Bloomsbury to publish ElBaradei memoir

The Bookseller - 03.02.11 - Charlotte Williams

Bloomsbury is to publish the memoir of Mohamed ElBaradei, the leading opponent to Egypt's President Mubarak, two months early as clashes continue between the president's supporters and those demanding regime change in Cairo.

Senior commissioning editor Bill Swainson bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times through David Grossman at the David Grossman Literary Agency acting for Macmillan US imprint Holt. The book was originally slated to be published on 6th June as Crawling Away From Armageddon: Continuing to Avoid the Nuclear Threat.

The book is a memoir of ElBaradei's time as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) between 1997 and 2009, and though it doesn't cover Egypt or any of the current turmoil, Swainson said: "It does show how intellectually tough and resilient he would be in opposition to Mubarak, and the difficulties Mubarak would have in having someone in opposition to him of that calibre."

The title is divided into three sections, with the first covering the lead-up to the Iraq war, the second covering discussions with Korea, Libya and Iran, and the final part sees him "coming up with proposals as to what needs to happen to obtain nuclear stability in the post-Cold War world".

Swainson added: "[ElBaradei] tells his story incredibly well . . . He's obviously a very smart and astute diplomat." The book shows him "under enormous pressure from all nuclear powers, including the very tough Bush regime of that time."

The memoir will be published on 2nd May, as a £20 hardback, with simultaneous e-book release.