Pen and Sword Books

Pen and Sword company logo

Pen and Sword Books is a British publisher which specializes in printing and distributing books on military history and other niche subjects.

Pen & Sword Books is part of the Barnsley Chronicle newspaper group. The Barnsley Chronicle is one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. It was launched in 1858 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008.

History

The first books produced by the company were in response to public demand, following a series of articles first published weekly in the Barnsley Chronicle. Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak National Park and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a public thirst for more. Over the years these books have been reprinted a number of times and collectively have reached a sales figure of around 20,000 copies.

Following on from the success of the Dark Peak and Barnsley Pals books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guide books. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful and as more and more titles were produced the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group.

When the Leo Cooper imprint became available the Barnsley Chronicle bought it; and the Pen and Sword publishing house was established in 1990.[1] Leo Cooper (25 March 1934 – 29 November 2013), the husband of novelist Jilly, had established a strong reputation for publishing military history titles and had some well-known books in his list. Cooper later retired.[1]

Pen and Sword also covers naval and maritime history, aviation, local history, family history, collectables and antiques, nostalgia and true crime.

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References

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