Adrian Zackheim showed up for a new publishing assignment on September 7, 2001 at Penguin USA’s New York office. It placed him within hearing distance of the wreckage of four days later. The timing was tragic.

But the remit to set up a new imprint — Portfolio, for business books — must have put his subconscious on alert for new ways to publish in the aftermath of 9/11.

By 2003, he had set up another profitable imprint for Penguin — Sentinel — with its sole emphasis on conservative politics.

Zackheim says 9/11 was something of a “perfect storm”. Interest in current affairs had already been visible amongst readers, and the infrastructure was there, with mainstream media like Fox News serving as outlets for right-wing views.

With Sentinel, Penguin created “a niche, a comfortable place for right-wing writers in a publishing house they may have suspected of being on the other side”.

The first Sentinel book published was A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush by Ronald Kessler. But its greatest success came with The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President, by Edward Klein. So, if Michael Moore were to bring his new manuscript to Sentinel, would he be turned away? By Sentinel, yes, but not by Penguin.

The Sentinel list, however, does not travel, says Zackheim. Unlike Portfolio, whose books have been selling well around the world — books like Small Giants: Companies That Choose to be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham.

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