Author: Cull and Co. Ltd

Autumn leaves fall as our authors rise in the media.

George Harrison’s novel, Season (Lightning Books), was shortlisted for the Debut Fiction category of the Nero Book Awards and the Debut Novel category of the East Anglian Book Awards.

The 2025 debut fiction judges at Nero remarked that ‘Season captures perfectly the essence of male isolation in a sensitive, unsentimental way. Whether you love or loathe football culture, this book offers a glimpse of its vital place in the human heart.’

A further congratulations to Shafik Meghji, whose book Small Earthquakes: A Journey Through Lost British History in South America, has been named the Travel Narrative Book of the Year by the British Guild of Travel Writers.

This year’s judges ‘described this book as being beautifully written, a seductive historical narrative, and a fascinating and rewarding travelogue.’

The award-winning journalist, travel writer, author, editor, and broadcaster also made headlines in The Times, BBC Travel, The Observer, Geographical and a number of major outlets following the success of his book.

Don George at the BBC, wrote: ‘Combining the immediacy of a travel memoir with the depth of a scholarly history lesson, Small Earthquakes illuminates how Britain helped shape these nations through economic ventures, cultural exchange and political intervention, and how those regions in turn have reshaped Britain, from the Falklands conflict to canned Fray Bentos pies.’

Continuing the theme of travel, Daniel Stables’s article for the National Geographic Traveller, was named the Travel Feature of the Year!

Stables’s winning article recounted a summer hiking expedition in the remote Icelandic Highlands, exploring the region’s landscapes and folklore.

Stables was also nominated for Domestic Travel Writer of the Year. His debut narrative travel book Fiesta, is out now.

And it was wonderful to see FOUR agency writers from the stable in the British Guild of Travel Writers ‘Book Friday’ gift guide: Shafik Meghji, Daniel Stables, Mary Novakovich & Tim Bird.

In other news, if Anthony Gardner’s previous book, Fox – chosen as Book of the Year by Sue Gaisford in The Tablet – is anything to go by, All God’s Creatures is set to be just as successful.

Gardner has also already received up strong early coverage, with reviews from the Irish Examiner, Daily Mail, Nicholas Coleridge, Amanda Craig, The Tablet, The Crack and Jasper Rees.

The Irish Examiner described All God’s Creatures as ‘a wonderfully enjoyable tonic for our current reality’.

Nicholas Coleridge similarly noted: ‘This might be the wittiest book I’ve read in five years – hilarious, joyous and astute. Not a dud word from beginning to end. Highly recommended’.

All God’s Creatures was published and launched at Daunt Books Marylebone on November the 6^th.

It has been a lively run in the press and on air for Cull & Co authors, with political history, spycraft and sharp cultural commentary all jostling for attention.

We start with Seth Thevoz, whose work continues to rattle the crockery in Westminster. An archived extract doing the rounds captures his characteristic mix of archival ferreting and wry prose, reminding readers why his investigations travel so well beyond the committee room read it here.

Michael Robb’s Shelf Life keeps prompting conversations about the past, present and future of bookselling. The notices have been steady and enthusiastic, and the author has been out and about discussing the trade with the sort of good humour that only a lifetime at the coalface can produce. The TLS reviewed his book to cap off a wonderful publication period.

Over in the culture wars corner, Nigel Winter sharpened the quill for Country Squire, delivering “Vive la Goddess!” – a spirited, mischievous meditation on our current taste for idols and iconoclasm alike. It is a lively read, and very Nigel. Dive in.

On geopolitics, Joe Luc Barnes has been charting the EU’s renewed attention to Central Asia. His recent video explainer lays out the energy, security and trade stakes with clarity, the sort of briefing you can watch over a coffee and come away feeling properly briefed. Watch here. His debut book Farewell to Russia – A Journey Through the Former USSR, will be published in March 2026.

Tom Gaisford’s debut novel Sanctuary has opened doors well beyond the book pages. In The Times he described writing as an alternative form of advocacy, reframing legal experience as narrative muscle archived link. The Channel Islands press also took notice, with Bailiwick Express praising the lawyer-turned-author’s asylum thriller for its moral clarity and pace review.

In music and mythmaking, Sean Egan’s Decade of Dissent has drawn nods from both niche and mainstream outlets. All About The Rock spotlighted the book’s case that 1960s Dylan changed more than just chord progressions review, while SPIN zoomed out to the wider cultural shockwaves of the period feature.

From Wall Street to Washington, Jake Donoghue unpacked the uneasy courtship between Trumpworld and crypto for The Spectator – a cool-headed piece arguing for scepticism amid the laser-eyes and conference razzmatazz read.

And then there is Tim Willasey-Wilsey, everywhere at once. Reviews have been generous, from The Telegraph’s take on The Spy and the Devil review to Gill Bennett’s thoughtful assessment at Engelsberg Ideas review, KCSi’s write-up from Andrew Boyd review, and an international angle from The Wire in India feature. The Times ran two historical pieces tied to the book’s themes – one on the British charm that opened doors in Hitler’s inner circle read, another asking whether a British spy helped topple Labour’s first government read. Alan Judd weighed in at The Spectator on how much we really knew in the early 1930s column, while The Scotsman revisited the enduring relevance of a 1938 MI6 warning column. For contemporary policy, RUSI carried his argument that America, in the Trump era, cannot be taken on trust and asks what the UK should do next commentary.

Broadcast has matched print. Tim joined BBC Radio 4’s Today for a brisk five-minute segment that distilled the book’s core question of risk and deception listen, sparred amiably with Hugo Rifkind on Times Radio watch, and spoke at length to Giles Brown on Talk Radio Europe for a thoughtful twenty-two minute conversation listen.

A spring in our step as several authors received excellent coverage in the media.

Tom Gaisford‘s debut novel, Sanctuary (Cinto Press), was launched at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road and was featured in The Times by Catherine Baksi.

Gaisford explained that the novel’s development was “a bit like a potter’s wheel: you’ve got your life and all your experiences, interests and concerns — and from all of that, you fashion something completely different, but it’s made of the same stuff”.

Judge Julian Phillips in The Law Gazette reviewed the book giving it 4/5 stars stating ‘It was only when I got near to the end that I appreciated what a good book this is, and indeed one that deserves to be read again.’

Tim Willasey-Wilsey had two features about his book The Spy and the Devil (Blink) in The Times.

The big reveal in The Times scooped Tim’s new research that points to MI6 agent Bill de Ropp as the man behind the forged Zinoviev letter, leaked just days before the 1924 election. Jack Blackburn writes ‘It was perhaps the greatest political scandal of the first half of the 20th century. Four days before the election of 1924, the leaking of the Zinoviev letter exploded the fear of the red threat and dealt a final blow to Britain’s first Labour government. Was this an establishment plot against the Labour Party? Who wrote the letter? Who leaked it? For more than a century, the puzzle has remained unsolved — but one piece may have slotted into place.‘

Tim also appeared on the Today programme, discussing how Bill de Ropp used his British charm to infiltrate Hitler’s inner circle. Interview starts at 1:23:40.

Travel writer Tim Bird wrote for the BBC about Finland, which has topped the World Happiness Rankings for the eighth year running – but the real appeal for travellers lies in the country’s deeply-lived values of balance, nature and everyday contentment.

‘Happy Land – Finding the Inner Finn’, will be published by Eye Books in the UK in January 2026 and takes a “sideways” look at Finland’s happiness status.

Staying with travel, Shafik Meghji was shortlisted for the Journey Magazine Best Long-Haul Feature Award for his piece on the Bolivian Amazon. His new book Small Earthquakes (Hurst) will be published July 20, 2025.