February 28th, 2008: marks the release of The Bank Job (Lionsgate Films) and coincides with the publication of And the World Listened by local author Keith Wallis (Kelly Publications).
The Bank Job is the dramatic story of the theft of millions of pounds worth of cash and jewellery from safe deposit boxes in a Baker Street bank. In addition to murder and corruption, the story involves a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family. Two of the main characters are Hakim Jamal and Gale Benson.
And the World Listened is the biography of Captain Leonard Frank Plugge, a Conservative MP and radio pioneer who was Gale’s father. Gale was one of twins and the book covers her involvement with Michael X’s Black Power movement where she met Hakim Jamal, who became her lover. The book also describes her gruesome murder by Black Power members in Trinidad a few months after the bank robbery.
And the World Listened is principally concerned with Plugge’s successful promotion of commercial broadcasting following the extensive research he did whilst travelling around Europe in impressive motorcars in the 1920s. It tells the story of the first ‘pirate’ radio ship sponsored by The Daily Mail in 1928, and the setting up of Radio Normandy, the first European station to broadcast programmes in English. This was followed by a network of radio stations across the continent.
In 1934, Leonard Plugge, aged 45 married a beautiful young actress called Ann Muckleston (stage name Nancy Rigg). Plugge became an MP in 1935 spending 10 years as the Conservative member for Rochester and Chatham.
A son, Frank was born in 1937 and when war broke out two years later, Ann and Frank were evacuated to the USA. While there, Ann fell in love with Jack Bouvier, father of the future Jacqueline Kennedy. When Ann asked for a divorce, Lenny refused and persuaded her to come home. Later, the twins Gale and Greville were born. Each was to meet with a tragic end.
AND THE WORLD LISTENED: The Story of Captain Leonard Frank Plugge and the International Broadcasting Company. Tiverton: Kelly Publications 2008. 224 pages. Illustrated. Hardback £22.50; paperback £12.95
Kelly Publications contacts:
Phone: 01884 256170/259526
Fax: 0871 661 8229