Private Eye books explained

Private Eye, the fortnightly British satirical magazine, has published various books and other material separately from the magazine since 1962.

Published by Private Eye

The principal publications are anthologies, for example the Private Eye Annual, and ongoing series such as the Colemanballs collections (in even-numbered years), and diaries of the Prime Minister. "The Private Eye Annual" has been published in a variety of forms since the early 1970s and traditionally contains reprints from the middle section of the magazine; satirical articles and cartoons.

The magazine has reprinted several hard-hitting articles and made them available as separate pamphlets. One such article was their report on the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom, and the response the government gave to it.

In former years, the magazine published collections of their strip cartoons. In particular, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, the exploits of an uncouth Australian expatriate in Sixties London, written by Barry Humphries and illustrated by Nicholas Garland, was published in three collections, long since out of print and now collectors' items. The Bill Tidy strip The Cloggies was also issued in this form.

Each year the magazine publishes a number of Christmas cards, which typically feature cartoons on Christmas themes from regular contributors.

Patrick Marnham's The Private Eye Story (1982) was the first major attempt to tell the history of the magazine. A fiftieth anniversary biography by Adam Macqueen was published in 2011.

Private Eye books

Humorous Cuttings

Anthologies of the unintentionally humorous newspaper cuttings which have formed a regular part of the magazine since its earliest days.

Colemanballs and Mediaballs

Private Eye Annuals and Anthologies

Strip cartoon collections

Satirical "Prime Minister" memoirs

Special Issues

A mixture of revised reprints of material featured in the magazine, retrospectives and entirely new material.

Specials were later abandoned in favour of occasional 'pull out sections' in the main magazine.

Miscellaneous Titles

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Private Eye books".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.