Ian will be reading at Shakespeare & Co, Paris on the evening of Monday 30th June 2008.

For more information, contact:
Shakespeare & Co
37, Rue Bûcherie
75005 Paris, France
+33 1 43 25 40 93

The Abbey Bookshop, Paris is hosting an evening called "A Taste of the Country" on Saturday 28th June 2008. Ian will be signing books and there will be plenty of cheese and local produce from the Auvergne.

For an invitation, contact Brian at the Abbey Bookshop,
29, rue de la Parchminerie
75005 Paris
Tel: 01 46 33 16 24
Email: abbeybookshop@wanadoo.fr

L’Office de Tourisme est heureux de vous proposer une rencontre avec Ian Walthew, auteur anglais de «A Place in my Country – In Search of a Rural Dream ».

Directeur marketing du plus célèbre journal anglophone, The International Herald Tribune, il a fini sa carrière à Paris et est maintenant installé en Auvergne.

Son livre, en anglais, nous raconte sa rencontre avec un fermier traditionnel luttant face à l’industrialisation de l’agriculture. A travers cet ouvrage, il nous ouvre les yeux sur la nouvelle réalité paysanne.

Ian Walthew, auteur britannique, nous fait l’honneur de s’arrêter à Joinville pour un après-midi de dédicace.

Certes le livre n’est pour le moment disponible qu’en anglais, mais son auteur parle parfaitement le français et est près à répondre à toutes vos questions.

Cette rencontre se fera sous forme de Tea Time, à l’anglaise, au rendez-vous : petits gâteaux et thé… anglais bien sur !

Office de Tourisme; Mme. Doris Poulot;
Place Saunoise;
52300 Joinville France

Ian was a guest on Vernon Harwood's Sunday show - BBC Radio Gloucestershire. This is Radio Gloucestershire's most popular programme and covers a range of rural matters,

You can listen to the programme this week only (27 April - 3rd May):
Click here, then f ollow the link "Listen Again'. Ian is on from 11-12am, so starts 2 hrs into the programmes

Max Davidson reviews A Place in My Country and interviews the author.
Read his article: Elegy for a fading England - "Max Davidson finds a poignant portrait of country life in the memoirs of a jet-setter with a rural dream"
www.telegraph.co.uk/

Read Ian's Meanwhile column "The old soldier in the hospital" - Why is the past always more interesting to me than the present?

This event was cancelled due to an accident Ian had, but he hopes to re-schedule it for later in 2008
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Blueprint Partners and the Directors of Weidenfeld & Nicolson are hosting an evening reception in Brussels on the 23rd January 2008.

The Future of European Farm Subsidies:
A European Overview and a Ground Level Story

Keynote Speakers

MICHAEL MANN
Spokesman for the Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development

IAN WALTHEW
Author of A Place in My Country

The initial print run of the hardback edition of A Place in My Country sold out in November 2007 and Weidenfeld & Nicolson have printed a second imprint of the hardback prior to the book being published in paperback.

The official launch party of A PLACE IN MY COUNTRY was hosted by Adam Henson, Cotswold Farm Park Partner and Presenter of BBC TV's Countryfile programme. Around a hundred people attended including Cotswold District Councillor Sheila Jeffrey, ex-Eastenders actor and sports journalist Tom Watts, Kim Bailey (the only trainer currently training to have trained the winners of Britain’s three biggest National Hunt races: the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle) and many of the characters in the book including Norman, May, Liam, and Peg's family to name just a few.

Norman and Ian were interviewed by Vernon Harwood of BBC Radio Gloucestershire who ran a package about the launch party on his Sunday morning show, Country Matters.

Adam and his business partner, and all the team at the Cotswold Farm Park, were fantastic hosts, the weather great, and a huge pig spit roast kept everyone well fed.

The wine was kindly provided by Mark Savage of the Savage Collection.

The morning after the party Adam treated Ian and the family to a visit around the Cotswold Farm Park, which specialises in rare animal breeds preservation and breeding. Without doubt, it was one of the best family days out the Walthews have had in a long time and the kids absolutely loved it.

You can read the views of one guest, race horse trainer, Kim Bailey on his blog at:
http://www.kimbaileyracing.com/Blog_July2.htm

For more information about Cotswold Farm Park (Nr. Guiting Power, Cheltenham, Glos, GL54 5UG) click here: www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk

On a much sadder note, Peg, who was a great book lover and Cotswold's character, died of cancer shortly before the book was published. Her son and daughter came to the party, and Peg was, and will continue to be, much missed by everyone who knew her.

"She was one of the most loving, generous and kind person I have ever met," Ian says "and she leaves a tremendously sad hole in the lives of her family and the very many close friends she had. I hope that the book will stand in some small way as a reminder to her grandchildren of just how special she was."

Wiedenfeld & Nicolson held a party in London, hosted by Waterstone's Clapham, to celebrate the publication of A PLACE IN MY COUNTRY. Over a hundred people attended, and Angus at Waterstone's described the evening as the best book party the shop has hosted.

Alan Samson, the publishing director of Wiedenfeld & Nicolson attended the party, and gave a brief speech about Ian and the book.

He described A Place in My Country as "having all the makings of a timeless classic" and that W&N had the highest hopes for the book.

He also explained that how he personally acquired the book was highly unusual for a work of non-fiction. Normally, Alan explained, non-fiction books are commissioned on the basis of a proposal, a chapter outline and perhaps a sample chapter, usually from an established writer. "We then hope," he joked, "that with a little careful editing here and there, all will work out on the night."

In the case of Ian's book, his agent, David Grossman, sent Alan a complete manuscript, and, said Alan, "I knew straight away I was reading something very special. What set the book apart from what we call in the publishing industry 'settlement non-fiction', besides the outstanding quality of the writing, was its remarkable lack of ego, and how Ian allowed the characters of his book to make the story."

Over 70 books we sold out by 8.00 pm and Angus said he could have sold a 140!

Apologies to all those who attended and were unable to obtain a signed copy. And a big thank you to Angus and his team at Waterstone's Clapham, and all the friends and family, who made the evening such a success.

Ian signed copies of A PLACE IN MY COUNTRY at Waterstone's in Gloucester.
Waterstone's Gloucester
13-15 Eastgate Street
GB - Gloucester GL1 1NS
Tel: 01452 422464 / Fax: 01452 330689
To order a signed copy you can email .

Ian did a number of book signings in the Cotswolds throughout July. Norman came into town on his tractor to attend the Cirencester signing.

Signed copies are available at the following shops:
Waterstone's Cirencester
14 Cricklade St, Cirencester GL7 1LL
Tel: 01285 658998
Fax: 01285 651562
E-mail:

Phoenix Bookshop
19 North Street, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 5LH
Tel: 01242 602795
(Despite Winchcombe having been cut off by the flooding the day before the signing on 21st July, and many of the houses in the town having been flooded, over 30 copies were sold, including to people fresh from digging mud out of their homes. A remarkable community spirit was evident, especially how the community had managed to accomodate the night before nearly 30 people stranded in the town without a bed. Best wishes to everyone in Winchcombe, and indeed throughout Gloucestershire, affected by most extraordinary flooding.)

Waterstone's Cheltenham
88-90 The Promenade
GB - Cheltenham GL50 1NB
Tel: 01242 512 722
E-mail:

Watestone's Cheltenham
33-41 The Promenade
GB - Cheltenham GL50 1LE
Tel: 01242 571779
E-mail:

Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath and Ely
The Paragon
Bath
BA1 5LS
Tel: (01225) 428111
E-mail:
www.toppingbooks.co.uk

Jaffé and Neale
1 Middle Row
Chipping Norton
Oxon
OX7 5NH
Tel: 01608 641033
Fax 01608 646896
E-mail:

Radio

Ian has taken part in a phone-in show on BBC Radio Gloucestershire where the question of the day was "What is the single most important issue of facing the rural economy in the county?" Ian's response was simple: affordable rural housing in villages.

Vernon Harwood's 'Country Matters' show on BBC Radio Gloucestershire (12/08/07) also featured interviews with Ian and Norman, recorded at the official lauch party of A Place in My Country.

In addition Ian has appeared on BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, and Manx Radio.

Local Media

The Wilts and Glos Standard published a half-page feature on A Place in My Country, which was published on 26/07/07.

In addition Ian has been featured in The Cotswold Observer (11/07/07), The Cotswold Journal and The Gloucestershire Echo (17/07/07)

The Gloucestershire Echo also ran a feature piece in their Saturday supplement (29/07/07) You can read this article on line and see a photo of Lettem Cottage.

In their September edition, Cotswold Life are publishing an article by Ian on the subject of affordable rural housing.

National Media

A Place in My Country has been positively reviewed in The Financial Times (14/07/07), Country Life (19/07/07) and The Sunday Telegraph (22/07/07).

The Mail on Sunday (05/08/07) listed A Place in My Country in its list of The Top Ten Summer Holiday Books You Must Own.

To read these reviews please click here.