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 ]
The existence of the D-notice (aka DA-notice) committee is under threat, reports the Sunday Times. It cites sources who say some officials in the Ministry of Defence, which is considering a review of the system, want to fold the committee into the new press regulator or place it within the MoD's... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hutchinson has acquired a new anthology of life-writing from and about the First World War,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller is to run a category preview on First World War titles in the issue of 13th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oscar season is over, which means one thing: it’s on to the summer blockbusters. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The History Press has signed The First World War in 100 Objects by battlefield specialist Peter... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Andrew Martins First World War novel The Somme Stations (Faber) has won this years... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orbit has acquired a fantasy retelling of the events of the Second World War by American author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 10:59 Penguin has acquired a diary written during the Second World War by a teenage concentration camp internee, striking a deal directly with the author at her home in Prague. Viking publishing director Venetia Butterfield... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 05:28 Aurum Press has bought a biography about the service that monitored and intercepted the German military's radio traffic during the Second World War. Publisher Graham Coster bought world English language rights to The Secret Listeners by Sinclair McKay... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 13/06/2011 - 15:17 Allison & Busby has acquired two books by crime writer Jacqueline Winspear, with the author moving from John Murray to the independent. Publishing director Susie Dunlop bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 22/03/2011 - 16:31 The Japanese earthquake and tsunami has caused the worst disruption to the Japanese book industry since the Second World War, the president of the Japanese Publishers Association has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 17/02/2011 - 12:05 Pan Macmillan has acquired a biography of the first woman to work as a British secret agent in the Second World War, outbidding Penguin at auction. Editorial director Georgina Morley bought UK and British Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Hodder & Stoughton has acquired the account of the life of "real life Charlotte Gray". Pearl Witherington was the only female agent in the Special Operations Executive to run her own network in France during the second world war. Hodder non-fiction publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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