My friend Paul Westlake, who has died of cancer aged 65, was a pillar of the radical publishing world from the mid-1970s onwards. He was an advocate of workers' co-operatives and gained much experience in ensuring that the output of independent publishers reached the bookshops.In autumn 1976, after months of planning, we became co-founders, with three others, of a distributor for small radical and feminist publishers, including periodicals. Paul, who had a few years' experience in managing a bookshop, took on the key role of handling the finances, which was a big challenge, particularly for someone without an accounting background.At the beginning, Paul organised the building of an office and warehouse in Clerkenwell Workshops, central London, putting up the internal walls block by block. The Workshops were also home to the magazines Spare Rib and Undercurrents.In 1979 Paul co-founded Zed Books, where he met his partner, Anne. He took on a role in finance and rights administration and in 1983 persuaded the company and its owners to convert to a workers' co-operative. He supported the Industrial Common Ownership Movement for nearly a decade. Always ready to help out in the running of the organisation, he personally introduced the staff to spreadsheets. He also played a leading role in Hackney Co-operative Developments and chaired its trust, which today has a solid property base in Dalston.Paul spent more than 20 years fostering southern African publishing. He founded the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
Orion is publishing a story of love, war, family and betrayal, based on the true story of a little-known massacre in Civitella, Italy during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blending autobiography, literary criticism poetry and philosophy, Little Boy will be published in March 2019, the author’s centenaryThe 99-year-old poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the last surviving members of the Beat generation, has sold an “experimental” new novel to a major American... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Otto Penzler's newest venture, Penzler Publishers, will publish print editions of classic detective stories from the golden age of of the genre, which ran from the end of World War I through World War II. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The forgotten stories, discovered among the late writer’s papers, will be published beginning in November with Christmas Story CollectionTwo collections of forgotten stories by Noel Streatfeild are to be published for the first time. They were discovered among the late writer’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Macmillan Children’s Books has bought a middle-grade book about a mouse whose home is bombed in World War Two by debut writer Anna Fargher. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A literary historical début, the redemptive tale of two sisters torn apart by the Second World War, breaks the long-held silence on the plight of Korea’s "comfort women". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The historian did important work on the Peterloo massacre and the suffragette movement, says Lindsey German, and deserves greater prominence than the failed memoir forger Clifford IrvingIt shows a somewhat strange priority that your main obituary on 27 December described the life of Clifford... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The literary editor and memoirist turns 100 this month, and what better way to celebrate than answering Guardian readers’ questions? She’ll be online on Monday 11 December from 2pm GMT 3.14pm GMT On 21 December 21, Diana Athill will be 100 years old. This is an achievement in itself, though... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired To War with the Walkers, a new social history of World War Two, following a five-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egmont Publishing has signed a new deal between Michael Morpurgo and illustrator Barroux based on the "epic", true story of Morpurgo’s uncles during World War Two. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Connelly has the #1 book in the country with series launch ‘The Late Show.’ Plus Joshua Green’s ‘The Devil’s Bargain’ looks at the relationship between Steve Bannon and Donald Trump, and ‘World War Z’ author Max Brooks writes the first official Minecraft novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Natalie Dye’s debut novel about the sinking of the Arandora Star ship during World War Two, killing 865 people, has been optioned for television. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Children’s is set to publish a new novel from Elizabeth Wein, telling the story of Julie Beaufort-Stuart, the main character from her novel Code Name Verity, before the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tinder Press has acquired Letters from a Suitcase, a collection of letters spanning the "short but passionate love affair" and marriage between communist couple David and Mary Francis during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The winning book at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults has been criticised for endorsing New Zealand's participation in World War I and "glorifying" the killing of Germans. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The History Press is to publish a book based on an original set of sketchbooks and diaries from a signaller in the First World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling novelist Chris Cleave talks to Alice O'Keeffe about his new book which tackles the Second World War, Everyone Brave is Forgiven. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Alma Books has signed a middle-grade story about what happened to all the pets in World War Two by Miriam Halahmy. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Annotated version of Adolf Hitler’s opus, which ‘unmasks his false allegations, whitewashing and outright lies’, will debut at 20 on non-fiction chart after publishers received 15,000 orders A new critical edition of Mein Kampf is set to make its debut on German bestseller lists this weekend,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adolf Hitler’s political manifesto Mein Kampf is to be published for the first time in Germany since the end of the Second World War, the BBC has reported. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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