As reported in The Daily Telegraph, the Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury has bought The National Archives’s entire backlist of publications. The deal includes my 2009 book The UFO Files and other best-sellers such as Genealogists’ Internet by Peter Christian.
credit: Daily Telegraph
It has also agreed a five-year venture aimed at better utilising TNA’s unique resources and will publish a range of new titles based upon the archive holdings.
Licensing manager at The National Archives, Laura Simpson, said: “This joint venture marks a new direction in The National Archives’ approach to publishing. By seeking innovative opportunities to tap into our vast collection of historic resource material we can interest and enthrall a wider audience than ever before.
“Bloomsbury brings significant expertise in both trade and academic publishing and we look forward to working together to uncover mysteries and reveal untold tales from the archives”.
The deal was also reported in The Bookseller, the industry’s trade journal. I’m looking forward to working with Bloomsbury which has a great track record in publishing non-fiction titles such as the excellent The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (or the Murder at Road Hill House, by Kate Summerscale (2008), recently the subject of a TV adaptation.
David Clarke is Associate Professor in the Department of Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He teaches media law and his research specialism is contemporary legend. Previously he worked as a journalist for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. His PhD in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. From 2008-13 he acted as consultant and curator of the MoD UFO files project with The National Archives. His books include The Angel of Mons (2004) and How UFOs Conquered the World: the history of a modern myth (2015). In 2018 he co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University. This blog covers his twin research interests in journalism and folklore. The views expressed in the contents are entirely his own.
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