‘For the past year I have only read books about drink. I have just handed in the first draft of my book so I am now reading something purely for pleasure. I have chosen a novel by Allan Massie called Cold Winter in Bordeaux; it’s part of a quartet set in occupied France. It’s wonderful to lose myself in such expertly done historical fiction, but at times it feels like I am still researching my book, because my god there’s a lot of drinking in it’

Henry Jeffreys on novels that make you crave booze for the Guardian. Read the full article here and get your copy of Cold Winter in Bordeaux by Allan Massie today.

Martin Scurr and Jane Haynes will be speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Monday 5th October. Read more about the event and get your tickets here today.

Doctors Dissected by Martin Scurr and Jane Haynes is available today. Get your copy here now!

‘The enjoyment of an autobiography generally depends on how interesting the author is able to make himself. In this instance Attallah’s self-confessed naivety, disgustingness, warmth, sensuality, exceptional energy, bossiness and diversity of enthusiasm certainly make him as colourful as anyone in Dickens or Powell, but the long-term value of Fulfilment and Betrayal will, I suspect, reside not in Attallah’s self-portrait but in the riveting picture he gives of a vibrant literary world that has, in his view, all but vanished – a world invented in his fantasy and brought to life with the bounty of his purse – a crazy, hyped-up, uncommon little world that was centred on Soho, jewels, books, eccentric personalities, gossip columns, “It” girls, parties, rifts and deep friendships’

This fantastic review by Alexander Waugh of Fulfilment & Betrayal by our Chairman Naim Attallah was published in the Literary Review in 2007. It describes a Soho and a world very different to the one today…

Read the full review here and get your copy of Fulfilment & Betrayal here today!

‘He was a remarkable man. He wrote, “I don’t wanna write a book. There’s some great books about the music industry. Some classics. Full of people getting pissed and on coke in the morning. I wanna write a book that changes people’s lives…” He was in many ways a legendary figure, a chance-taker and a hell-raiser you automatically fell for. He had a wicked charm which was irresistible’

Our Chairman Naim Attallah blogs about meeting Jazz Summers and working with him on Big Life. Read the full blog post here.

Jazz Summers, the legendary manager behind bands including Wham!, The Verve and Snow Patrol, has passed away. He was 71.

We were proud to publish Jazz’s autobiography, Big Life, in 2013.

Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

‘Without meeting Kate, I find her a woman of immense courage who must have realised that such a trip is fraught with danger but, nevertheless, discarded her own safety to give succour, and alleviate to some degree what such a tragedy causes to a civilian population trying to survive’

Our Chairman Naim Attallah on Kate Rothschild’s recent trip to Gaza. Read the full blog post here and get your copy of Eyes in Gaza by Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse here today!

‘This is a genuinely funny and witty read, I loved the way that Hennessy has created the characters at this time in their lives and that many will love. Not Far from Dreamland will appeal to a much wider audience than the age group of the leading characters … many will fall for Ronald and his “platonic” group of friends. There is scope within this book for a sequel and I can only hope that Hennessy is right now penning that very book and I for one would be happy to review’

Read the full review here and get your copy of Not Far from Dreamland by Val Hennessy today

‘This collection of Clarke’s columns is indeed a celebration however they offer more. For the strictly old-school, those of a certain age who remain unreconstructed, these pieces can certainly be enjoyed at the ‘beers and birds’ level. However like the best art, these street dispatches – vignettes – are multi-layered, with surprising depth to, for example, recounting snorting cocaine in a pub toilet. There is texture behind a seemingly flat veneer. Clarke’s writing sings’

Book Munch blog reviews Low Life: The Spectator Columns by Jeremy Clarke. Get your copy of the book today!

‘I have very few regrets in life. Mistakes are part of the learning curve and essential in order to accumulate the experience to forge ahead and succeed. But in 1981, Francesca Thyssen, who was making waves in London’s hedonistic sub-culture, arrived at my office in what appeared to be a very friendly mode. With her was Jean-Michel Basquiat – the Brooklyn-born son of a Haitian father, whose graffiti-based art came to epitomise the youth culture of the 80s with all its excess and disaffection. If I could have guessed then what an impact he would have on the art scene before departing at the age of twenty-seven, I would have invested in his paintings. Each one that survives today is worth a fortune! In 1998 Quartet Books published Phoebe Hoban’s biography of the artist, which the New York Times called ‘compulsively readable’. The book, Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art, has just been re-printed – with a brand new binding – to satisfy public demand. Get your copy now, before stocks run out’

Our Chairman Naim Attallah on the reprint of Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hoban and meeting Basquiat in 1981.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Tattoo by Stefan Richter. To celebrate we thought we’d post some of the pictures from thirty years ago…

Go here for more information on the title.

Lucy Beresford writes about story-telling and therapy for Wellbeing.

Read the full article here and get your copy of Invisible Threads by Lucy Beresford here today!

Val Hennessy is interviewed by Kent on Sunday newspaper. She discusses her new title Not Far from Dreamland. Get your copy of the book here today!