‘This capital walking guide book rises well above the ordinary,’ runs the headline to Ken Towl’s long and very favourable review of Hillwalking London on the widely read Inside Croydon website. ‘In these straitened times’, he concludes, ‘it is life-affirming to find ideas for recreation that do not demand great expenditure.’
The London Society likes Hillwalking London
In a comprehensive and enthusiastic review on the London Society’s website, Clare Delmar, whose hillwalking conquests apparently include the Walk of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast, praises Caroline Buckland’s new walking guide as ‘a good read for both the novice and more experienced hill-walker, Londoner or not’, which she will ‘be sharing it with my hiking community’.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack praises The Nature of Cricket
In the 2023 edition of the cricketer’s bible, Wisden, just published, Graham Coster’s The Nature of Cricket comes ‘highly recommended’ from its reviewer in the Almanack’s annual round-up of cricket books.
Tessa Boase takes part in a prestigious industry symposium on The Department Store Reimagined
On 23 February, at the fabulous Nobu hotel in Shoreditch, TheIndustry.Fashion hosted a retail industry symposium on the future of the department store, including a discussion involving Tessa Boase, author of London’s Lost Department Stores, as well as Sarah Coonan, Managing Director of Liberty’s. Here is Tessa in conversation with Alex Marsh, UK CEO of the new payments company Klarna, sponsors of the event.
Graham Coster writes in the Cricketer
In the December issue of the Cricketer magazine Graham Coster, Safe Haven publisher and author of The Nature of Cricket, wrote a piece for its ‘Off the Long Run’ feature on the unwelcoming reception given to non-members at too many county cricket grounds - based on a great deal of personal experience.
The Oldie notices London's Lost Department Stores
Noting its commemoration back in May of the 50th anniversary of the TV sitcom Are You Being Served? (which was based on Simpsons of Piccadilly), the Oldie now notes with appreciation the publication of London’s Lost Department Stores.
Ian Jack: 1945-2022
Ian Jack, who has died, was one of the greatest journalists of his generation; a modern Orwell, no less - endlessly curious, pensive, humane, and a peerless prose writer, as readers of his Guardian column in recent years will have been well aware. He was also the nicest man.
But Ian also played a crucial part in the fortunes of Safe Haven. When London’s Street Trees was published in 2017, Ian was the first to appreciate the interest of what was then a subject far out in left field. Not only did he devote his Guardian column to it - the first publicity the book received, and in the perfect place - but, customarily, he also prepared by doing his research: proper research, as old-school journalists always used to. He invited Paul Wood, the author, to join him on a walk around their Islington neighbourhood to show him the remarkable variety of its street trees. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ian catalysed the success of a book that has gone on to become one of Safe Haven’s biggest sellers, and made the imprint’s name.
If you haven’t read The Country Formerly Known as Great Britain, a collection of Ian’s journalism, order it today.
IanVisits reviews London's Lost Department Stores
IanVisits, the perennially popular website on London life, has given London’s Lost Department Stores a long and enthusiastic review. ‘It’s a gloriously nostalgic look at the grand old days of the grand department stores,’ writes Ian, ‘but is in no way a hagiography of them, being very clear about the darker side of working in the department stores.
‘For anyone interested in history’, he goes on, ‘it’s a good mix of the social and architectural history of a lost part of London. However, I suspect that if given as a Christmas present to your parents and grandparents, they will quickly look up a familiar name and sigh in delight at childhood memories of the glamour of their local department store. And spend the entire Christmas lunch talking about it.’
Tessa Boase's feature on London's Lost Department Stores in the Telegraph
Tessa Boase has written an excellent feature, based on her book, in the Telegraph.
London’s Lost Department Stores gets a great review in the Spectator
The 15 October issue of the Spectator carries a long and enthusiastic review of Tessa Boase’s book by Ysenda Maxtone Graham, in which she praises it as a ‘charming book’ and ‘heartbreakingly poignant’, and writes that ‘You’ll need a robust constitution to read this chronicle of the rise, decline and death of the family-run department store without weeping.’