by Matthew NormanThursday, July 19, 2001
FROM the world of vanity publishing comes worrying news.
David Irving has been forced to delay publication of his
latest
opus, Churchill's War: Triumph in Adversity.
The book sounds marvellous (an
ad features a life-size image of Hitler in a Waterstone's
bookstore), but a press release from his Focal Point
Publications refers to it being "delayed by last minute
problems". Ah, but isn't that the danger when you rush
something out (David did not start work on it until
1972)? We wish him well and congratulate him for showing
what he himself would describe as chutzpah in using a
publicity quote ("His knowledge of World War Two is
unparalleled", Mr Justice Gray) from the libel trial that
destroyed whatever reputation as a proper historian he
may have had left.
Friday July 20, 2001
A DAY after regretting the delay in publication of
David Irving's
Churchill's War: Triumph In Adversity, we sense how
frustrating the wait will be.
According to fellow
rightwing historian, Andrew Roberts, among other
things David will reveal are that Winston was a flasher
who liked exposing himself to foreign statesmen; that he
tipped off the Nazis that Britain had cracked their
secret codes; and that he asked MI6 to assassinate
General de Gaulle (rather than merely suppress
him, as previously believed).
The sooner the book is published, and begins restoring
Mr Irving's reputation as a serious historian, the better
for us all.
Thurday July 26, 2001
SURVEILANCE: David Irving, in East Grinstead's cleverly
named The Bookshop, signing copies of his remarkable
new Churchill book last Thursday. He arrived in a
van, and gave
free copies of the book to two women who professed to
be interested in history.
...
remarkable ...
