A press release from Aurum

Sam Harrison at Aurum Press has acquired World Rights in The Last Post by cultural historian Alwyn W. Turner, author of the acclaimed A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s. Through the story of the lone bugle call now used to express grief and remembrance around the world, Turner will explore how the survivors of the First World War sought to honour the memory of the fallen, and how the twentieth century produced new forms of public remembrance for an age of industrial warfare and democracy.
Harrison said: ‘Alwyn is one of the most stylish, thought-provoking and idiosyncratic historians working in Britain today. He’s also the son of an Army bandmaster and an expert on British military music. So, perhaps it should be no surprise that he’s written a delightful ruminative book which approaches the legacy of the Great War in a unique way.’
The Last Post will be published in October 2014.

Menswear

Nice to see a piece about the mighty Menswear on the Guardian site. Particularly since I wrote it myself...

I was listening to the band's 1995 debut album, Nuisance, yesterday as I was writing. And it's still very fine. Up there with the third Secret Affair album, at the very least.

Thanks to Philip Oltermann of the Guardian for his help, and - as ever - to Sam Harrison.

The Spectator Speaks

Having never had a review in The Spectator before, I'm tremendously excited by Lloyd Evans giving Things Can Only Get Bitter a very thorough kicking. I can't really do his piece justice here, but these are some of the highlights:

'It’s a pity he can’t write terribly well, although it helps to explain the book’s extreme brevity.'

'Turner, a lifelong gloom addict, approaches even the most innocent and joyful developments in a mood of sulky intellectualism.'

'[The publishers] asked a lazy editor to commission a lazy author to propose a lazy idea and turn it into a lazy book.'

'The flimsiest and most banal 72-page tome in history.'

That's terrific stuff. If I'm reading this correctly, he doesn't like the essay very much.

I regret to say that, not being a regular reader of The Spectator, I'm unfamiliar with Lloyd Evans's work. I only knew him previously from Just Boris, Sonia Purnell's excellent biography of Boris Johnson, as an investigative journalist conducting 'an inquiry into Swedish lavatorial habits'.

But he's clearly a man of some taste and discernment, and I thank him for his kind words.

A Classless Society

A comment by Tyrone Jenkins on a previous blog entry asks whether I intend to write a sequel to my previous books Crisis? What Crisis? and Rejoice! Rejoice!

And the answer is that I am indeed contracted to produce a third volume in the series, provisionally titled A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s.

This will cover the period from Margaret Thatcher's dethronement in November 1990 through to the re-election of Tony Blair in June 2001. And it'll be the usual chaotic mix of high politics and low culture - though in this instance, the politics were a bit on the low side as well.

Like the previous two volumes, it will be published by Aurum Press, with the same editor - Sam Harrison - that I worked with on my Terry Nation book. It should appear next year, though I'm hoping there'll be an interim piece on the period available for download in March this year.

Rights Statement

This is what publishers call a rights statement, and what the rest of us call a press release:

"Sam Harrison of Aurum has acquired The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation by Alwyn W. Turner.

"Terry Nation was one of the most successful, prolific and celebrated writers for popular television that Britain has ever produced. His science fiction series Survivors and Blake’s 7, from the late-1970s, have been durable cult and critical hits, one being re-made thirty years on and the other constantly rumoured for return, while his villainous creations the Daleks ensured, and at times eclipsed, the success of Doctor Who.

"Scheduled for Spring 2011, The Man Who Invented the Daleks will focus on Nation’s work in the 1960s and 1970s, charting a career that also saw him join the legendary Associated London Scripts, become chief writer for a troubled Tony Hancock and play a key role in hit international adventures series such as The Avengers, The Saint and The Persuaders!.

"Sam Harrison said: ‘In his acclaimed histories Crisis? What Crisis? and Rejoice! Rejoice! Alwyn has proven himself one of the most stylish and authoritative writers on British popular culture working today. In drawing together the various strands of Terry Nation’s life and career, this book will offer a captivating window onto the creative melting pot without which British television today would look very different.’

"Anyone who knew and wishes to share their memories of Terry Nation can contact the author at: alwyn@alwynwturner.com "

Paperback Crisis

The paperback edition of my book Crisis? What Crisis? has just arrived, and I think it looks splendid: a better cover than the hardback, and yours for only £8.99, published by Aurum Press.


I'm particularly grateful to Sam Harrison for putting this together and for his enthusiasm.

Also, while I’ve been away for a few days, The Guardian has published the Harry Hammond obituary I wrote. My thanks to Diana Gower.