It was the day after Apple unveiled its iPad and Macmillan's John Sargent was heading for the Amazon.com headquarters in Seattle on a hastily arranged visit. The chief executive of the venerable publisher arrived with an ultimatum for the world's largest bookseller - either let Macmillan charge more for its electronic books or wait a painful six months after it made new titles available through other outlets, including on the iPad.
Amazon balked. By the time Mr Sargent returned to New York that evening, it had begun removing all Macmillan titles - both e-books and physical books - from its website. If Macmillan wanted to play hardball, it seemed Amazon was game.
