Friday 16 January 2009

Freedom of speech - and books for free


You may like to read Craig Murray's new book for free on your computer. It's called The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and you can download it as a zip file by clicking here.

Craig Murray didn't set out to give his book away. He had a contract with a publisher, Mainstream. Then a firm of solicitors called Schillings threatened to sue Mainstream for libel and that's the sort of action that can bankrupt a small publisher, whether a libel has been committed or not. Craig Murray says he has legal advice that assures him he is not guilty of libel - and he's prepared to stake all he has on that by publishing the book itself. He's making it available free of charge on-line as well as publishing hard copies himself.

You can read more of the story on Craig Murray's blog. He also tells you how to buy a copy of the book, either from him directly or from Amazon. Obviously he'd like to make some money out of it. Writing is now part of his work, after all. And if you've read Murder in Samarkand, you'll probably want to read the prequel too. (If you haven't read Murder in Samarkand, please do.)

In the meantime, if you haven't had the time to read the whole book just now, there was a little preview in the Mail on Sunday. I've had a busy week and that's as much as I've managed to read so far. I've ordered the book from Amazon but apparently it's so popular that they've already sold out and are awaiting further copies. Once I've read it, I'll try to post a review.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to my copy too, and resisting the temptation to look at the online version, because from what people say, once you start you'll stay up until you finish it!
cide-hamete

Anonymous said...

Hi Kath, Just checked your blog to find the interesting stuff about West Africa from Craig Murray. Thanks for that. I taught in Nigeria for five years in the 70s and, under no illusions, still loved it and keep in touch. My daughter was born there and is now working in Algeria (hard posting) but still feels Africa is somehow her home too. I'll send her the link to Murray and see if we can't get a copy from Amazon. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see Blair in the cell next to Charles Taylor and Karadicz in the Hague. As always, let's live in hope.
best wishes
Eric Northey