DARTS: DR. DARTS’ PUBLISHING COUP

Patrick Chaplin, 58, of Maldon, Essex, popularly known as ‘Dr. Darts’, has hit the book publishing bull’s-eye in a big way.

After many years of self-funded, part-time research, Patrick was awarded a doctorate on the social history of the sport of darts by the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in December 2006.

His PhD was acclaimed by his external examiners as ‘among the eminent works of pioneering scholarship in the academic history of twentieth-century leisure and sport’ and was almost immediately snapped up for publication by Manchester University Press (MUP). The result, his book entitled Darts in England: A social history is published in hardback today (1^{st June) as part of the prestigious Studies in Popular Studies series. Patrick hopes that a paperback version will be available next year.}

But his publishing does not end there…

Last week, a joint writing venture between Patrick and the three-time World Professional Darts Champion, John Lowe, titled The Art of Darts, a two-part masterclass of darts tuition was published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton.

Patrick has also been working with John Lowe to update John’s autobiography Old Stoneface (originally published in 2005), making amendments and adding a chapter to bring John’s story up to date. John Blake will be publishing Old Stoneface in paperback at the end of June.

As if this was not enough, Patrick has also been working as a consultant for the darts chapter of Simon Inglis’s forthcoming book Played at the Pub, one of the Played in Britain series. And if that was not enough, Patrick’s own book The Complete Guide to Darts is scheduled for publication in New York in early 2010.

Patrick said, "It’s like waiting for a bus. You wait for ages and then three or four turn up at the same time. This is a very exciting time for me and hopefully for darts fans too."

Needless to say Patrick is already working on at least two more darts-related tomes!

For more information go to Patrick’s website at