Cover Stories: Saqi Books; Jonathan Aitken's book deal; Alistair Cooke's letters
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Many happy returns to Saqi Books, celebrating its 21st birthday this year, and still issuing titles that stimulate and challenge - books with "editorial audacity", as The Independent put it. Saqi came into being when two friends, Mai Ghoussoub and André Gaspard, fled Lebanon for London and decided to stay. Yes, they were asylum-seekers - and look how much they have contributed to our culture. Fred Halliday's Two Hours that Shook the World, for instance, is regarded by many as the finest book on September 11, while Saqi's fiction (from Maggie Gee to Moris Farhi) recognises no boundaries, as a trip to www.saqibooks.com shows.
* Michael Howard might have blocked Jonathan Aitken's attempts to rejoin Parliament, but at least the Tory ex-con has found a publisher. Robin Baird-Smith, a theologian before he left God for Mammon, has signed a six-figure deal with the former MP. Aitken will write four books for Continuum, including a volume of autobiography, Porridge and Passion, and another of biographical sketches. There's also to be a biography of the Watergate conspirator, Charles Colson. First into the shops, this autumn, is a short spiritual book: Prayers for People Under Pressure. Don't all rush.
* A new collection of the late Alistair Cooke's Letters from America will be out in time for Christmas. More interesting, however, will be the publication in 2005 of a "lost" Cooke manuscript: A Nation at War: American Lives on the Home Front, 1941-1945. The 400,000-word survey was ready to roll as Harry Truman pressed the red button in 1945, and Cooke always maintained that "Hiroshima killed the project". Publishers will surely be scrambling for rights, and publication next year would mark the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments