Graham Smith been involved with the republican cause for twenty years, employed as Republic’s lead campaigner and CEO since 2005. The figures have come down over recent years so that even royalists admit it is close to half the country wanting to be rid of the institution. Yet just four weeks later, as the constitution, at the centre of which lies the Crown, was in crisis [because Boris Johnson's government ministers had nearly all resigned yet he still clung on as PM], the Queen had vanished. It covers the same topic as The Enchanted Glass: Britain and its Monarchy but with an utterly different tone and style.

Apparently he is guardian of our constitution -- but we're also told he wouldn't dream of interfering in politics.Academics and journalists have faced either stonewalling or outright lawfare in response to even modest attempts at getting scrutiny. Even in my most evangelical of days as a teenager (I really must have been insufferable in my religious fervour) I could see that the belief the monarchy was somehow 'God-given' was simply not true. Plus, there were always the arguments that the monarchy bring in huge revenues in tourism and that the British public overwhelmingly loved the royal family. He offers up a familiar list of royal peccadilloes – King Charles’s petulance, Prince Andrew’s promiscuity, Prince William’s indolence – and slays sacred cows along the way: Queen Elizabeth II was a tax evader; her mother was a racist; their Tudor and Stuart precursors were slave traders. Transworld have bought world rights in Abolish the Monarchy by the Chief Executive of Republic, Graham Smith, and publish next year.

He brings to his subject a wealth of knowledge, but also a wealth of experience in making effective arguments, challenging monarchists and winning people over to the cause.

And the backend of the book title is also covered with process of removal of the monarchy and how a republican replacement can be introduced. These days I take some pride in being considered the most anti-monarchy person one of my friends knows.

If there is a weakness, in my view, where Smith can be attacked, it is in the presentation of an agenda for change and how our constitution can be prepared for a republican democracy. And Harry and Meghan continue to show that monarchy isn't just bad for Britain, it's bad for the royals too. Abolish the Monarchy: Why we should and how we will does exactly what it says on the tin: delivers an invigorating polemic on why the British monarchy can and should be done away with.Smith believes that monarchy’s failings are so self-evident that it is unnecessary to treat it seriously as a system of government. Graham Smith eloquently sets out the irrefutable logic for abolishing the monarchy and paints a picture of a better, more democratic future for our country. The author fails to provide any credible evidence or logical reasoning to support his claims, and instead relies on cherry-picked anecdotes, biased sources and emotional appeals.

He takes the opportunity to look through many honourable but too often unsung European examples including, but not exclusively, the presidencies of: Ireland, Iceland, Finland and Germany. The events of the last couple of years are examined in particular detail, as they've really exposed the weaknesses of the British royal family both as an institution and as individuals. On the day of Charles III's coronation, he was arrested on suspicion of carrying "locking-on devices" and spent the rest of the day in a cell. I bought the book because I am a member of Republic but felt that I should at least make the effort to read it although unlikely to be persuaded by the arguments therein.It helped me to properly understand the tax position of the Duchy of Cornwall and help me debate with others on this matter. I would say that in places it could use a bit more humour to break up the dense constitutional discussion. Asking a royal sycophant to read this would be like asking a devout Christian to read The God Delusion. Smith diagnoses this extraordinary episode, which culminated in the Supreme Court resorting to a legal fiction to annul Boris Johnson’s six-week suspension of Parliament, as a failure of monarchy. Perhaps what is most encouraging about this book is Smith's arguments against the contention that most people want the monarchy to continue.