Darkness over Germany: A Warning
from History by E. Amy Buller was originally
published in 1943 and delivers a stark warning from history of how a man with
little political experience rose up as a voice of the people, a voice for the
disenfranchised who were suffering the injustices of social inequality and
unemployment. In this powerful book, a pioneering young woman, Amy Buller, recounts the hopes and fears of
Germans engulfed in the rise of fascism during the 1930s. During the years
leading up to the outbreak of war, Buller defied her critics and social norms
by leading delegations of British intelligentsia to Germany to learn about and
confront the appeal of the Nazis. A new edition of this title is published in
May by Arcadia which is going to attract a great deal of publicity. Lord
Ramsbotham said recently “Many people are comparing the current turmoil in
the world with what went on in the 1930s. In the interest of the future,
I hope that influential people will mark and inwardly digest the warning signs
that Amy Buller so clearly identified in Darkness over Germany” and
Salley Vickers called it “A book for our times. We can learn much needed
lessons from Amy Buller's wisdom.” The book is being launched at St. Paul’s
Cathedral on May 16th with a panel discussion cathedral floor including Rowan
Williams and Baroness Helena Kennedy. The panel will be chaired by Ed Newell, the Principal of Cumberland Lodge and
author of the book's afterword, and Kurt Barling,
author of the book’s foreword, will also speak. Windsor Festival have
confirmed an event in September with Ed Newell and
Kurt Barling, and Chalke Valley History Festival and Hay
Festival have also expressed strong interest. Liverpool University have
confirmed a large event for the 17th May as has the Culture
Bite festival in October. Tate Liverpool are also looking to
organise an event alongside their exhibition on the 1930s. At Cumberland
Lodge itself there is a dedicated Darkness over
Germany Conference on 5-6 June and
a scheduled Darkness Over Germany panel event with Theodore Zeldin on 14 July. Ed and
Kurt will also be appearing on Talk Radio in May to discuss this timely
reminder of how a message of hate once fuelled a nation to unite; and there
will be additional radio appearances on Radio 4 and others to follow.
The Mail on Sunday, The Economist, The Times, The
Sunday Times and Guardian are all interested in this title – it’s
going to be much talked about. Darkness Over
Germany: A Warning from History (pb, £15.00, 978 1911350194) is
available as a reading copy for any bookseller interested in hosting an event
with Ed Newell and Kurt Barling. Please
email Nuala at nuala@compass-ips.london
if you’d like one.
Staying with WWII for a moment, there is lots of great
publicity for The Single Soldier (pb, £8.99, 978 1911331209) – the emotive debut novel
from actor George Costigan – best known for his work in Rita, Sue and Bob Too
and Happy Valley. Set in rural France, following the devastation of the
war; history, secrets and painful truths collide in what renowned playwright
Willy Russell has called “a magnificent, big beast of a book.” You can hear
George talking about the book on BBC Radio York (2hrs 17mins into the
link) here; on BBC
Radio Scotland here;
on BBC West Midland (39 mins into this link) here; on BBC
Tees (2hrs 5mins into this link) here; on
BBC Radio Leeds (1hr 10mins into this link) here; on The Business
Desk here,
and at the Middlesbrough Lit event here. There will
also be interviews on BBC Stoke and BBC Berkshire and there have
been features in Yorkshire Life magazine and the Halifax Courier.
The Single Soldier is published on Thursday by Urbane.
Here's an
interesting article from the TLS that you may enjoy – about how
prisoners are escaping from prison – via the pages of a really good book.
Readers who love the classic, well-crafted detective
fiction of Conrad, Buchan, Dickens, Conan Doyle and Dorothy L. Sayers, will
absolutely adore An Unlikely Agent (pb, £8.99, 978 1846973802) which is the debut novel
of Jane Menczer and
is published by Polygon in May. This evocative and intriguing debut
historical mystery is set in the foggy backstreets of Edwardian London and
begins in 1905 with our hero Margaret Trant who lives with her ailing,
irascible mother in a dreary boarding house in St John’s Wood. When a stranger
on the tram hands her a newspaper open at the recruitment page, Margaret spots
an advertisement that promises to ‘open new horizons beyond your wildest dreams’
and after a gruelling interview, she finds herself in a new position as a
secretary in a dingy backstreet shop. But all is not as it seems; she is in
fact working for a highly secret branch of the intelligence service, Bureau 8,
whose mission is to track down and neutralise a ruthless band of anarchists
known as The Scorpions. Margaret’s guilty love of detective fiction scarcely
prepares her for the reality of true criminality, and her journey of
self-discovery forms the heart of this remarkable novel, as she discovers in
herself resourcefulness, courage, independence and the first stirrings of love.
Jane Menczer is
an excellent performer and has already done readings in performed in Foyles
Charing Cross and Waterstone’s Piccadilly. If you’d like a reading
copy of this atmospheric page-turning thriller, then please email Nuala at nuala@compass-ips.london.
And talking of Polygon/Birlinn, how excited were we
to see Birlinn and Compass director Hugh Andrew featured in the
latest edition of Country Life in a feature on small publishers! We love this fetching picture of him taken by the magazine with his
dog Millie – and thousands of books!
We also love this pic of a very dapper Lee Morgan, who had to spend the whole of London Book Fair wearing his prescription sunglasses after misplacing his regular pair!
We also love this pic of a very dapper Lee Morgan, who had to spend the whole of London Book Fair wearing his prescription sunglasses after misplacing his regular pair!
Hands up if you know what a bothy is? Well if you’re north
of the border you certainly will – and The Scottish
Bothy Bible (pb, £16.99, 978 1910636107)
which has just been published by Wild Things has been selling like hot
Forfar bridies! These remote shelters in the wilderness where walkers can spend
the night free of charge have long been one of Scotland's best-kept secrets and
this first ever guide to the Scottish bothies reveals the evocative, unique and
often hidden network of cabins and mountain huts, crofts and farmsteads. This
title is packed with stunning photography of some of Scotland’s most beautiful
landscapes and is highly engaging travel writing which documents the
fascinating history of each bothy and the adventurers who use them. You can see
some of the gorgeous photos on the BBC website here and can hear its
author Geoff Allan talking on BBC Scotland about the book here.
The Wild Guide to Scotland: a
new compendium of adventures, from the best-selling Wild Guide series is
out on 1 May. This paperback will guide you to 750 secret places, including
wild swims, ancient forests, lost ruins, hidden beaches, secret islands, tiny
glens, amazing wildlife, as well as artisanal whisky distilleries,
microbreweries, and quirky places to stay. It’s full of mesmerising photography
by some of Glasgow’s most young photographers – ideal reading for those seeking
the ultimate weekend escape without having to leave the UK! The Wild Guide to Scotland
(pb, £16.99, 978 1910636121) is by Kimberley
Grant, Richard Gaston and David Cooper who are some of Glasgow’s most
trend-setting young photographers and travel bloggers – you can see
some of their stunning work here.
There seems to be a bit of an adventurous theme to today’s
Compass Points; next up is The Mercury Travel Club which
Helen Lederer described as “a joyfully warm and witty read.” After
twenty-four years and eleven months of marriage, Angie Shepherd is divorced,
dejected and facing a future of cardigans and cats. Best friend Patty is having
none of it, and channelling her inner Richard Branson, Angie invests her
divorce settlement into The Mercury Travel Club,
a travel agency with a twist. But as the club gets going, things don’t quite go
according to plan, and in this digital age, a little chaos brings the
recognition Angie has been looking for. Witty, entertaining and laugh-out-loud
funny, this feel-good novel shows that it’s never too late for a second chance.
The Mercury Travel Club (pb, £8.99, 978 1910453285) is by Helen Bridgett and
is getting rave reviews on the book blogs as a “light-hearted, entertaining,
and a genuinely lovely read.” and “uplifting, amusing chick lit for the
mature reader.” It has just been published by Red Door.
So, what do we think are the best ever books and movies
about travelling? See if you agree with the top twenty travel books as listed
in the Telegraph here,
and the Top Ten travel movies here!
Continuing with the exploratory spirit of today, comes Freedom Seeker by Beth Kempton (pb,
£10.99 978 1781808054) published in April by Hay House. Beth Kempton went from being a life-loving, risk-taking adventurer
to a grown-up, settled-down mother, wife and business owner, before realizing
the life she had built was suffocating her. She set out on a journey to find
personal freedom, and along the way encountered many others who were also
feeling trapped - by their circumstances, relationships, finances, beliefs,
doubts and fears. Full of profound lessons, powerful exercises and inspiring
tales, this honest and courageous book will help you to live more, worry less
and find a way to do what you love, every day. Beth is writing articles for the
May issues of Yoga Magazine, Wilding Online, Prima and Your
Fitness and lifestyle features on the book will also appear in Soul
& Spirit, Your Healthy Living, Kindred Spirit and the Daily
Echo.
Congratulations to Carcanet poet Lorna Goodison who
has just been announced as the new Poet Laureate
of Jamaica, succeeding fellow Carcanet poet Mervyn Morris.
The news was announced in the Jamaica Observer which
you can read here. Lorna Goodison is a poet alive to places, from Jamaica where she
began and started a family, to the United States and Canada where she has made
her teaching career, but always re-connecting with her Caribbean roots. She has
an ear alert to histories and voice; how differently English sounds in the
tropics and in colder lands, at seaside in sunlight and on prairies, mountains
and in cities. She covers a wide range of subjects and themes and her instinct
is to celebrate being alive in a world that is rich but in peril. “And what
is the rare quality that has gone out of poetry that these marvellous poems
restore?” asks Derek Walcott. “Joy.” Collected
Poems by Lorna
Goodison (pb, £14.99, 978 1784104665)
is published in April by Carcanet and you can see her performing at the
2014 Manchester Literary Festival here.
Vintage Vegan: Recipes from Inside
the World's First Vegan Restaurant by Mrs
Vera Richter continues to get some great publicity, it is featured in the
latest edition of Vegan Food and Living –
a popular vegan magazine that reaches over 120,000 consumers each month. You
can see this feature which includes recipes from the book below. There was also recently an article on Vera
Richter in LA Weekly, which
referred several times to the book which you can read here.
Vintage Vegan
(£12.99, hb, 978 0859655446) was published in December by Plexus.
What if we meat eaters talked about food the way our vegan
chums do? Would it sound like this?!
There have been some super displays for our titles round
the country this week; below you can see books from Pluto, Gallic, Jessica Kingsley, Biteback, and And Other Stories and in the UK’s leading
socialist bookshop Bookmarks; the fabulous Madhatter Bookshop in
Burford which celebrated 5 years of trading last Autumn; Foyles; the
largest bookshop in Scotland: Waterstone’s Glasgow; Rough Trade
in Nottingham; Easons in Ireland; and a lovely spring display at Toppings
in Bath! Thanks booksellers!
That’s all for now folks! More next
week!
This newsletter is sent weekly to over 700 booksellers as
well as publishers and publicists. If you would like to order any of the titles
mentioned, then please talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the office on
020 8326 5696.
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