Welcome to my website and thank you for taking the time to explore it
British Vogue: biography of an icon, was published in paperback by Weidenfeld, October 2025.
It covers the 108 years since the magazine was founded in London at the height of the First World War and traces world events through the lens of this remarkable fashion magazine. There is so much more to Vogue than just fashion and this book celebrates the twists and turns
of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
My next book, The Everest Mystery, will be published by Macmillan in the UK in June 2026 and by St Martin’s Press in the US two months later. Written in conjunction with Everest historian Jochen Hemmleb, it revisits the life and death of my great uncle, Sandy Irvine.
My work focuses on people faced with extraordinary circumstances. The Second World War has proved a rich seam and I have written about many aspects of it including evacuees, women on the Home Front, fashion in wartime, requisitioned country houses and, most recently, the remarkable editor of VOGUE, Audrey Withers.
Dressed for War has been optioned by Gaumont TV UK to be developed into a drama series.
My 2013 book Jambusters was the inspiration for ITV’s successful drama series Home Fires which ran for two seasons in 2015 and 2016 and was watched by more than 6 million viewers per episode in the UK alone. It aired in 135 territories worldwide.
Details of my work and lectures can be found using the menu on the left.
“Wonderful … Summers handles her source material confidently and colourfully”
Daily Telegraph
“Summers is a good and knowledgeable writer … powerful, emotional stuff”
Independent
“Striking, often heart-warming, but sometimes tragic. They are stories that touch us all, even today”
Daily Mail