Dockers and Detectives

Catching up on the fast moving world of publishing, I've been meaning to mention the 2008 reprint of Ken Worpole's pioneering book Dockers and Detectives, by Nottingham based Five Leaves. Ken has written several books on social history and architecture, but Dockers and Detectives, was his widely and rightly praised, first publication which explored the long neglected work of working class writers in Britain. Dockers and Detectives contains five long linked chapters on literature and politics, American influences on popular fiction, popular literature during WWII, the novels of working class writers from Liverpool, and the novels of the Jewish East End of London.

Five Leaves is one of the most innovative alternative publishers, with a programme that shames many much larger operations, supporting the Lowdham Book Festival in Nottinghamshire, and with a mouthwatering back-list. Check out their list of new crime express series, and new publishing programme of books for young adults.

www.fiveleaves.co.uk