The Irving - C-Span correspondence..............................
Photo: Prof Deborah Lipstadt received
an ecstatic welcome when she spoke
in Feb 2005 at Brandeis University, and signed six million copies of her latest book (equally true).
Wednesday February 9, 2005:
From: Amy Roach [C Span]
To: [...]
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 10:53 AM
Subject: David Irving
Greetings! My C-SPAN colleague [...] tells me that you may have contact info for David Irving. C-SPAN is considering covering Deborah Lipstadt's book, "History on Trial," and we'd prefer to balance our coverage by giving Mr. Irving some airtime as well. I'm interested in finding out if he has any speaking engagements on the horizon -- something we could potentially tape for broadcast on C-SPAN.
Many thanks,
Amy Roach,
Book TV Producer C-SPAN
400 N. Capitol Street, NW, Suite 650
Washington, DC 20001
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David Irving to C-SPAN's Amy Roach:
9:26 pm:
Dear Amy,
that is very civil of you to want to balance your coverage. More on that in a minute. But: How come you never covered such items as Lipstadt's pressurising St Martin's Press in April 1996 to violate their contract to publish my Goebbels biography, the result of eight years' work by me in the Moscow KGB and other archives (Prof Gordon Craig subsequently described that book in the most glowing terms in a six page review in the NY Review of Books -- a book you could not, and still cannot, buy anywhere in the USA!)
It had already been selected by Doubleday History Book Club as their Book of the Month for May 1996. That is just one reason why I loath Deborah.
Her calling me a "Holocaust denier" is another (if you read the Goebbels book, "Goebbels. Mastermind of the Third Reich", you will find I go into previously unknown detail about the mass shootings of Jews on the eastern front, but I am still "a Holocaust denier".)
Interesting for you perhaps, I have put all my books on the Internet as free downloads, and will eventually put all the foreign translations up there free too: I am not sure it makes sense, but my gut instinct is that it does! By the way Deborah L will do all she can to dissuade you from giving me a fair hearing, even if it means losing publicity for her book. Just to warn you of what you will let yourself in for.
2. You already covered from start to finish a talk I gave in Washington DC about three years back. You (C-SPAN) also filmed a lengthy interview with me at the BookExpo in New York's Jacob Javits Center in about 2002. You were kind enough to broadcast that interview several times.
3. Now to timetable: Yes. I shall be visiting the USA from Feb 25 and doing a lengthy road tour lasting two months, speaking in many cities. Topic: The Real Adolf Hitler of History. This may be too late for your time frame however? I will be happy to make myself available anywhere, within reason, that you choose for a one-on-one interview if you prefer, I could even drive over from Chicago to NY or DC if you wish
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A postscript: "Early in March I shall be speaking at a location in Atlanta, which is of course on Lipstadt's doorstep so to speak. I speak there once a year. Again, this may be too late for you however. Note my US contact details below, valid after February 25."
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Amy Roach to Mr. Irving
Thanks so much for your quick response. Great to hear that you are planning a US tour. The timetable sounds perfect, actually. Are you promoting a new book, or is your lecture topic-driven? I'd love to see a copy of your tour schedule, so that we can consider taping one of your events or arranging an interview during your visit to the states.
I'll be out of the office tomorrow and Friday (in the UK, actually), but please send me a copy of your schedule and we can go from there next week.
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David Irving to C-SPAN:
"In confidence: ever since Lipstadt et al destroyed my publishing career in the USA (my books had been published since 1963 by Holt Rinehart Winston; Simon & Schuster; Wm Morrow; Avon; Viking; E P Dutton,; St Martin's Press; Bantam, etc) I have had to live a gypsy-like existence, selling books direct. It is amusing, rewarding, tiring and has given me the chance and excuse to see the whole of this vast, beautiful country of yours. I also stop off at locations to research (College Park, Md; Hoover Library, California, etc).
[...] Incidentally, we are preparing some ugly legal surprises for when Lipstadt arrives in London to promote her book."
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Thursday, February 10, 2005:
10:15 am David Irving to C-SPAN: "Further to our emails about Deborah Lipstadt etc., I just noticed that you are coming to London. If you have time, do consider having a lunch or supper here to talk briefly. I live in Mayfair just behind the London Hilton (so close in fact that if that building ever comes down, we're toast), and we are surrounded by nice eateries. I'm in all day expect for twice a day doing the school run, roughly nine and four pm. But I suspect that your schedule is probably already even more crowded than Condoleeza's."
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005 10:37 am:s
Very sorry to hear of the Washington Post attack on you. I tried hard to be balanced in my talk, and refrained of course from ad hominem attacks on Prof Lipstadt. I don't know if you're going to show it, but I forgot to ask whether I might have a copy of the talk and Q&A on DVD or tape. Your team at Atlanta was the soul of efficiency and courtesy, and it was a pleasure to be in the same room as such fine professionals.
Richard Cohen's fury in Washington Post Tuesday, March 15, 2005 that C-SPAN grants Mr Irving equal air time: to silence him Lipstadt cancels her consent
The self-important David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies cackles |
