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The Log Books
Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened
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Brief Description
An intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades, discovered in a stash of forgotten, handwritten notes. 'A fantastic journey through an overlooked archive bursting with humanity and real life on every page.' DAN SNOW 'Among the most vivid social histories I've read about contemporary queer...
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Format: Hardback
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An intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades, discovered in a stash of forgotten, handwritten notes.
An intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades, discovered in a stash of forgotten, handwritten notes.
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Description
An intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades, discovered in a stash of forgotten, handwritten notes.
'A fantastic journey through an overlooked archive bursting with humanity and real life on every page.'
DAN SNOW
'Among the most vivid social histories I've read about contemporary queer life in Britain.'
OISÍN MCKENNA, author of Evenings and Weekends
'In opening the Switchboard archive, and all the vulnerability and thrill contained within its pages, this book manages to capture something of the essence of what it means to be alive.'
AMELIA ABRAHAM, author of Queer Intentions
In a crawlspace at the offices of Switchboard, a queer helpline in operation since 1974, lies dozens of log books kept by volunteers describing the phone calls they had taken: a teenager whose parents had kicked them out of home for dressing as the wrong gender; a lesbian terrified of having her baby taken away from her; a man arrested for chatting up another man in a public toilet; a young person wanting to know how to come out.
These logs were traces of tens of thousands of queer lives, a bridge to a past hidden from people like Tash Walker and Adam Zmith in their youth, captured by people who lent an ear to those in need. Walker and Zmith came of age in the time of Section 28, a law which banned councils and schools 'promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'. In recovering these logs, they encountered people grappling with feelings, questions and problems both familiar and different, and set out to learn from—and sometimes speak to—those on both sides of the calls.
Charged with joy, gossip, sensuality, humour and sometimes fear, and with a potent relevancy to the world today, these stories are brought together in The Log Books. Walker and Zmith capture queer lives in stunning detail, embarking on a journey of both collective history and self-discovery and propelling it into the very foreground of our national history.
'One of the most intimate portrayals of LGBTQ+ history as you're going to get... moving and informative in equal parts.' HUNGER Magazine
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780571388332
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 29 January 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Edition: Main
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 416
About the Author
Tash Walker is writer, podcast producer and community organiser who has worked with institutions such as the Barbican, BBC, and Queer Britain; they were a member of Switchboard's board for eight years.
Adam Zmith is a writer and multi-format producer; his book Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures won the Polari First Book Prize. He writes theatre shows, talks and podcasts, including Press Play Turn On which won Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards 2024.
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