Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Publishing Lives

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Robert McCrum explores the stories of great British publishers

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 FM

Publishing Lives: Series 2

Publishing Lives: Series 2: Episode 4: Paul Hamlyn

Paul Hamlyn

Episode 4

Episode 4: Paul Hamlyn

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - Publishing Lives, Series 2, Paul Hamlyn

How Paul Hamlyn spearheaded the non-fiction revolution.

How Paul Hamlyn spearheaded the non-fiction revolution. Robert McCrum's stories of great British publishers. From March 2014.

Robert McCrum explores the stories of five great British publishers.

Paul Hamlyn revolutionised the British book trade in the 20th century, turning it from a cosy club serving the elite into an industrial powerhouse. A Jewish émigré from Berlin, he entered publishing by selling books from a barrow at Camden Market. But he soon ran low on stock and started his own firm, printing books cheaply but handsomely in Eastern Europe. His great insight was that beautiful colour plate books could be produced for the mass market at very low prices.

Hamlyn was an outsider who was looked down on by the gentlemen who had traditionally dominated publishing, but he achieved his ambition to become the biggest publisher on the block. Along the way he transformed the industry with a revolution in lifestyle books - cookery, gardening, history, art - mass-produced at high quality.

Hamlyn was at the forefront of the non-fiction revolution that transformed bookshops and brought colour to post-war Britain. Marguerite Patten's Cookery in Colour of 1962 quickly became an unprecedented bestseller. Today's bestseller lists, packed with celebrity chefs, would have been inconceivable before Paul Hamlyn discovered and developed this new market.

Robert McCrum talks to publishing insiders including Tim Hely Hutchinson and Lady Helen Hamlyn.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Robert McCrum explores the stories of five great British publishers

Writer and former publisher Robert McCrum explores the stories of five great British publishers

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Publishing Lives

Series 2

Episode 4: Paul Hamlyn

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4