Allen & Unwin grabs Dale's 365-day history of British politics

Allen & Unwin UK has acquired On This Day in Politics: Britain’s Political History in 365 Days by broadcaster and columnist Iain Dale.

Publisher Ed Faulkner obtained UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Martin Redfern at Northbank Talent Management, and will publish in hardback in October 2022.

"On This Day in Politics is an informative, accessible and opinionated book on key moments in British political history that have occurred on every day from 1st January through to 31st December," the synopsis explains. "From the first meeting of an elected English parliament on 20th January 1275 to the abolition of the Slave Trade on 25th March 1807; from the Peterloo Massacre of 16th August 1819 to Britain voting to leave the EU on 23rd June 2016, there is a growing thirst for knowledge about the history of our constitutional settlement, our party system and how our parliamentary democracy has developed. 

"Writing as an observer of political history, but also someone with an opinion, acclaimed political journalist Iain Dale charts the main events of the last few hundred years, with one event per page, per day."

Dale presents his own daily radio show on LBC, and several podcasts. He is a regular on "Question Time", "Newsnight", "Good Morning Britain", "Politics Live" and a regular columnist for the Telegraph, Evening Standard and the i. He is the author and editor of more than 40 books, most recently The Presidents (Hodder).

"The thirst for knowledge about politics and Britain’s political history has grown immeasurably over recent years and I hope On This Day in Politics will add to people’s knowledge of some of the most well known, and many of the lesser known events over the centuries. I know I have learned a huge amount about events I thought I already knew a lot about. It’s great to be publishing another book with Ed Faulkner at Atlantic/Allen & Unwin after he commissioned my last book Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? This book is nothing if not eclectic and unpredictable with pages on events that you would expect to read about, such as the outbreak of the Second World War but also events such as the election of Britain’s first black MP in 1832, the first sitting MP to come out, the birth of Sir Robin Day, the creation of Britain’s first National Park and the day a future prime minister fought a duel with the Foreign Secretary. There are 366 pages, 366 events and 366 words on each of them. I hope readers’ imaginations will be captured by some of the events covered in the book and will then want to undertake further reading. If that happens my mission will have been accomplished."

Faulkner said: "I am absolutely delighted to be working with Iain once again and bringing him to Allen & Unwin and Atlantic Books. I hope he won’t mind me saying that nobody is more obsessed about the history of British politics than he is, so he is the perfect author for what will be a treasure trove of 800 years of British political history, featuring fascinating characters and events and a few surprises to boot."