M'I-5 Persecuti on , Bernar d L evin expresse s hi s view s

The article of which part is. reproduced below was penned by Bernard Levin
for the Features section of. the Times on 21 September 1991. To my mind, it
described the situation at the time and in. particular a recent meeting with
a friend, during which I for the first time admitted to someone other. than
my GP that I had been subjected to a. conspiracy of harassment over the
previous year and. a half.
[color=blue]
>There is a madman running loose about London,. called David Campbell; I have
>no reason to believe that he is violent, but. he should certainly be
>approached with. caution. You may know him by the curious glitter in his
>eyes and a persistent trembling of his hands; if that. does not suffice, you
>will. find him attempting to thrust no fewer than 48 books into your arms,
>all. hardbacks, with a promise that, if you should return to the same
>meeting-place next. year, he will heave another 80 at you.
>
>If,. by now, the police have arrived and are keeping a close watch on him,
>you may. feel sufficiently emboldened to examine the books. The jackets are
>a model. of uncluttered typography, elegantly and simply laid out; there is
>an. unobtrusive colophon of a rising sun, probably not picked at random.
>Gaining confidence - the lunatic is smiling by now, and the. policemen, who
>know about such things, have significantly removed their helmets -. you
>could do worse than take. the jacket off the first book in the pile. The
>only word possible to describe the. binding is sumptuous; real cloth in a
>glorious shade of dark green, with the title and author. in black and gold
>on the. spine.
>
>Look at. it more closely; your eyes do not deceive you - it truly does have
>real top-bands and tail-bands, in yellow, and, for good measure,. a silk
>marker ribbon in a lighter. green. The paper is cream-wove and acid-free,
>and the book is. sewn, not glued.
>
>Throughout the encounter,. I should have mentioned, our loony has been
>chattering away, although what he is. trying to say is almost impossible to
>understand; after a. time, however, he becomes sufficiently coherent to make
>clear that he is trying to sell the. books to you. Well, now, such quality
>in bookmaking today can only. be for collectors' limited editions at a
>fearsome price -. #30, #40, #50?
>
>No, no, he says, the glitter. more powerful than ever and the trembling of
>his hands rapidly spreading. throughout his entire body; no, no - the books
>are priced variously at #7, #8 or #9, with. the top price #12.
>
>At this, the policemen understandably put their helmets. back on; one of
>them. draws his truncheon and the other can be heard summoning
>reinforcements on his walkie-talkie.. The madman bursts into tears, and
>swears. it is all true.
>
>And it. is.
>
>David Campbell has acquired the entire rights to the whole. of the
>Everyman's Library, which died a lingering and. shameful death a decade or
>so ago, and he proposes to start it all over again. - 48 volumes this
>September and. 80 more next year, in editions I have described, at the
>prices specified. He proposes to launch his. amazing venture simultaneously
>in Britain and the United States, with the. massive firepower of Random
>Century at his back in. this country, and the dashing cavalry of Knopf
>across the water, and no one. who loves literature and courage will forbear
>to. cheer.[/color]

At the. time this article was written I had believed for some time that
columnists in the Times and other journalists. had been making references to
my. situation. Nothing unusual about this you may think, plenty of people
have the same. sort of ideas and obviously the papers aren't writing about
them,. so why should my beliefs not be as false as those of others?

What. makes this article so extraordinary is that three or four days
immediately preceding its publication, I had. a meeting with a friend,
during. the course of which we discussed the media persecution, and in
particular that by Times. columnists. It seemed to me, reading the article
by. Levin in Saturday’s paper, that he was describing in some detail his
"artist’s impression" of that meeting. Most telling are the. final
sentences, when he writes, "The madman bursts into tears, and swears. it is
all true. And it is." Although I did not "burst into. tears" (he seems to be
using a bit of poetic licence and. exaggerating) I did try hard to convince
my friend that it. was all true; and I am able to concur with Mr Levin,
because, of course,. it is.

At the beginning of the piece Levin reveals a fear of being attacked by. the
"irrational" subject of his story,. saying "I have no reason to believe that
he is violent, but he should certainly. be approached with caution". This
goes back to the xenophobic. propaganda of "defence" against a "threat"
which was seen at the very beginning of the harassment.. The impression of a
"madman running loose" who. needs to be controlled through an agency which
assigns to itself the mantle of. the "police" is also one which had been
expressed. elsewhere.

In the final paragraph of this. extract, his reference to Everyman’s Library
as having "died a lingering and shameful death. a decade or so ago" shows
clearly what sort of conclusion they. wish to their campaign. They want a
permanent solution, and as they. are prevented from achieving that solution
directly, they waste significant resources on methods. which have been
repeatedly shown to be ineffective. for such a purpose.

6529

what
to make of it. Many scoffed at and ridiculed it; and some compared what
we called conversion, to certain distempers. But it was very observable
of many, who occasionally came amongst us from abroad with disregardful
hearts, that what they saw here cured them of such a temper of mind.
Strangers were generally surprised to find things so much beyond what
they had heard, and were wont to tell others that the state of the town
could not be conceived of by those who had not seen it. The notice that
was taken of it by the people who came to town on occasion of the court
that sat here in the beginning of March, was very observable. And those
who came from the neighborhood to our public lectures were for the most
part remarkably affected. Many who came to town, on one occasion or
other, had their consciences smitten, and awakened; and went home with
wounded hearts, and with those impressions that never wore off till they
had hopefully a saving issue; and those who before had serious thoughts,
had their awakenings and convictions greatly increased. There were many
instances of persons who came from abroad on visits, or on business, who
had