I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Exactly a week after the general election, two men—Call me Dave and Call me Nick—walked side by side out into the rose garden of No. 10 Downing Street to give their first joint press-conference as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, looking for all the world like men in love. It was a romance in which people wanted to believe. But it was also one that people couldn't help but mistrust. Most unnerving, however, was the sense that they both couldn't quite believe their luck. Just how much fun the coalition was going to be for the rest of the country was then unclear. But now, almost five years on, this must-read guide to Westminster and the forthcoming General Election exposes the realities of Coaltion, while also featuring how Labour came to get the wrong Miliband, the Big Topics—Europe, Immigration, Education, Phone Hacking, and the Economy ('Stupid'...)—as well as UKIP and other dubious acronyms, and the countdown to the General Election 2015: five years of planning since the last one. This book is insightful, painful, and hilarious, whichever side you thought you were on.

John Crace is a Guardian staff feature writer and columnist, and author of the regular "Digested Read" and "Digested Classic" columns. He is the author of Harry's Games: Inside the Mind of Harry Redknapp and Vertigo: One Football Fan's Fear of Success.