Right up to and beyond the close of poll on 23 June 2016, most people - and certainly everyone who was considered anyone by the political class - expected the UK to vote Yes to stay in the European Union.Yet, the combination of then PM David Cameron's decision to hold a referendum, Boris Johnson's choice of Out, and importantly Nigel Farages small group of mavericks and gadflies managed to engineer a Brexit vote against the odds.It was unexpected, indeed an earthquake. It seemingly came out of nowhere. In terms of the consequences for Britain in the world, it is rare to find in our over one thousand years of history an event of comparable magnitude: The Synod of Whitby in AD 664? Henry VIII's break with Rome? The Glorious Revolution of 1688? The loss of Britain's North American colonies in 1783? The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805? The decision to go to war in August 1914? Take your pick.The seismic event of Brexit is not just momentous in British history, it is equally important in the history of all of Europe.How then can one explain the vote in favour of Brexit?The actual Brexit debate tells us very little.That debate was - and has always been - long on emotion and short on facts.The author had a ringside seat on Brexit over the crucial decade up to 2019 as an elected Member of the European Parliament; almost all that time as a Group Coordinator (in US parlance ranking member) on the European Parliaments Committee for International Trade. This book aims to set outin over 80 essential tables, charts and graphs, as well as photographs and textwhat underlies Brexit, what drove it, and why the Brexit earthquake came about.3"