Blood on the Page
  • Published: 8 January 2019
  • ISBN: 9780099510925
  • Imprint: Windmill Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $19.99

Blood on the Page

WINNER of the 2018 Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction

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A groundbreaking examination of a terrifying murder and its aftermath by the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.

***WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION***

'Meticulous and gripping - a thriller that disturbs for revelations about a singular act of murder, and the national security state which we call home' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street

A groundbreaking examination of a terrifying murder and its aftermath by the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.

On 14 June 2006, police were called to 9 Downshire Hill in Hampstead. The owner, Allan Chappelow, was a writer and notorious recluse who had not been seen for several weeks. Inside the darkened house, officers found piles of rubbish, trees growing through the floor, and the body of Chappelow, battered to death, partially burned and buried under four feet of paper.

The man eventually arrested on suspicion of his murder was a Chinese dissident named Wang Yam, who claimed to be the grandson of one of Mao’s closest aides. His trial was the first in modern British history to be held ‘in camera’: closed, carefully controlled, secret. Wang Yam was found guilty, but has always protested his innocence.

Did Wang Yam do it? Or was he framed for a crime he didn't commit?

When everything is hidden, how do we know what's really true?

www.bloodonthepage.com
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'An In Cold Blood for our time – a brilliant and unflinching anatomy of a murder that is both brutal true crime and heartbreaking human tragedy' Tony Parsons

'A fine and fascinating read, bolstered by exemplary research and nuanced insights.' Observer

‘A real-life procedural... which might have important implications for us all.’ Guardian
'Reads like a thriller... a rigorous investigation... a revealing piece of social history.' Sunday Times

'Detailed, painstaking and fascinating.' Evening Standard
  • Published: 8 January 2019
  • ISBN: 9780099510925
  • Imprint: Windmill Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $19.99
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About the author

Thomas Harding

Thomas Harding is an author and journalist who has written for the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian, among other publications. He co-founded a television station in Oxford, England, and for many years was an award-winning documentary maker. He also ran a local newspaper in West Virginia, winning the West Virginia Association of Justice’s Journalist of the Year Award, before moving back to England in 2011, where he now lives with his family. He is the author of Hanns and Rudolf, a Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the JQ-Wingate Prize; the internationally acclaimed Kadian Journal: A Father’s Story; The House by the Lake, a Costa Biography Award and Orwell Prize nominee; and Blood on the Page, winner of the 2018 Golden Dagger Award for Non-Fiction.

portrait photo of Thomas Harding

Also by Thomas Harding

The House by the Lake
Kadian Journal
Hanns and Rudolf
See all

Praise for Blood on the Page

Meticulous and gripping – a thriller that disturbs for revelations about a singular act of murder, and the national security state which we call home.

Philippe Sands, author of 'East West Street'

A real-life procedural... which might have important implications for us all.

Kathryn Hughes, Guardian

Absolutely gripping throughout and builds to a devastating conclusion. Just brilliant.

Allan Little

Blood on the Page is an In Cold Blood for our time – a brilliant and unflinching anatomy of a murder that is both brutal true crime and heartbreaking human tragedy.

Tony Parsons

A fine and fascinating read, bolstered by exemplary research and nuanced insights. Absorbing.

Tobias Jones, Observer

Harding's book Hanns and Rudolf was a marvel of investigative research. Blood on the Page is similarly diligent and thorough in its approach.

Ian Thomson, Financial Times

One of the most intriguing murder cases in British legal history... There are enough questions raised by Harding's meticulous research to suggest that reasonable doubt still hangs over the conviction.

Jewish Chronicle

Reads like a thriller... a rigorous investigation... a revealing piece of social history.

Stephen Robinson, Sunday Times

Thomas Harding follows the twists and turns of the investigation in the best traditions of the true crime narrative. Detailed, painstaking and fascinating.

Justin Davenport, Evening Standard

Reads like a fast-paced thriller.

Ham & High

An absolute gem of a true-crime story ... The author's investigation, and his storytelling, are peerless. A superb book.

Evening Standard