Faber and the Blitz spirit

Those of us seeking comfort could look to the last great national crisis: publishing had survived the Blitz, even flourished, as the blackout encouraged reading. In the 21st century, however, books have to compete for leisure time with so many other pastimes - of which watching television is only the most obvious - and even the War did not close Britain's bookshops. I rather think the last time that happened was in the 1926 General Strike, right at the beginning of the story this book tells. Years later, my grandfather was still blaming that two-week stoppage for the failure of his one foray into writing fiction, Elnovia. Publishers, including Faber, took the only sensible course and postponed many new publications. How could readers find debut authors, for example, in a world without bookshops and festivals? Yet new books are responsible for a huge percentage of book sales. Their cancellation left a gap that would be difficult to fill. April was the tensest month.