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Hodder lands vivid evocation of the last days of Edwardian Britain by debut author Williams
Hodder & Stoughton has signed a “stylish and beautifully written” book on the last years of Edwardian Britain and the public response to the death of King Edward VII in 1910.
Tom Perrin acquired world rights to The King is Dead, Long Live the King!, the debut work of Martin Williams—who is behind the popular @disraeli81 Instagram account—from Ed Wilson at Johnson & Alcock. It will be published in April, ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III.
The book is described by the publisher as “a reminder that, unforgettable as it was, the reaction to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 was not without precedent".
Its synopsis continues: “When her great-grandfather King Edward VII—glamorous, cosmopolitan and extraordinarily popular—died in May 1910, the political, social and cultural anxieties of a nation in turmoil were temporarily set aside during a summer of intense and ritualised mourning.
“Martin Williams charts a period of tension and transition as one era slipped away and another took shape. He portrays the swansong of Edwardian Britain, witnessed by a diverse but interconnected cast of characters. The result is a vivid evocation of a world on the brink of seismic upheaval: national bereavement, parliamentary crisis, the suffragette movement and the gathering clouds of war.”
Williams said: “It had long been my ambition to weave a sustained narrative around my passion for the Edwardian era. The events of 2022 threw an unexpected side light on to a period I had already spent many months researching. I hope readers will be enabled to make similar connections and interpretations to better understand 1910 as the crucible of the world we inhabit today.”
Perrin said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Martin on his first book and to launch his career as an author. The result is a stylish and beautifully written conversation piece on a now vanished world, often moving, and with unexpected resonance for our own times.”
