Allen & Unwin acquires Knight nonfiction

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to The Most Interesting People You’ve Never Heard Of by Riley Knight, via Florence Dodd at WME Agency.

According to A&U, the book “brings to light 50 people, from ancient to modern times known locally for their strange or remarkable lives, but who have escaped a wider appreciation”, including Violet Jessop who survived the sinking of the Titanic, only to then be aboard the Britannic when it sank, and Adolphe Sax “who had multiple near-death experiences as a kid, before growing up to invent the saxophone”.

Knight is the host of the weekly podcast Half-Arsed History and the author of History’s Strangest Deaths. He lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Riley said, “Rather than talking about all the usual historical suspects, this is a collection of incredible, fascinating, amusing, or altogether ludicrous tales about overlooked figures from history. For instance, there’s the woman who built one of the Seven Wonders for her dead brother-husband; there’s the Dutch prime minister who was cannibalised by his people; there’s even the first person to fly over the English Channel – who did so naked. Hopefully readers will enjoy meeting some historical figures who are a little more obscure, but certainly no less interesting.”

Publisher Sally Heath said, “Readers will be thrilled to have another chance to dip into the crazy true stories Riley researches and brings to us with such charm and humour.”

A&U plans to publish The Most Interesting People You’ve Never Heard Of in October 2026.