Guardian Review of Books – 2009

In a year that’s seen a Booker Prize, a spoof-Hollywood memoir and a detailed probe into the lives of London’s richest Russian émigrés, Press have offered a discerning readership choices across a smorgasboard of texts – and seems to have struck a note with the high priests of the Guardian Review. In a survey of a cross-section of recommendations from authors and famous people alike, Press books came up again and again.

Julian Barnes – acclaimed author of Flaubert’s Parrot – singles out Laura Cumming’s A Face to the World (HarperPress) for praise, noting that it, ‘is a rare item: an art book where the text is so enthralling that the picture, however necessary, almost seem like an interruption.

Meanwhile WW2 historian Ian Kershaw singled out Max Hastings’ Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord, 1940-1945 for particular praise, noting, ‘I particularly enjoyed his beautifully painted warts-and-all potrait of Churchill.’

Sarah Waters – author of Tipping the Velvet – singles out James Lever’s spoof Hollywood memoir Me Cheeta as, ‘funny, caustic and genuinely moving,’ whilst fellow novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru praised Mantel’s Wolf Hall which, ‘effortlessly solves the considerable technical problems in writing a historical novel.’

All in all a varied list, highlighting the broad scope of fiction and non-fiction that Press Books brings to the market each year.