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Pan Macmillan has bought a memoir from the inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee, promising an "essential read understanding our times, and a bold manifesto for advancing humanity’s future". Mike Harpley, publisher of non-fiction at Pan Macmillan, acquired British and Commonwealth rights to This Is for Everyone from Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency.
The title was snapped up as part of a Holtzbrinck Publishing Group global publishing deal, which will see the memoir published simultaneously on 9th September 2025 by FSG in the United States, and Rowohlt in Germany. Rights have separately been acquired by Mondadori (Italy), Deusto (Spain) and Toyo Keizai (Japan).
The book promises to be an "intimate" memoir from Berners-Lee which "will tell the story of his iconic invention, exploring how it launched a new era of creativity and collaboration, while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarises public debate. Filled with his characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, this is a book about the power of technology to both fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better".
This Is for Everyone will also reflect on what the era of AI and other new innovations will mean, and provide a "gripping, in-the-room account of the foundations for this transformative technology, and guide the reader to the crucial decisions we face ahead".
Harpley said: "[Berners-Lee] is a global icon and a man of rare vision and integrity. This book not only narrates the story of the digital age from the inside, but it also gives us much-needed guidance for navigating AI’s rapid rise."
Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 at CERN in Switzerland. Since then, through his work with Inrupt, the World Wide Web Consortium, The Open Data Institute and the World Wide Web Foundation, he has been an advocate for shared standards and open web access for all.