Listen to a sample
A Life in Fifty Books
- Author
- Anthony Cheetham
- Narrator
- Anthony Cheetham
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 1 May 2025
- Run Time
- 3 hours 1 minute
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Memoirs
What to expect
'There are good publishers and there are great publishers. And then there’s Anthony Cheetham.' Richard Dawkins
In November 1966, by way of Mexico City, Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and a Norwegian raspberry farm, Anthony Cheetham entered the doors of a publishing company for the first time to begin work as a junior editor. Fifty-eight years later he could look back on a career in which he had shaped the landscape of post-war British publishing to a significant degree, having established such prominent and notably successful companies as Century, Orion, Quercus and Head of Zeus, and launched imprints – from Abacus in 1973 to Zephyr in 2017 – that continue to flourish in the third decade of the twenty-first century.
Starting with Homer’s Odyssey and ending with works by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and the German historian Ernst Kantorowicz, Anthony Cheetham has selected fifty books as mileposts with which to map the course of his long and productive career. Many of these are titles that he himself published (Dune, The Thorn Birds, A Suitable Boy, Meetings with Remarkable Trees, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo); some are books he wished he had published (Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time); others are simply masterworks that left an indelible mark on him (The Lord of the Rings, War and Peace).
A Life in Fifty Books is an affectionate and revelatory account of a publishing life remarkable for its longevity, its entrepreneurial energy and for the breadth and catholicity of its output – which runs the gamut of seriousness from academically distinguished works of history, science and philosophy to Confessions of a Window Cleaner. Full of encounters with remarkable individuals, A Life in Fifty Books is an engagingly written survey of an industry which, in its author’s well-chosen words, offers its practitioners ‘…a passport to roam across the entire spectrum of human experience, endeavour and belief’.
Critics Review
-
There are good publishers and there are great publishers. And then there’s Anthony Cheetham.
Richard Dawkins
-
Anthony Cheetham is a consummate publisher, superb businessman and a civiliser.
Ben Okri
-
The most innovative publisher of my lifetime.
Hunter Davies
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Anthony Cheetham
- Narrator
- Anthony Cheetham
- Duration
- 3 hours 1 minute
- Release Date
- 1 May 2025
- ISBN
- 9781035917013
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Memoirs
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents A Life in Fifty Books, written and read by Anthony Cheetham.'There are good publishers and there are great publishers. And then there’s Anthony Cheetham.' Richard DawkinsIn November 1966, by way of Mexico City, Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and a Norwegian raspberry farm, Anthony Cheetham entered the doors of a publishing company for the first time to begin work as a junior editor. Fifty-eight years later he could look back on a career in which he had shaped the landscape of post-war British publishing to a significant degree, having established such prominent and notably successful companies as Century, Orion, Quercus and Head of Zeus, and launched imprints – from Abacus in 1973 to Zephyr in 2017 – that continue to flourish in the third decade of the twenty-first century.Starting with Homer’s Odyssey and ending with works by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and the German historian Ernst Kantorowicz, Anthony Cheetham has selected fifty books as mileposts with which to map the course of his long and productive career. Many of these are titles that he himself published (Dune, The Thorn Birds, A Suitable Boy, Meetings with Remarkable Trees, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo); some are books he wished he had published (Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time); others are simply masterworks that left an indelible mark on him (The Lord of the Rings, War and Peace).A Life in Fifty Books is an affectionate and revelatory account of a publishing life remarkable for its longevity, its entrepreneurial energy and for the breadth and catholicity of its output – which runs the gamut of seriousness from academically distinguished works of history, science and philosophy to Confessions of a Window Cleaner. Full of encounters with remarkable individuals, A Life in Fifty Books is an engagingly written survey of an industry which, in its author’s well-chosen words, offers its practitioners ‘…a passport to roam across the entire spectrum of human experience, endeavour and belief’.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.