Oh, come off it. Don’t insult our intelligence. What Smiths are really saying is “Hey, thickheads, you’ll buy what we tell you to and like it, capeesh?”

Award-winning broadcaster, author and BGTW member, Charlie Connelly, claims the Penguin-WHS deal is a "stitch-up" in his latest blog posting.

Connelly, who is well-known for his humerous narrative travel books Attention all shipping and And did those feet: Walking through the history of Britain & Ireland(serialised recently as BBC R4's Book of the Week), says the deal is important on many levels...

"The contempt it shows for the intelligence of the book-buying public, the naked greed that underpins the whole escapade and the assault on consumer choice that it imposes, in an area whose breadth and expertise is as wonderful as it is necessary. Guidebooks are intelligent, targeted commodities written by intelligent, expert people aimed at intelligent, discerning people wishing to make an informed choice to suit their needs, just as much as in any other area of publishing or walk of life."