Glamour

Publishing news: Bloomsbury has signed up Labour MP Chris Bryant to pen "The Glamour Boys", chronicling a group of MPs, ostensibly led by Antony Eden, who opposed Chamberlain's appeasement of Germany in the run-up to the Second World War. They included Harold Nicolson, Leo Amery, Robert Boothby, Edward Spears, Ronald Cartland (Barbara's brother), Jack Macnamara, Victor Cazalet, Rob Bernays, Ronnie Tree, Brendan Bracken, Paul Latham and Harold Macmillan.

Publishing director Alexis Kirschbaum (who is also Mrs James Purnell) says it's a "crucial" and "overlooked" narrative. Bryant, the first gay MP to celebrate his civil partnership in the Palace of Westminster, said: "This is a story I've wanted to tell for years. It's about very secret heart-rending bravery, and I’m delighted to be doing so with Alexis and the team at Bloomsbury."

Bryant was Head of European Affairs at the BBC from 1998 to 2000. James left Auntie as Head of Corporate Planning in 1997. They made the news jointly in 2006, after a fundraising auction they organised for Labour included a copy of The Hutton Report, which nearly broke the BBC. It was signed by Alastair Campbell and Cherie Blair. 

Alexis is on a run at the moment: "Somebody I Used To Know", by Wendy Mitchell about working and living with dementia, was Radio 4's Book of The Week earlier this month.