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Faber has signed Munichs, an “extraordinary” novel about Britain, sport and the formative scars of our collective past, from David Peace.
Publishing director Angus Cargill acquired world rights (excluding Japan) from Hamish Macaskill at The English Agency. Publication is scheduled for 29th August 2024 and Peace will travel to the UK for publication and later in the autumn.
On 6th February 1958 British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on take-off at Munich Airport. On board were the young Manchester United team and the journalists who followed them. Twenty-one of the passengers were killed instantly, four were left fighting for their lives while six more were critically injured. Twenty-four hours later, Jimmy Murphy, the assistant manager of Manchester United, faced the press at the Rechts der Isar Hospital.
“Munichs is the story of how Manchester United did rise again, of the crash and its aftermath, of those who survived and those who did not, of how Britain and football changed, and how it did not; a novel of tragedy, but also of hope”, the publisher said.
Cargill described Munichs as "a sublime piece of fiction, from one of our most distinctive and brilliant voices – a moving and vivid exploration of a tragedy which has echoed down over the years".
Peace said: “I wrote Munichs in memory of my father, who passed away in 2022. The team he talked about the most was always the ‘Busby Babes’ and he would often suggest I should write not only about Munich, but about Jimmy Murphy and the people who had helped to rebuild United after the disaster. It is one of the saddest, but most inspiring stories in football. It tells us a lot about who we once were, and who we could be again.”
Peace was named in 2003 as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. He is the author of 11 novels including GB84 (Faber) which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and The Damned Utd, Red or Dead (also Faber) which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2013.