14 JULY 1973, Page 17

Bookbuyer's

Bookend

"I never refuse the press," said Granada Publishing's managing director Jim Reynolds, in a reminiscing article he threatens to turn into a book. The press, however, must be getting a little tired of talking to Mr Reynolds and his colleagues. Last year he was asked by the Sunday Times whether it was true that Granada were planning to merge their two hardcover imprints Rupert HartDavis and Macgibbon & Kee. "Certainly no plans are afoot," replied Reynolds cheerfully. Less than a month later a new company called Hart-Davis, MacGibbon was announced.

Earlier this month his office was asked whether Granada were negotiating to buy Phaidon Press, the distinguished firm of art book publishers who celebrated their golden jubilee in April. Emphatically not, it appeared, although Phaidon themselves were less dogmatic. Less than a week later Granada announced that they had agreed terms " to acquire the whole of the issued share capital of Phaidon." Bookbuyer is sorry to learn that Mr Reynolds and his colleagues are kept so much in the dark.

But on to higher things. The political authorship industry continues to flourish with a plethora of offerings, both personal and parliamentary, working their way into publishers' autumn lists. Some, like Manny Shinwell's I've Lived Through it All (from Gollancz) seem simply a matter of form, and it was predictable that someone would write Vic Feather's biography to coincide with his retirement in September — the Guardian's Eric Silver has. Other books — or so their publishers tell us — promise surprising revelations: Woodrow Wyatt's Turn Again, Westminster (not to be confused with Lord Balfour's recent Wings over Westminster) offers a "controversial " examination of the parliamentary system, while Leo Abse's unfortunately titled Private Member (Macdonald) will be "amazingly frank and revealing." In his history of Ulster The Hand is Red (Johnson Publications) John Biggs-Davison will no doubt argue a case for union, but there is little telling what Enoch Powell will conclude in No Easy Answers (Sheldon Press). There are new instalments to two old favourites, both providing welcome conclusions, albeit in different ways. Michael Foot has now completed his boigraphy of Aneurin Bevan (Davis-Poynter), the first volume of which appeared under the MacGib

bon and Kee imprint some ten years ago. And Harold Macmillan brings to an end his monumental memoirs with At the End of the Day 1961-63, in which he apparently reveals the detail behind de Gaulle's veto, and the part played by Britain in the Cuba crisis
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