Bernard Newman cycle author, spy, etc.

jeffmalter · Post by **jeffmalter** » 16 Aug 2018, 9:07pm

Does anyone want to learn more about Bernard Newman, cycling most prolific author, government informer, political analyst, etc.

Cyril Haearn · Post by **Cyril Haearn** » 16 Aug 2018, 9:33pm

Yes please

peetee · Post by **peetee** » 16 Aug 2018, 10:34pm

Yes. But only if you won't feel duty bound to shoot us all afterwards.

hujev · Post by **hujev** » 16 Aug 2018, 11:24pm

Strange question... In response to your post
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/berna ... ever-heard
right?

That's excellent - but don't ask, just do!

Found it a couple days ago as was making another round of gleaning 1920s-70s English cycling books to read.

My first thought was 'curses! now the cheap copies will get bought up because he's famous again!" I have so far only "British Journey", but have two more on order (The Lazy Meuse and Berlin & back). Unfortunately "pedalling Poland" is the one I want most but too expensive... (the real book - think there's some i-phone version now, of no interest to me!)

Looks like I'll have his cycling books to read through for a good long while nonetheless, even on paper, and I'll; eventually track down Pedalling Poland....

Also, "The Cycle Writings of Bernard Newman" available on-web as a pdf is excellent, and
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... rd-1233022
("Fact or fiction – was author Bernard Newman a top spy?"), and this:
https://bernardnewman.webs.com/
which seems to be semi-abandoned but has some stuff of interest and maybe written by a descendant ("...Hilary Newman... His middle daughter - my Mother").

So yes, me too want more! ... are you thinking of writing a book length biography?! Great idea!

pedalsheep · Post by **pedalsheep** » 17 Aug 2018, 9:04am

There was a good article on him in the Veteran Cycle Club's 'Boneshaker' magazine a couple of months ago. Two of his books are now available on Kindle and I will read them soon.

Bmblbzzz · Post by **Bmblbzzz** » 17 Aug 2018, 9:44am

Thanks for those links, Hujev. Sounds an interesting chap and a prolific writer. Must keep an eye out for his books; in the mean time, although I don't have a Kindle, Amazon assures me I can read a Kindle publication "on any device" by downloading a free app. My favoured device would be paper... !

jeffmalter · Post by **jeffmalter** » 19 Aug 2018, 12:11am

To all who have recently replied to my Bernard Newman article thank you! 29 of his books have been reprinted in electronic format and can be found on Kindle/Amazon. 2 of these are cycling journeys. Try Bookfinder.com for his other books (135 in total!) If you want to know more about Newman I am writing a biography so when it appears do purchase it, possibly even next year. Thanks again and enjoy the cycling! If you have any specific queries or interests do contact me again.

RubaDub · Post by **RubaDub** » 30 Mar 2019, 10:43am

I have written an article online about Bernard Newman's pre-WWII cycle travel books for anyone who's interested.
Any comments, corrections, etc. can be posted here or on the article's 'guestbook' accessed via the bar at the top of each page. You can also 'rate' it altogether on the contents page or individual pages with the drop-down menu at the top right.
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= ... 21490&v=Js

hondated · Post by **hondated** » 1 Apr 2019, 10:48am

These are definitely books I will try and get now given how interesting they sound.
One of the best cycling books I have ever read was a biography on Gino Bartali. Not only a great cyclist but by his actions a great man.
Well worth a read imho.

Newman Estate · Post by **Newman Estate** » 24 Apr 2019, 3:06pm

Hello, Bernard Newman's grandson here, son of middle daughter Hilary

I hope I can answer any BN questions. Jeff Malter can also answer questions, I have met up with him several times.

Just a few points that have come up here and elsewhere...

The Bernard Newman Estate was complicated by his second marriage to Helen Johnston, his will leaving a trust fund to her, and her descendants. The Estate has now been re-established equally between grandchildren and step-grandchildren. (The estate income is miniscule) Our motivation is to keep his works alive, not to make any money.

We have a deal with Peach Publishing to scan, edit and republish in Kindle ebook format. They have chosen to work on his espionage thrillers first, but we have managed to get a few cycling books done, especially "Pedalling Poland" which is near impossible to get hold of. I know of only two copies, one in the British Library and the other in my cousin's collection.

The quick way to produce an ebook is to guillotine the spine and scan the pages. For the more rare books, we have had to painstakingly scan every page and put the images through an Optical Character Recognition programme - sometimes getting gobbledegook.

The website https://bernardnewman.webs.com/biography.htm was set up my me for the initial research but is now dormant, but you should be able to view it still.

I will now post, and see if there is a "thread tool" for e mail notification on replies

Otherwise I am simon.hipkin.home@gmail.com

RubaDub · Post by **RubaDub** » 24 Apr 2019, 9:21pm

Newman Estate wrote:Hello, Bernard Newman's grandson here, son of middle daughter Hilary

Thanks Simon for the link and the explanation regarding the Kindle process.

Sorry to hear that his cycle travel books, other than 'Pedalling Poland' and 'Lazy Meuse', won't be E-published in the near future. Obviously this is a commercial decision but misguided in my opinion.

pga · Post by **pga** » 7 May 2019, 9:48pm

Newman was a very interesting character. During the War he cycled all over the UK giving public lectures for the Ministry of Information. Some of these attracted audiences of up to 2000- such was the interest in those days in current affairs.

RubaDub · Post by **RubaDub** » 8 Jul 2019, 10:54am

pga wrote:Newman was a very interesting character. During the War he cycled all over the UK giving public lectures for the Ministry of Information. Some of these attracted audiences of up to 2000- such was the interest in those days in current affairs.

He says in his memoir 'Speaking from Memory' that he mostly travelled by train for his wartime lecture tours up till 1944 and then decided to take up cycling again. His itinerary was publicised and people along the route were encouraged to stop him and ask questions.

Newman was certainly interesting and his cycle touring books give an insight into pre and post World War II public attitudes. He seems to be ignored by social historians which is surprising.

st599_uk · Post by **st599_uk** » 8 Jul 2019, 7:28pm

Are there any links to these books on Kindle? Can't find them at the moment

RubaDub · Post by **RubaDub** » 8 Jul 2019, 8:27pm

st599_uk wrote:Are there any links to these books on Kindle? Can't find them at the moment

Try Amazon UK, select Kindle books and search Bernard Newman. You will get lots of his spy and detective novels. There are only two of his bicycle travel books currently on Kindle.

Pedalling Poland (pre-WWII)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pedalling-Pola ... ext&sr=1-1
The Lazy Meuse (post-WWII)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lazy-Meuse-Ber ... ext&sr=1-1

I've written an online article about his pre-WWII cycle travel books that you might be interested in reading.
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= ... 21490&v=K8

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Bernard Newman cycle author, spy, etc.

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