Letter
to the editor
"More
Distortions"
THE David Irving
trial was not only about Holocaust
denial and the nature of historical
research, but also about fudging the
truth.
It also examined in detail the vexed
question of how the subtle abuse of
documents can create distortion and how
disingenuous editing can perpetrate
lies. Irving was shown to have done
both.
How surprising then was Richard
Evans's attack on publishers --
"The real cost of free speech"
(Times Higher Education
Supplement, June 21). He
selectively quotes from a rejection
letter that he misattributes to me.
Sometimes such mistakes distort
meanings. Evans says the letter Profile
Books sent his agent suggested we
turned his book down because of the
legal threat. Our reason was
commercial, to quote: "Time has past
(sic), there's not much chance of
export, we wd (sic) have to publish as
a paperback original, some copies have
come in via Amazon."
How sad to see the gamekeeper has
become a poacher.
Andrew
Franklin
Managing director
Profile Books
Footnote:
The US edition of Lying about
Hitler has already been
remaindered. It is available from
Hamilton
Books,
the primary/largest book remainder
service in the US, for $7.00. Its
sales were evidently abysmal. I am
proud to say my books have never
been remaindered.-- David
Irving
What
caused the "falling-out" was
not Granta's terror of Irving
and his lawyers
. . . It was,
in fact, the greed and
duplicity of Cohen's hero,
Richard Evans.
-- Private Eye
write to David
Irving