Hello. I am a writer called Paul Brown. I write about history, sport, true crime, rocketbelts, and lots of other stuff.
Books by Paul Brown
The Tyne Bridge
Icon of North-East England
Hurst, 9781911723387
New in paperback for 2024A richly-illustrated narrative history celebrating the famous 100-year-old symbol of Tyneside and the people who built and use it."The new definitive work on the ultimate North East landmark." - Dave Morton, Newcastle Chronicle[Read more]
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’ Assoc.[Read more]
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. Genuinely stranger than fiction." – Popular Science[Read more]
Articles by Paul Brown
The Man Who Stole Shakespeare's SkullWas the Bard's skull really stolen from its cursed grave by a daring young doctor in 1794? More than two centuries later, researchers are still trying to find out. [PDF]
The Great British UFO HoaxHow a bunch of engineering students convinced the police, Army, Air Force and the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence that England was being invaded by flying saucers. [PDF]
How Four Americans Robbed the Bank of EnglandIn Victorian London, a dashing and daring gang of US hustlers attempts an audacious $10m heist on the self-styled "safest bank in the world". [Read]
The Dog and the DinosaurIn 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. [Read]
The Fisherman Who Discovered the Loch Ness MonsterA Scottish villager's quiet life is turned upside down after he encounters a strange creature that newspapers christen the "Loch Ness Monster". [PDF]
The Snowdrop: Lost in the ArcticIn 1908, after his ship was wrecked in the Arctic, a young Scottish whaler set off on a hundreds-of-miles journey across vast glaciers and frozen seas to find help. [Read]
The Bank Robbers Who Couldn't Shoot StraightWhen the Duffy Brothers were deported from the US, they hatched a disastrous plan to bring Bonnie-and-Clyde-style armed robbery across the pond. [PDF]
From a Blood-Red Sea: The Last Voyage of Daniel CollinsThe true story of how a young 1820s mariner survived a shipwreck, a pirate attack, and an epic, shark and crocodile-infested journey home. [Read]
TV + Film by Paul Brown
I specialise in unusual true stories with colourful characters and cinematic narratives. Several of my works have been optioned for TV and film projects and set up with major movie studios, production companies and streaming platforms. I've worked with Paramount, DreamWorks, Focus Features, eOne, BBC, Netflix and more. This website shows my available work. Browse my books and articles to find original source material for your next project and contact me via email or via my agent.
The Rocketbelt Caper
From a Blood-Red Sea
How Four Americans Robbed the Bank of England
The Fisherman Who Discovered the Loch Ness Monster
The Great British UFO Hoax
The Dog and the Dinosaur
Sins Dyed in Blood
The Ruhleben Football Association
As seen in
About Paul Brown
Paul Brown is a writer from the North East of England who writes about history, sport, true crime, rocketbelts, and lots of other stuff. His books include The Tyne Bridge, The Ruhleben Football Association, and The Rocketbelt Caper. He has written for The Guardian, Longreads, Narratively, FourFourTwo, When Saturday Comes, Deadspin, Loaded, and more. Several of his works have been optioned as TV, film, and podcast development projects. He writes the Singular Discoveries newsletter and podcast. You can contact him by email or via his agent:Email: paul at paulbrown.xyz
Agent: C&W Agency / Curtis Brown
Bluesky: paulbrownuk.bsky.social
Newsletter: Singular Discoveries
Singular Discoveries
A NEWSLETTER BY PAUL BROWN
Singular Discoveries is my free newsletter featuring new stories, recommendations, and extras from my notebooks.
MOST POPULAR
The Tombstone Pterodactyl Encounters with a flying lizard: PLUS Christmas conundrum solved... 8 December, 2022Thirty-Two Days Adrift A fight for survival in shark-infested waters; PLUS palaeontology and plane crash. 11 May, 2023The Titanic Rescue The unsung heroes who saved 700 souls; PLUS Old Egyptian Pyramid and New English Journey. 13 July, 2023Crushed by a Steam Roller An epidemic of grisly flattenings; PLUS Putin's kill list and a great-grandmother's guide to murder 9 October, 2025
ARCHIVE
2026Note: Posts prior to July 2026 are hosted on Substack.World Cup Willies A bumper World Cup summer special featuring ghostly grounds, forgotten champions, missing trophies and more... 18 June, 2026The Detective Who Investigated Shakespeare's Grave Robbery A Scotland Yard spycatcher investigates Shakespeare's skull theft AND the Whitechapel Murders...; PLUS Frank Chambers revealed! 21 May, 2026The Woman Who Haunted Shakespeare's Grave Why has there never been a movie about Delia Bacon? A Shakespeare's Skull thread-pull... 7 May, 2026The Man Who Stole Shakespeare's Skull Was the Bard's skull really stolen from its cursed grave?; PLUS London Falling, The New Mafia, The Umbrella Man, John & Paul 23 April, 2026Music and the Microbe Cloudbuster uses organ to kill bacteria; PLUS Umbrella murder, Escape from Ponar, Beatles book, Substack Nazis 12 February, 2026Countess as Dope Fiend Morphine murder mystery leads to Great War thread-pull; PLUS: Black Dahlia / Zodiac claim and AI update 22 January, 2026
PODCAST
The Singular Discoveries Podcast is a narrative history series telling unusual stories from forgotten corners of the past. Just like the newsletter, except it's made for your ears instead of your eyes.The 2023/24 series has eight episodes telling six different stories (two of the stories are two-parters). I tried to make it more than just read-aloud versions of the written stories — there’s a host, guest voices, music, sound effects, even some immersive spatial audio. There’s also a bonus "behind-the-scenes" episode. I hope you'll enjoy it. You can listen to the podcast on Soundcloud.NOTE: This podcast features AI-generated voices alongside human voices. [I no longer use generative AI in any of my work.] Read "How I made the Singular Discoveries podcast" for more.