Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Who has Marr upset?

A BEST-selling book by political commentator Andrew Marr is being recalled almost two years after it was first published "for legal reasons".

A History of Modern Britain has sold 250,000 copies since it was published to coincide with a five-part documentary television series in May 2007.

I've read it and thought, against my prior expectations, that within the constraints of his own New-Labourism, he did a reasonably good job- of the immediate post-war period in particular.

I can't imagine where this is coming from though:
Now the book's publisher, Pan Macmillan, has issued a notice to booksellers asking for them to return unsold copies.

A "very well-known figure" is reportedly said to have objected to a phrase in the book.

Harold Wilson certainly doesn't come out that well from the book, but as regards anyone else, "very well-known" and still alive?

2 comments:

mike elrick said...

O'Neill. Hello.

From yesterday's Guardian:

Pan Macmillan is understood to have issued the immediate recall after the writer and women's rights campaigner Erin Pizzey began legal action over incorrect allegations in the book that linked her to the Angry Brigade, a militant group that staged bomb attacks in the 1970s.

Neither Pizzey nor her lawyers could be contacted yesterday, while Marr said he could not comment for legal reasons.

O'Neill said...

Ah, right and it's actually at the bottom of The Scotsman article I linked-

Seems a bit counterproductive to me drawing publicity to a book that's already been read by nearly 200,000 folk.