HarperCollins to publish first definitive account of the 7/7 bombings on 20th anniversary of attack 

HarperNonFiction has acquired world all-language rights to Three Weeks in July, the “extraordinary and definitive account” of the events of the 7/7 London bombings in 2005, publishing alongside the 20th anniversary of the attack.  

Publishing director Joel Simons negotiated the deal with Jo Cantello at Wolfsong Media. Three Weeks in July, which is written by BAFTA-nominated documentary maker Adam Wishart and award-winning writer Jim Nally, will publish in summer 2025 in hardback, e-book and audiobook. The book will be published alongside a four-part BBC documentary series commissioned for BBC Two and iPlayer. 

Three Weeks in July will “intricately explore the untold accounts of the Met’s and government’s response and their desperate attempts to prevent a possible second wave of attacks”, the publisher said. “Speaking to some of the key protagonists – including Tony Blair, Peter Clarke (then head of counter terrorism command at the Metropolitan Police), as well as victims and journalists whose accounts have helped chronicle the atrocity – Three Weeks in July will piece together a never-before-told story that focuses first on the frenzy of the first hours after the attack, and the ensuing three weeks of police work, forensic investigations and political machinations that are still being felt to this day.” 

Wishart and Nally said: “It is a privilege to tell a story so close to the heart of our national narrative – 7/7 was the worst loss of life on the mainland from terrorism, many of us remember where we were when it happened. What has never been told is the police and political response in the following weeks trying to figure out what took place and respond. All of it against the backdrop of grieving relatives and injured survivors.” 

Simons described the book as “an utterly compelling work of narrative history and a vital record of the mistakes made and the lessons learnt”.