Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Sales of Churchillıs War, vol. ii: a report to Parforce investors.

I have yesterday covered east Anglia, with stops in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk; today I drove through Chatham to Hythe, Eastbourne, and Brighton. Meanwhile my staff in London checked with major newspapers to ascertain their plans for reviewing the book: sixty major newspapers and every major weekly including The New Statesman, The Spectator, and most of the provincial dailies have asked for review copies.

One firm, under the terms of our deal, has asked for no fewer than 850 copies at the special price allowed to investors under the terms of their agreement with us.[]

The book-trade's praise for the volume has been universal (with the exception so far of the Buyer in the history department at Waterstone's, at North Street, Brighton, in Sussex: "Anton", who sniffed, adjusted the ring piercing his eyebrow, and said that he would not take books by David Irving on principle: he has taken this personal decision to deprive Brighton of my wisdom on his own, he emphasises (so if you want to write to Waterstone's to complain about bigotry -- or even to praise "Anton", for that matter --, make plain that you are not blaming the company).

Of the 10,000 in the first print, 3,700 remain in stock. At this rate, a new print will shortly have to be ordered, but our first priority is getting Singapore busy on the reprint of Hitler's War. Tomorrow the road leads up to Glasgow and Aberdeen.