Robin Saikia

Robin Saikia recently appeared as a commentator in Peter Nicholson's Channel 4 drama documentary, Churchill and the Fascist Plot, an absorbing story of how Churchill, shortly before the Second World War, shut down a right wing group of upper-class Nazi sympathisers in London. The program drew on Robin's study of that group: The Red Book; the Membership List of The Right Club, 1939. Robin Saikia is also the author of The Venice Lido, a warmly acclaimed literary and social history of Venice's glamorous beach resort. He is pictured here filming on the Lido, with Richard E Grant, the forthcoming episode of Richard E Grant's Hotel Secrets (Sky Atlantic 2014). Praise for The Venice Lido: "I have enjoyed it hugely - and it has taught me lots that I didn't know" John Julius Norwich "The perfect guide" Hugo Vickers "Smashing. . . so well brought off I expected sand to sift from its pages while I was reading" Guardian "Warmth, charm and eccentric scholarship" Spectator "An enthralling travel guide with an equally intriguing social and cultural history" Good Book Guide "This book will broaden your horizons" Fictional Cities Robin Saikia is delighted with the response: "A great many people think of Venice in terms of churches, palaces and museums. They do not know that only ten minutes away from San Marco there is this unbuttoned, sundrenched paradise dotted with tennis courts and stables, a golf course and a fabulously maintained beach. If, like me, you're both a culture vulture and a committed hedonist, you'll find the Lido a more than welcome bolthole from the high-brow hurly-burly of the city." Robin's other works for Blue Guides include Blue Guide Italy Food Companion ("a heavenly book" Victoria Hislop), Blue Guide Literary Companion London ("a literary masterpiece" Giles Milton) and Blue Guide Hay-on-Wye ("no greater master of tone or description" Toronto Star). Robin has contributed articles on Venice to the Guardian and to Easyjet inflight magazine. He has written features on art dealing and espionage for Time Out. His other books include The Red Book: The Membership List of The Right Club, 1939, a study of inter-war English anti-Semitism (Foxley Books). Look out for Robin in Peter Nicholson's forthcoming documentary on The Right Club for Channel 4. Robin also edited, for Bayswater Press, The Horn Book, a Victorian sex manual described as the "English Kama Sutra". Robin was educated at Winchester College and Merton College, Oxford. He is a good cook, an accomplished classical pianist and an adventurous traveller. PRAISE FOR BLUE GUIDE LITERARY COMPANION LONDON Strikingly original and idiosyncratic, Robin Saikia's Blue Guide Literary Companion London is a literary masterpiece. This is the finest anthology about London to appear in over half a century. Giles Milton Pocket-sized and savvy. . .you can trace this city's aspirations and affectations, its mood swings and neuroses. Time Out Irreverence. . . unexpected juxtaposition. . . interesting historical snippets. . . Blue Guide Literary Companion scores well, with Trollope spilling ink over a pompous colonel and Keats struggling not to snigger as Wordsworth is buttonholed by a tedious fan. The Spectator London brought to life. . .Robin Saikia has taken a fresh approach to London's rich literary heritage. Ham & High This is a wonderful collection, invaluable to a study of London literature. Eliza Cubitt, University College London If you want to read about London in all its delightful complexity (and with a refreshing lack of the obvious) the Blue Guide Literary Companion London is the ideal guide. city-lit cafe So refreshing and non-bland - so many travel guides are neither! Malcolm Burgess, Oxygen Books PRAISE FOR BLUE GUIDE ITALY FOOD COMPANION What a heavenly book! Blue Guide Italy Food Companion sits perfectly in the handbag - and I shall sound SO knowledgeable! Victoria Hislop Libro affascinante. . .autore di charme! Donatella S, Milan I come everywhere with this book! Florentina D, Venice PRAISE FOR BLUE GUIDE HAY-ON-WYE Robin Saikia wrote a very good guide to the book town of Hay-on-Wye and is therefore directly responsible for dozens of the books in my flat. Euan Monaghan, Structo Magazine I know of no greater master of tone or description. Adam Gutteridge, Toronto Star. PRAISE FOR THE RED BOOK: THE MEMBERSHIP LIST OF THE RIGHT CLUB, 1939. The ideological forefathers of today's far right are systematically thrust into the limelight like superannuated music hall acts and summarily shot down one by one. John Paulson, Right Wing Review