Books
My books include The Tyne Bridge, The Ruhleben Football Association, Savage Enthusiasm, and The Rocketbelt Caper. See more.
The Tyne Bridge
Icon of North-East England
Hurst, 9781787387935A compelling account of how engineering, architectural ingenuity, a great industrial tradition, and the labour of thousands came to span the Tyne."A rich plethora of wonderful stories." - Michael Chaplin
The Ruhleben Football Association
How Steve Bloomer’s Footballers Survived a First World War Prison Camp
Goal Post, 9780995541238In 1914, several of Britain’s greatest footballers were interned in a brutal prison camp near Berlin."The real Escape to Victory.”
– Sports Journalists’ Association
The Rocketbelt Caper
A True Tale of Invention, Obsession and Murder
Superelastic, 9781787387935An obsessive quest to build a jetpack-style flying machine leads to feud, kidnapping, a ten-million-dollar lawsuit, and a brutal murder.“A delight to read. Genuinely stranger than fiction.” – Popular Science UK
Articles
I’ve written for publications including The Guardian, FourFourTwo, When Saturday Comes, The Blizzard, Longreads, and Narratively. See more.
The Dog and the Dinosaur
Medium LongiumIn 1919, Captain Leicester Stevens and his rescued war dog Laddie set off from London on a ten-thousand-mile journey into the heart of Africa to hunt for a dinosaur.
Death of an Angel: Did a White Cop Kill a Black Guardian Angel?
Medium LongiumThe police said it was an accident. The Guardian Angels accused them of covering up a racially-motivated murder. Who shot Frank Melvin?
The Fisherman Who Discovered the Loch Ness Monster
NarrativelyA Scottish villager's quiet life is turned upside down after he encounters a strange creature that newspapers christen the "Loch Ness Monster".
The Female Horse Thief
Medium LongiumA young English heiress becomes a notorious American criminal after crossing the Atlantic in search of her exiled lover. But why has history erased her identity?
The Bank Robbers Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
NarrativelyWhen the Duffy Brothers were deported from the US, they hatched a disastrous plan to bring Bonnie-and-Clyde-style armed robbery across the pond.
How Four Americans Robbed the Bank of England
LongreadsIn Victorian London, a gang of US hustlers attempts a $10m heist on the safest bank in the world. Can the detective who inspired Sherlock Holmes catch them?
Rocketbelt Caper - optioned
Blood Red Sea - optioned
Sins Dyed In Blood - available
Newsletter
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Contact
Paul Brown is a writer from the North East of England who specialises in unusual true stories with colourful characters and cinematic narratives.Email: paul at paulbrown.xyz
Twitter: @paulbrownUK
Substack: Singular Discoveries
Agent: Richard Pike @ C&W