Canongate Book secures the rights to the book behind blockbuster The Pacific

Published on Sunday 14 March 2010 21:54

IN THE annals of publishing it is a story beyond compare.

• HBO's ambitious ten-part Second World War drama The Pacific is expected to get big audiences when it is broadcast on Sky's movie channel in the UK and US later this month

From a small Edinburgh firm to a major player on the literary world stage, Canongate has secured its reputation with a string of bold deals.

And now the publisher that signed the million-selling Booker Prize winner Life of Pi and the memoirs of the then relatively unknown Barack Obama has done it again, securing the rights to the book behind The Pacific, one of the most eagerly awaited TV programmes of recent years.

At a cost of around 165 million, The Pacific is the most expensive Second World War drama ever made. Its creators are Hollywood behemoths Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. It is expected to attract an audience of millions worldwide when the first episode airs on Sky's movie channel in the UK and US next month.

• David Robinson: Byng demonstrates his commercial flair

The ten-part HBO mini-series is based on the eponymous book by historian Hugh Ambrose, published by Canongate on Wednesday. It tells the story of the brutal Japanese campaign through the eyes of four US marines and a US navy carrier pilot.

The story is the follow-up to Spielberg and Hanks' Band of Brothers mini-series – written by Ambrose's late father Stephen, which told the story of a group of elite paratroopers from E Company of the 506th Infantry Regiment fighting in Europe.

The latest coup for Canongate came after editorial director Nick Davies picked up on a throwaway remark at the end of a literary event last summer.

"I was sitting there at the very end of the evening and someone asked George Pelecanos the crime writer, who had his new book coming out in the UK, 'what are you doing next?'. He replied that he was helping to script the new HBO TV series called The Pacific.

"It was quite a spine-tingling moment as I knew that if someone like him thought it was worth working on then we should go for it. I remember writing down what he said in my notebook and almost running away and tracking down the possibility of a book.

"I tried to work out the links to how to get to it if indeed there was a book to be had. I knew it would be a big hit if we could get it but I'd have to be quick off the mark.

"On the back of that we got in touch with HBO and asked if they had any plans to do a book. The fact that it was a follow-up to Band of Brothers made me think there would be a good chance. They then said the series was coming out of a book by Hugh Ambrose and from there it's all come good for us.

"Sometimes another publisher gets there first, but not this time.

"As an editor you're always looking for the next big hit. It is early days yet but it feels like it's building. The book trade are very excited by it and wanted to stock it early on."

Canongate's director Jamie Byng said: "The way all this came about was fairly straightforward after we got in touch with Penguin in New York. But it was us who tracked it down in the first place.

"We then went on to buy the book's UK and Commonwealth rights from Penguin, who are publishing it. People like selling us books and we've obviously had some successes, including being Publisher of the Year, twice in seven years. The Pacific definitely has great commercial potential."

&#149 The Pacific is published by Canongate on 17 March at 20.