Sebastian Faulks gave his former Sunday Telegraph boss, John Thompson, a warm send-off in his tribute yesterday, "A nurturing force in the final days of Fleet Street".It reinforced the picture drawn of Thompson in the more formal Daily Telegraph obituary following Thompson's death, aged 93, on 24 November.Thompson, who edited the Sunday Telegraph for 10 years from 1976, was mild of manner and ran a kindly regime but had "an inner steel", wrote Faulks. This characteristic was necessary, as both Faulks and the obituary pointed out, because of the difficulties he faced in producing a paper in Fleet Street's final days of continual union disputes.Faulks pointed out that it was difficult to know Thompson well because "he was a diffident man who did not invite intimacy." It reminded me of a description of him by Henry Porter as "retiring to the point of joining a trappist order." But Faulks and the Telegraph's obituarist overlooked Thompson's most extraordinary, and disastrous, decision as an editor. In 1978, the Sunday Telegraph negotiated the serialisation of an autobiography by a former Liberal MP, Peter Bessell, who was a chief prosecution witness in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, his party's leader. Thorpe was accused of conspiring to murder a male model, Norman Scott, who was said to have blackmailed him over their alleged gay relationship.Two months after Thorpe was charged, Thompson agreed a contract with Bessell which stated that he would receive £50,000 for extracts... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 30/03/2011 - 09:36 Eason is pumping 20m into the company over the next three years, at the same time as embarking on trade union talks over a restructure that will likely include some job losses. The Irish bookselling chain announced to staff... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 29/03/2011 - 15:32 Penguin's international deals for Michelle Paver, HarperCollins' new collection of stories from Dr Seuss and Simon & Schuster paying six figures for a young adult trilogy were among the day two deals... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 29/03/2011 - 08:51 Busy schedules and a strong presence from US publishers in an "upbeat" mood were reported on the first day of the Bologna Book Fair. Hodder Children's Books publishing director Anne McNeil said the fair was busier than it had... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 29/03/2011 - 15:50 Book sales slipped for the fourth week in a row last week, and were down more than £3.3m last year, according to Nielsen BookScan data. A total of £24.2m was spent on printed books at UK retail outlets in the seven days to 26th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 08:36 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 08:54 Seventeen former British Bookshop & Stationers stores have held their first weekend of trade under WH Smith ownership. Nine venues opened their doors as WH Smith stores and eight re-opened under their original name of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller staff Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 08:53 Catherine Cookson's estate has signed a deal to release 100 of her novels as ebooks directly through Amazon, cutting out her publishers Transworld and Simon & Schuster. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 08:33 Penguin has bought what promises to be a "riveting" account of one of the biggest murder cases in Northern Ireland, featuring infidelity, laughing gas and a confession 20 years after the event. Penguin Ireland m.d.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google may seek help from Congress as it tries to salvage a book publishing settlement that was rejected by a federal judge. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 08:50 HarperCollins has signed a five book exclusive deal with Emma Chichester Clark to become her worldwide publisher. The deal with Chicester Clark, who has also had titles published recently by Andersen Press, was signed by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 08:34 Bloomsbury's The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: the History of a Civilisation from 3,000 BC to Cleopatra has won this year's £3,000 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History. Written by Toby Wilkinson, the book was commended by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 23/03/2011 - 15:48 Mainstream, J R Books, Pan and Faber are to rush publication of titles on Elizabeth Taylor, after the Oscar-winning film star died today [23rd March]. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 22/03/2011 - 19:52 A New York judge has ruled that the revised Google Book Settlement is not "fair, adequate, and reasonable" and has denied final approval. Judge Denny Chin has instead told the parties to redraft the settlement as an "opt-in"... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 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: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 22/03/2011 - 15:36 Spending on printed books in the UK slumped for a third consecutive week to a new 2011 low, with this week's number one the lowest-selling top title for more than seven years. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble, through its combination of physical bookstores and bn.com, remained the largest outlet for the sale of trade books in 2010. That was one of the first findings from Bowkers annual rollup of its monthly book consumer tracking program, PubTrack Consumer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 21/03/2011 - 15:15 Simon & Schuster has signed a new picture book deal with the creative duo behind the Aliens Love Underpants series. Emma Blackburn, picture book editorial director at S&S, bought world rights to Monstersaurus from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Fri, 18/03/2011 - 10:17 Independent children's publisher Inside Pocket has signed a five-figure four-book deal with Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winner Ursula Jones. Director of Inside Pocket, Sarah Harrop, acquired world rights, including audio and ebook, to the titles from Celia... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 14:50 Fiona Goble's 64-page Knit Your Own Royal Wedding (Ivy Press), which comes with a backdrop of Westminster Abbey "so that you can display your creations in authentic surroundings", is the current sales leader in the incredibly... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:04 Hodder thriller imprint Mulholland Books has acquired a fiction debut by "Saw" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and author, screenwriter and illustrator Stephen Romano. Editor Ruth Tross bought British... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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