(Craig Unger's book ) Banned in Britain

[JoFerret]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/23/unger_ban/index_np.html
Banned in Britain!
Fearful of Saudi lawsuits, the British publisher of "House of Bush, House of Saud" has backed down from issuing the book.

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By Eric Boehlert

March 23, 2004 |

A controversial new book that casts a critical eye on the three-decade-old relationship between the Bush and Saud families, "House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties," by Craig Unger, has been dropped by its British publisher just weeks before it was scheduled to arrive in stores. Making its decision in the shadow of the aggressive use of the British legal system and its plaintiff-friendly libel laws by wealthy Saudis, the publisher has backed down from issuing the book.

"We've had to withdraw it for legal reasons," says an editor at Secker & Warburg, a U.K. division of Random House. "We expected we would be able to publish it with a degree of risk. But regrettably in the final analysis we decided we could not."

"Essentially it's been quashed," says author Craig Unger.

[bpilgrim]

1. i'm sure americans will be glad to dropship'em

our mates accross the pond if they asked :evilgrin:

peace

[Oggy]

2. Thanks

I may well ask in the near future. :-)

[bpilgrim]

3. no worries

just DU me :toast:

peace

[qb]

4. I'd be scared too if I was facing an oil-financed libel suit

given the bias in England's libel laws (It is way too easy to win a libel suit in England - just ask Greg Palast http://www.utne.com/web_special/web_specials_2003-04/articles/10452-1.html).

[Nihil]

5. ???

:wtf:
How often does that happen then?

The last book that I remember being banned in the UK was "Spycatcher"
(by Peter Wright) due to their squabble over interpretation of the OSA.

Why this one?

More to the point, *who* put the pressure on?

> aggressive use of the British legal system and its plaintiff-friendly
> libel laws by wealthy Saudis

Don't suppose we're back to the old Al-Fayed problem again are we?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Kitty Kelley's book on the Royal Family wasn't published

in the UK, for much the same reasons. I sent a copy from the USA to my mother.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446605786/102-6205625-2955343?v=glance

"The Royals (not for sale in the UK)"

[EdGy]

6. Bush's buddies the Saudis are stopping the sale of this book?

Will Bush publicly denounce this suppression of freedom of speech?

[qb]

7. "There ought to be limits to freedom" GWB 23-Jan-2003

In response to parody website www.gwbush.com

[Supormom]

8. Three little words...

"Free Speech Zones"

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

9. Oh for f---s sake

I've had this on pre-order for weeks! But hey, Bush's buds at Barrick got "Into the Buzzsaw" 'banned' so here we go again.

[Barrett808]

11. kick