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Lionel Leventhal

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Lionel Leventhalis a British publisher of books onmilitary historyand related topics, whose eponymous company was established in 1967.

History

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After working in a bookshop (1954–1956),[1]Leventhal joined the publishing company ofHerbert Jenkins Ltd,best known as the publisher ofP. G. Wodehouse,[2]and published his first military book in 1960. After a short time withPaul Hamlyn(1964–1966), Leventhal set up Arms & Armour Press in 1966.[3][4][5][6]

Lionel Leventhal Limitedcame into being in 1967 as theholding companyfor the various publishing and other book-related companies run by its eponymous owner.

Arms and Armour Press

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Founded at a time when few new publishing houses were being established, Arms and Armour Press began on Leventhal's kitchen table, but grew rapidly to be one of the United Kingdom's leading publishers ofmilitariaand military history, with a stable of authors including some of the most renowned specialists in the field, includingIan V. Hogg,David G. ChandlerandSteven Zaloga.In 1984, Arms & Armour Press was sold to Link House Books, which owned seven publishers, including Blandford.[6][7][8][9][10]

The London Book Fair

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In 1971, Clive Bingley and Leventhal organised The Specialist Publishers’ Exhibition for Librarians, with 22 exhibitors displaying titles on tabletops. Subsequently, they saw the Fair grow and go through a number of development and name changes, finally becoming TheLondon Book Fairin 1977. The London Book Fair was sold in 1985 to Industrial & Trade Fairs (which later becameReed Exhibitions), by which time the number of exhibitors had increased to 520.[5][6][11][12][13]He was video-interviewed at The London Book Fair 2017 as part of a surprise celebration of his 80th birthday.

Ken Trotman

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1976 saw the acquisition of Ken Trotman Limited, the leading specialist bookseller of books on militaria, which was sold to its manager, Richard Brown, in 1984.[5]

Greenhill Books

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In 1984, Leventhal started a new publishing imprint, Greenhill Books. Contractually precluded from publishing any new books for a period, he started with three series of reprints of classic aviation, crime and science fiction titles. In 1985, Greenhill launched the Napoleonic Library series of classic military reprints and soon abandoned fiction publishing to concentrate on military history. As with Arms & Armour Press, the imprint grew, eventually reaching a total of almost 700 titles published and attracting a renowned group of authors, includingChaim Herzog,John Elting andKenneth Macksey.Additionally, the company undertook European and Commonwealth distribution for a number of overseas military history publishers. Lionel Leventhal's son, Michael, joined Greenhill Books in January 2003 and become a Director the following year. In 2007, Greenhill Books split, with contracted but as yet unpublished titles passing to Frontline Books, an imprint ofPen & Sword Books.Lists distributed on behalf of overseas publishers became the basis of a new company,CasemateUK. Lionel Leventhal Limited retains ownership of stocks and copyright licences of books published under the Greenhill Books and Chatham Publishing imprint.[citation needed]

The only new Greenhill Book between 2007 and 2016 wasThe Hand of History,a compilation of history quotes and commentaries raising money forParkinson's UK.The book is edited by Michael Leventhal and includes contributions fromAntony Beevor,Asa Briggs,Tim Newark,Richard Holmes,Gary Sheffield,Ian Kershaw,Stephen Turnbulland illustrations byChris Riddell.[5][8][9][10][14][15]

In 2017, Greenhill Books began publishing new military history books with new work[16]byJ. P. Cross,John Hussey, Anthony Rogers,Peter G. Tsourasand Martin Pegler. In 2018 Greenhill Books published the first English language translation of the memoir of the Russian sniperLyudmila Pavlichenkoand the memoir ofElena Rzhevskaya,the RussianSMERSHagent who found Hitler's teeth in theBerlin bunkerin 1945.[13]To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the PoW breakout from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, the mass escape which inspired the filmThe Great Escape,Greenhill Books published new editions of the memoirs of the successful escapees Bram Vanderstok (also known asBram van der Stok)[17]andJens Müller.[18]

Griffin

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In 1985 Leventhal purchased, with partner Clive Bingley, the STM publishing house of Charles Griffin, which specialised in publishing books on statistics. Griffin was sold 18 months later toHodder Arnold.[11]

Lund Humphries Publishers

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In 1985, Leventhal and Bingley, also purchased Lund Humphries Publishers.Lund Humphriesbegan life as part of the Bradford printing company Percy Lund, Humphries & Co, formed in 1895, but became a specialist publisher of contemporary British art and sculpture subjects. Leventhal's partner retired in 1992 and Lund Humphries Publishers was sold in 1999 toAshgate.[10][11]

Chatham Publishing

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In 2003, Lionel Leventhal Limited acquired the leading specialist publishing house for naval and maritime books, Chatham Publishing, which had been established in 1996 and had a fine reputation for high-quality publications. In 2007, with the breakup of Greenhill Books, contracted but as yet unpublished titles passed to Seaforth Publishing, an imprint ofPen & Sword Books.Lionel Leventhal Limited retains ownership of stocks and copyright licences of books published under the Chatham imprint.

Green Bean Books

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In 2018, Michael Leventhal established a new imprint publishing Jewish children's books. To date, the imprint has published fifteen books, including modern works byShira Geffen,David Polonsky,Rinat Hoffer,Ori Elon,and Shoham Smith. The imprint has also published updated works by noted Yiddish writersIsaac Bashevis SingerandI. L. Peretz.[19]Interviewed byThe Booksellermagazine at the Bologna Book Fair in April 2019, Michael Leventhal noted the children's imprint "was a certainly a change from the Battle of the Bulge and books about snipers".[20]Michael Leventhal was interviewed for the WorldKidLit blog in September 2020 about the birth of the Green Bean Books imprint.[21]

In March 2021, Green Bean Books launched a new book award celebrating Jewish history, festival and values, working in conjunction withJewish Book Week.[22][23]The winners of the award were announced in March 2022. The winner of the illustration prize was Sharon Spitz and the winner of the writing prize was Carol Isaacs.[24][25]The award was repeated in 2023 and the winner of the text award was Dina Leifer, and the winner of the illustration award was Mel Zohar.[26]A third competition was launched in April 2023.[27]and the winners were announced in March 2024: the story winner prize was won by Berliner Julie Form, and the illustration prize was won by Ukrainian-born Julia Krasovitsky. Both winners live in Germany.[28]A fourth competition was launched by Green Bean Books and the Jewish Literary Foundation in April 2024.[29]

Bibliography

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  • Lionel Leventhal,On Publishing: A Professional Memoir,London: Greenhill Books, 2002.ISBN978-1-85367-517-1.
Reviews

Napoleonic Serieswebsite, 27 May 2002;Publishers Weekly,17 June 2002.

References

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  1. ^Leventhal, Lionel (13 August 2004). "Bookselling Can Kill You".The Bookseller.
  2. ^Leventhal, Lionel."Tail Piece: A Profession for Gentlemen".Greenhill Books. Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2007.Retrieved3 September2007.
  3. ^Martin, Ruth (22 September 1973). "Meet the Young Publishers".WH Smith's Trade News.
  4. ^"Lionel Leventhal - Thirty Years of Publishing".The Bookseller.30 March 1990.
  5. ^abcdChernofsky, Jacob L. (2 July 1990). "An Ideal Speciality for a Small Publisher".AB Bookman's Weekly.
  6. ^abcSanderson, Caroline (25 February 2000). "A Baby to be Proud Of".The Bookseller.
  7. ^Leventhal, Lionel (29 September 2000). "'Hello English!'".Publishing News.
  8. ^abLeventhal, Lionel (13 June 2003). "Reading the Waves".Publishing News.
  9. ^abLeventhal, Lionel (September 2007). "Publishing on the Napoleonic Wars".First Empire.
  10. ^abc"The Doyen of Militaria".Publishing News.9 June 1995.
  11. ^abcLeventhal, Lionel (2002). "And Another Thing... Working with the Soviets".Logos.13(2): 117–118.doi:10.2959/logo.2002.13.2.117.ISSN0957-9656.
  12. ^Casoy, Beatriz (18 April 2007). "The Way it Was".Publishing News.
  13. ^abTagholm, Roger (Spring 2019). "Greenhill Books Commemorates the 75th Anniversary of a Real-Life 'Great Escape'".Publishing Perspectives:27.
  14. ^Newark, Tim (22 June 2001). "Militaria Publishing and the Battle for New Sales".Publishing News.
  15. ^Leventhal, Lionel (October 1998). "When I Got 11 Marks to the Pound".Publishing News.
  16. ^Greenhill Bookswebsite.
  17. ^Escape from Stalag Luft III: The True Story of My Successful Great Escape: The Memoir of Bob Vanderstok.Greenhill Books. 30 June 2019 – via Amazon.
  18. ^The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Memoir of Jens Müller.Greenhill Books. 30 January 2019 – via Amazon.
  19. ^Green Bean Books.
  20. ^Carpenter, Caroline (2 April 2019)."Green dream for Leventhal as new Jewish-interest kids' imprint launches".The Bookseller.
  21. ^Storey, Claire (23 September 2020)."Green Bean Books – A recent newcomer specialising in Jewish children's books".World Kid Lit.
  22. ^"The Jewish Children's Book Awards for Writing and Illustration 2022/2023".
  23. ^Wood, Heloise (23 March 2021)."Green Bean Books and Jewish Book Week launch children's book prizes".The Bookseller.
  24. ^"The Jewish Children's Book Awards 2021 Winners".
  25. ^"The Jewish Children's Book Awards for Writing and Illustration".
  26. ^"JCBA 2023 Winners".
  27. ^"Jewish Children's Book Awards 2023/2024".
  28. ^"The Jewish Children’s Book Awards 2024 Winners Are Announced!",JCBA 2024 Winners.
  29. ^JCBA 2025
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