Imagine, if you will, sitting in a pub with a couple of blokes, a bottle of wine or two being shared between you, time is not an issue and out tumble the fragments of memory. You know the sort: ‘Hell’s bells, do you remember the time…?’ ‘Well, what about that bloke, what’s his name, the one who …?’ ‘Oh, come on, monster he might have been, but he changed things…’ ‘Yes, but  was it for the better…?’

On you all go, laughing, listening, butting in. Pub talk, friends at play, names dropped, an Insiders’ Club.

Well, this Insiders’ Club is called  MY BACK PAGES and it is into the last fifty years of publishing that we  enter, and become fascinated as we follow Charkin’s career path and sharp eye on things as they were.  By heavens, he was over everything like a rash navigating the publishing world as it changed profoundly from a Gentleman’s Club into a corporate entity, with a pretty tough bottom line and on, into the digital age.

We meet Maxwell, indeed we do. Oh, and what about Madona, perhaps the first example of the hugely successful Celebrity publishing? What about the bad behaviour in the roaring 80s…? Oh yes, as a new writer I came in towards the end of that, but Lord above it was fun for a mother of four, totally out of my depth and smelling faintly of fish fingers.  Hey, what about Harry Potter? Yep, you’ll find it in the Insiders’ Club of MY BACK PAGES. Then there’s Macmillan India: an Imperial Legacy. Then there’s … Enough, I’m just scratching the surface, you need to read it.

So, back to the original question: does it work? Undoubtedly. I loved it and clearly so does the Frost Magazine team, as it has disappeared. I had thought its subject matter might be a bit stuffy and initially approached it from the right flank without making eye contact. How absurd when it’s Charkin’s personal eye view of the social, technological, commercial and geographical developments of the publishing industry. The man’s a force of nature, a character,  someone who has made a significant contribution to the profession over the last fifty years, and knows his onions.

So grab a coffee, or a glass of wine, sit down and join the Insiders’ Club whether you be a reader, librarian, publishers, literary agent… Well you get the picture, just get in there,  and enjoy – hugely.

MY BACK PAGES by Richard Charkin with Tom Campbell. Published by Marble Hill London. Available here