Cull and Co. Ltd Latest Deals

THE CAMBRIDGE FOOTLIGHTS: A VERY BRITISH INSTITUTION to Bloomsbury Methuen

Bloomsbury Methuen has acquired world all language rights (excluding dramatic rights) to THE CAMBRIDGE FOOTLIGHTS: A VERY BRITISH INSTITUTION by Robert Sellers.

This book will tell the story of Britain’s oldest student sketch comedy troupe, whose notable alumni include Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Julian Fellowes, John Cleese, Peter Cook and Richard Osman. As well as being a detailed history of the Footlights, the book will include first-hand interviews with former Footlights alumni, extracts from past Footlights productions, and illustrations, including a reproduction of posters, flyers and programmes.

“Like a night sky in the countryside, the more you look, the more stars you see,” wrote comedian and Footlights alumnus David Mitchell in his 2013 memoir. “Footlights seem to be behind about half of the stuff worth paying attention to.”

The Cambridge Footlights

Robert Sellers is the author of over 25 books on subjects such as cinema, theatre, television, music and popular culture. These include Raising Laughter: How the Sitcom Kept Britain Smiling in the ’70s (2021), as well as authorized biographies of Oliver Reed, Kenny Everett and Ernie Wise, along with histories of Ealing Studios, Radio 1 and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals.

Cull and Co. Ltd Latest Deals

RUSSIAN NIGHTS: TESTIMONIES FROM THE SOVIET TERROR to Vernon Press

Vernon Press has acquired World English Rights rights to a book that follows the work of Solzhenitsyn and Shalamov, and expands on the spectrum of GULAG stories.

The testimonies, gathered between 2001 and 2005 of actors implicated in different aspects of Soviet life roughly through the period 1917-1956, are from ex-prisoners of the GULAG, survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, veterans of the Russian front in World War II, military men and common people, in cities and the countryside. This book presents autocracy not merely as a past historical curiosity, but as a present call of alarm before the advances of autocracy seen throughout the world today.

Echavarren notes, “The details of the Jewish Holocaust have become part of our history through the testimony of those who survived the death camps. The details of Lenin’s and Stalin’s reign of terror are far less known because they took place behind a wall of secrecy, and because survivors have been loath to speak about them for fear of retribution.”

Roberto Echavarren is a Uruguayan poet, novelist, essayist and translator with a Ph.D. from the University of Paris VIII and taught at New York University from 1975 to 1995 in the Spanish and Portuguese, and Comparative Literature Departments. He is the director of La Flauta Mágica publishing company, specializing in critical bilingual editions of poetry and the rescue of major poetical works written in Spanish.

Prizes include the National Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Uruguay, essay; National Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Uruguay, poetry; Nancy Bacelo Foundation Poetry Prize; Cultural Center of Spain Theatre Prize.

Cull and Co. Ltd In the Media

Authors in the Media – January 2023

We welcome the new year with several agency authors in the media.

Lucy Hooft was interviewed on the Curtis Brown Creative Writing Course blog. Lucy Hooft studied their six-week online Write to the End of Your Novel and Edit & Pitch Your Novel courses in 2018. Her debut The King’s Pawn (book one in The Sarah Black Series) is out now with independent publisher Burning Chair. She spoke about the lifelong friends she met on our courses, her love of thrillers and her journey to publication.

Mary Novakovich had a Croatia feature in print in ⁦Times Travel. Her new Croatia travelogue, is shortlisted for the ⁦Stanfords Travel⁩ Travel Book of the Year award.

She even shared her diet tips with the Daily Telegraph!

Wish you were here?

There was also a review of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS for The Past Magazine and a review for Graydon Carter’s Airmail digital magazine.

The Marquess of Worcester and Lady Liza Campbell at Annabel’s, one of London’s best-known members’ clubs.
© Copyright Photograph by Dafydd Jones
Cull and Co. Ltd In the Media

Authors in the Media – December 2022

Behind Closed Doors by Seth ThevozIn this month’s media roundup of agency authors, you can’t keep a good book down as Seth Thevoz’s Behind Closed Doors, was named by London’s Heywood Hill bookshop as one of the “10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR!” 

The TLS also gave the book a terrific review, describing it as ‘“Exuberant, rollicking… Behind Closed Doors is full of amusing anecdotes and waspish character sketches.”’.

In podcast news, Andrew Jeffrey was interviewed on the Spycraft101 podcast about his book A Taste for Treason, out now. You can also read the the preface to Andrew’s book, completely free here.

Staying on the spy podcast theme, Henry Schlesinger was interviewed on the International Spy Museum’s Spycast to discuss his newest book, Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal, and Weaponized Love, which explores the fascinating relationship between sex and spying.

And… you know about Benjamin Franklin in Paris as a “bon vivant, wily diplomat and aging lion,” but read Henry’s article about him as the “Founding Forger” engaged in disinformation and fake news during the Revolution!

Sarah-Louise Miller reveals the forgotten history of the intelligence battle that set up a decisive victory at Midway on the History Hit podcast. Her new book is available for pre-order and published on March 16th 2023.

Lucy Hooft appeared on two podcasts to discuss her debut spy novel The King’s Pawn: The Writer’s Routine and The Hobcast. Her novel is inspired by a real life event no-one has heard of, and takes place around the South Caucus region, which few people know about.

Finally, a double for Mary Novakovich and C. J. Schuler, whose books appeared on Wanderlust magazine’s best travel books for 2022.

And in wonderful news, as Mary’s book ‘My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland’. was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year. Published by Bradt Guides.

Cull and Co. Ltd Latest Deals

HAWAII’S WOMEN OF WAR to Pegasus Books in the USA

North American rights for Hawaii’s Women of War have gone to US publisher Pegasus Books.

In focusing on the work of women in wartime Hawaii, this book will cover the war in the Pacific and will examine historical events such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway from a totally new angle. It will offer a novel and interesting contribution to Hawaii’s history, as well as to US history.

Though some work has been carried out on American nurses in the Pacific, especially those taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese in the Philippines and in Guam, there remains a conspicuous gap in Pacific war history where women should be. It will examine the work of American women, but it will also look at the wartime work of Pacific Islanders and Polynesian women, many of whom have never before been considered in a study of the Second World War.

Sarah-Louise MillerSarah-Louise Miller is a graduate of the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and is uniquely qualified to write this book, having spent the past five years working full time on researching women in British intelligence roles.

In June 2022 she appeared as a historical expert on the British Pacific Fleet on an episode of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are, featuring actor Ralf Little. In late June 2022 she filmed with Channel 4 for the documentary series, My Grandparents’ War, explaining to actress Keira Knightley what her grandmother’s World War II service entailed, and she featured as a historical expert on a brand new documentary series alongside Professor Alice Roberts.

Sarah regularly films in London studios, most recently for a four-part historical documentary for Sky History. She was also featured as a historical expert in a six-part international documentary series for Sky History, entitled The Bomber: Terror of World War II.

Cull and Co. Ltd In the Media

Authors in the Media – November 2022

In this month’s media roundup of agency authors, Tim Stanley gave Fr Mark Vickers’ new book, ‘God in No. 10’, 4/5 Stars in The Daily Telegraph.

Is the Holy Ghost a vote-winner? Prime Ministers and God, from Balfour to Boris.

‘From Churchill’s faith in Jewish philosophy to Ramsay MacDonald’s love of horoscopes, Mark Vickers’s God in Number 10 is full of surprises. Vickers, himself a Catholic priest, has given us a wonderful new reference book of the beliefs (and non-beliefs) of 20th-century PMs – a meaty volume that can also be consumed as a social history of British religion.’

Mark wrote a column for Credo in The Times, on how new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will draw on the Hindu concept of service.

He also wrote a column for The Daily Express, asking whether our politicians have abandoned God and with it any moral compass.

‘Does Party-gate or the Chris Pincher scandal count for nothing? The values of the Government must consist of more than narrow interest or the struggle for mere survival.’

Charles Moore noted the book in The Spectator, which he helped launch on Wednesday 26th at the House of Commons. God in Number 10 was published by SPCK on October 20th.

The personal faith of PMs

And speaking of God, Seth Thévoz will appear as a regular guest on the podcast Oh God, What Now? Listen to him on his first episode here.

He also wrote an article for Sphere Magazine that uncovers the history of London’s Private Members’ Clubs, and lists the clubs – old and new – to know now.

The Strangers’ Room at The Reform Club In London

Andrew Jeffrey’s A Taste for Treason was well reviewed in The Times.

And Mary Novakovich’s My Family and Other Enemies was reviewed in the Literary Review.

‘Guidebooks tend to tell readers why it is worth going to see somewhere today. Novakovich has written those too, but this book explains what lies behind what is worth seeing. The human hinterland is as fascinating as the landscape.’

Cull and Co. Ltd In the Media

Authors in the Media – October 2022

Agency author Dr Sarah-Louise Miller recently appeared on an episode of the currently airing series of Channel 4’s My Grandparents War. Sarah travelled to Greenock in Scotland to film for the episode and was tasked with explaining to actress Keira Knightley what her grandmother’s Second World War service entailed. Keira’s grandmother, Jan, worked for the US Army’s 5th Port in the Transportation Division, and helped to organise and execute the movement of Allied troops for the D-Day invasion. The episode can be viewed on catch-up on All 4 here.

Keira Knightley & Sarh-Louise Miller
Keira Knightley & Sarh-Louise Miller

Mary Novakovich appeared on the True Travel Podcast and her book is now available worldwide.

Seth Thévoz was interviewed for The Chap Magazine, which is available in all good newsstands now or you can download the digital edition here.

The Chap magazine

He also joined Kate on the Betwixt the Sheets podcast to reveal the secret history behind some of London’s most famous members’ clubs, from 1693 to the present day.

Listen back to the History Hit’s Betwixt the Sheets podcast.

Cull and Co. Ltd Author Events

God In Number 10 – Book Launch

Mike Kane MP will host a Reception on behalf of the author Fr Mark Vickers and SPCK Publishing for the launch of the book, God in Number 10.

God in No. 10

‘This carefully researched and well-written study reveals the religious faith of our Prime Ministers, or lack of it, in vivid colours. Prepare to be shocked and surprised as the author lays bare their souls.’
SIR ANTHONY SELDON

Mark Vickers’ acclaimed volume on the faith of the twentieth-century British Prime Ministers casts a new perspective on these holders of the highest political office in the realm. God in Number 10 offers intriguing insights into Margaret Thatcher’s legendary ‘Sermon on the Mound’, Tony Blair’s perception of Jesus as a modernizer, Arthur Balfour’s recourse to spiritualism, Stanley Baldwin’s mystical experiences, and Winston Churchill’s involvement with astrology. The book considers the role of religion generally in the political classes of the period, the reasons for the declining influence of faith in the public forum, and the relationship between Church and State.

The families of Henry Asquith, Andrew Bonar Law, Ramsay MacDonald, Neville Chamberlain, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Wilson have all expressed their support for God in Number 10 and, where able, helped in the research, while John Major has assisted fully.

Mark Vickers read History at Durham University and practised with one of the City law firms. Having studied for the priesthood at the English College in Rome, he was ordained for the Diocese of Westminster in 2003. He is currently a parish priest in West London.

The Churchill Room, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Charles Moore, Lord Moore of Etchingham, will speak at 7.30 p.m.

Book free tickets here.

Pre-order the book here, published on October 20th.

‘Secularism has air brushed the role of religion from the formation and motivation of our Prime Ministers. This book demonstrates the conclusive and increasing importance of faith in the lives of the twentieth-century premiers.’

– Jeremy Black, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Exeter

‘Do Christian beliefs, values and prayer have a place in contemporary politics? What have we to fear if they don’t? This timely study reveals the surprising extent to which the Prime Ministers of the last century were influenced by their Christian upbringing and faith – and suggests how their successors could benefit from a similar ethical foundation.’

– Tim Farron, MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, 2015-17

Cull and Co. Ltd Author Events

Nazi Espionage comes to Dundee

The Black Watch Castle and Museum’s second Book festival – ‘Words of War’ 2022.

Saturday, October 1st, 2022 – 3:45 pm – 4:45 pm

A Taste For Treason is the dramatic, untold story of how a Nazi spy’s letter, posted in New York and intercepted in Scotland in 1938, broke spy rings across Europe and North America. Following parallel Nazi espionage plots in the UK and USA and an extraordinary cast of characters as they converged on a Scottish post office, this is a thrilling true story of the international spy hunt that followed.

Dr. Andrew Jeffrey will discuss with Dr. Nicola Small the remarkable housewife spy catcher who set MI5 on the trail of Nazi Germany’s most notorious spy in pre-war Britain and how that single letter marked the genesis of an intelligence sharing and security alliance that today includes the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the so-called Five Eyes.

Book here now.

Pre-order A Taste for Treason published on October 6th.