WH Allen
In 2012 Ebury Publishing will revive the WH Allen imprint to publish a bespoke list of popular history, politics, popular science and current affairs titles. Focusing on WH Allen’s heritage as the publisher of some of the biggest thinkers of the past three centuries, the list will publish provocative and intelligent writing for the modern world.
Our Titles
Headed by Ed Faulkner, Publishing Director at Virgin Books, WH Allen will publish 6 titles a year and will launch in 2012.
Amongst its first titles will be Al Gore’s
Drivers of Global Change. In this book, Nobel Prize-winner and bestselling author of
An Inconvenient Truth, Gore discusses the political, social and economic forces that are shaping what America and the world will become in ensuing decades. From demographics to democracy, Gore plans to explore what he calls the drivers of global change, framing the international conversation about the future in fresh and provocative ways.
Other titles on the list include a hard-hitting as yet untitled memoir by former Islamic extremist Maajid Nawaz. Maajid, who was born and brought up in Essex, was one of the leaders of the global Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir where he played a central role in the shaping and dissemination of an aggressive anti-West narrative. In 2001 he was imprisoned in Egypt where he underwent an intellectual transformation and on his release renounced the Islamist ideology alienating himself from his family and community. He now works all over the world to counter Islamism and to promote democratic ideals through his organisation, The Quilliam Foundation, which he co-founded with former Islamist and bestselling author Ed Husain.
WH Allen will also publish The Loudest Voice in the Room by Gabriel Sherman. Essential reading for those interested in Rupert Murdoch’s influence on global business and politics, this is the story of America’s Fox News Channel — the NewsCorp phenomenon that spurred the rise of the Tea Party, controls political debate in the world’s superpower, and counts five presidential candidates on its payroll.
Our History
Founded in the eighteenth century WH Allen was the respected publisher of several pamphlets on contemporary political and social issues and went on to publish works by Cardinal Newman, General Gordon and Sir Edward Grey a century later. Acquired in 1939 by journalist and writer Mark Goulden, it was the second publishing house after Penguin to use the mass-market paperback format and had a stable of authors that included General George Patton, Desmond Morris and Alan Sillitoe.
“By relaunching WH Allen I am delighted to be able to revive an imprint that has such a long history and heritage. Staying true to its original publishing values, we will publish provocative books that explore new ideas and thinking, and also standout works of history and politics, which we can present in an accessible way to readers. This will be an independent-minded imprint and we hope to make it a destination list for new authors that will reach an engaged and intelligent audience. Whether we publish as a beautiful hardback or accessible trade paperback, as an ebook or on another digital platform, every book on the list will demonstrate our passion for ideas and reaching out to new readers.”
Ed Faulkner
Publishing Director, Virgin Books
