In Fools’ Paradise Nicholas Hagger presented the UK’s attempt to leave the EU under Prime Minister Theresa May in terms of the voyage of Sebastian Brant’s 1494 Ship of Fools heading with a mutinous crew for the illusory, nonexistent paradise of Narragonia. His mock-heroic satirical poem on the political chaos surrounding the most important UK decision since the Second World War is in rhymed heroic couplets, in the tradition of Dryden and Pope. In this sequel, Fools’ Gold, Hagger focuses on the beginning of Boris Johnson’s premiership, the promises that won him the 2019 General Election with an 80-seat majority, and his removal of the UK from the EU, only to be engulfed by the deadly Covid pandemic which has devastated the UK economy. Hagger describes the catastrophic national events in heroic blank verse, which befits the darkening mood. The UK public has been promised a new Golden Age, an age of plenty, and it remains to be seen whether there will be prosperity for all - gold - now that the UK is facing colossal debt outside the EU, or whether the promises will turn out to be worthless iron pyrites: fools’ gold.

Nicholas Hagger is the author of more than 50 books that include a substantial literary output and innovatory works within history, philosophy, literature and international politics and statecraft. As a man of letters he has written over 2,000 poems, two poetic epics, five verse plays, 1,200 short stories, two travelogues and three masques. In 2016 he was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize for Literature, and in 2019 the BRICS silver medal for 'Vision for Future'. He lives in Essex, UK.