Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet said the figures proved that publishers had reacted quickly to the changes in the industry and the move towards e-readers.

BBC: Fifty Shades boosts UK book sales

The story goes that on the evening of November 6th, when Mollet got the call from Eden that he was aborting the invasion, he happened to be with the German chancellor, Konrad Adenauer.

ECONOMIST: The Suez crisis

When Anthony Eden, the British prime minister, called Guy Mollet, his French counterpart, to tell him that Britain had agreed to an immediate ceasefire in Egypt, Mollet was in the middle of a meeting with Konrad Adenauer, the German chancellor.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne