Nicolette Jones

Nicolette Jones is the author of The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea, published in paperback on 3 May 2007 (Abacus). The Plimsoll Sensation was the Radio 4 Book of the Week for 3-7 July 2006, and won the 2006 Mountbatten Maritime Prize and the International Division of the 2007 US Maritime Literature Awards. See the citation and photos.

Booksellers: see the ongoing Plimsoll Sensation Bookseller's Competition! And download this promotional flier for booksellers/event organisers.

Right: At their 2006 street party, residents of Plimsoll Road N4 commemorate the man their street was named after by singing A Cheer for Plimsoll, a music hall song composed in 1876.

Listen to an interview with Nicolette Jones from a British Library podcast.

Read a review of The Plimsoll Sensation in The First Post.

See the calendar of events and appearances by Nicolette Jones

Listen to recordings ofHere's Success to Mr. Plimsoll, Our Sailors on the Sea, or "A Cheer for Samuel Plimsoll" by Fred Albert (1876)

See p120 of Peter James's bestselling thriller Not Dead Enough

Help Save the Plimsoll Viaduct

Publicity for The Plimsoll Sensation

"a story of ambition, treachery, libel, political intrigue and cold-blooded murder ... told in engaging, witty, racy style"—Hugh MacDonald, The Glasgow Herald

"This excellent biography ... Nicolette Jones charts [Plimsoll's] course with skill, insight and elegance"—Piers Brendon, The Sunday Telegraph

"Plimsoll emerges as a man so lovely that you just want to hug him or at least holler a huge 'Hooray!'"—Ross Leckie, The Times

"Nicolette Jones clearly loves her subject ... Her set-pieces mix sensitivity and narrative gusto. Dickens ... would have delighted in this story's cocktail of cut-throat capitalism, bleeding-heart politics, evangelical piety and simple common sense"—Jonathan Keates, Critic's Choice, First Post online magazine

"Fascinating ... Jones's witty, immaculately researched account of a great campaign is the ideal deckchair book"—Christopher Hirst, The Independent paperbacks

"outstanding ... the best 'sea' book I've read since Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm"—Anne Weale, Bookworm on the Net

"an approachable and enthralling slice of narrative history - quite simply, a great story ... of interest as much to landlubbers as to salts"— Publishing News

"splendid and meticulously researched"—Geoffrey Moorhouse, The Guardian Book of the Week

"expertly tracked"—Simon Garfield, The Observer

"[Jones] is sure-footed, never allowing her empathy with her subject to blind her to his failings. Her comprehensive biography ... will be the first port of call for all future researchers" —Neil Hanson, The Sunday Times

"a fascinating piece of social history"—George Rosie, Sunday Herald

"Scholarly ... elegantly written ... Ms Jones's strength lies in bringing to life the sailor's friend and the political climate in which he battled —The Economist

"a fine piece of work - fluently written, full of interesting things, and an admirable attempt to salvage the reputation of an all-but-forgotten Victorian hero from Davy Jones's locker"—Sam Leith, The Spectator

"Plimsoll's 15-year campaign as an MP is still a shining glory in the history of a badly tarnished political establishment. He deserves this excellent, circumstantial biography"—Iain Finlayson, The Times

"Jones's account is entirely worthy of its deserving subject"—Sarah Burton, The Independent

"impassioned ... a truly inspiring morality tale of Victorian philanthropy succeeding against the odds"—James Smith, Booktrust online

"an excellent addition to that genre of popular history which sets out to tackle a single theme and ends by illuminating an age"—Sarah Cuthbertson, Historical Novels Review (non-fiction section)

"an exhaustively researched and lively account of political activism"—Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, The Sunday Times paperback review

"Jones is an effective communicator of Plimsoll's passion and her book will endear itself even to those ignorant of shipping"—Stephanie Cross, The Observerpaperback review

"Nicolette Jones's fine work on the far-reaching campaign of the 19th-century MP Samuel certainly deserved the accolade [of the Mountbatten Maritime Prize]... It's entirely fitting that his story should be brought to life so vividly by this well-researched and entertaining book"—George Byrne, Evening Herald

See also reviews from the shipping press!

Your opinion of this book would be very interesting. Reviews can be posted on these websites:

• Waterstone's
• Blackwell's
• W H Smith's

And you can review or discuss the book on Amazon's website. Or you can email your comments to the publisher's website

(If you are a bookseller with a website on which reviews can be posted that is not listed above, please email the details to js-kg@tiscali.co.uk.)

Nicholas Clee's Cooking Blog

Photo of Nicolette Jones by Ben Smith. Copyright © 2006.