As you no doubt know there is now an official inquiry into the pandemic which swept across our country in 2020 and then continued to take its toll in deaths and sickness right up to the present day. COVID-19 has not gone away; nor will it any time soon.
Will this inquiry establish the truth about what happened? I very much doubt it. Too many vested interests will prevent that outcome. If you do want to know the sequence of events that unfolded during 2020, there is a publication already available, written by someone who had his finger on the pulse of events as they unfolded at the time. I am of course referring to that well-known, academic doctor, Rob Donovan, whose literary exposure of Tory government malfeasance was published a year ago in February 2022 under the title: Dying to Know - Running though a Pandemic.
The views on the author's run are stunning - and included in the book |
Despite the excellent reviews received - press this link here to read some of them - his book has been difficult to market successfully. He tells me that 184 copies are still in the publisher's warehouse; there were 300 copies in the original print run. Amazon had only one copy left when he last looked, but Waterstone's had more than ten copies in their stock. Amazon may be marginally cheaper than
Waterstone's but the author's cut is definitely higher from each sale via Waterstone's. [Hint; Hint.]Signed copies are no doubt available from the author himself, using his website - see this link here.
There are also some charming excursions into the private world of the author, some of them illustrated by images from his own collections. Here are two examples from the book:
Peter Ted with the author and his mother in Lewisham, south London, in 1952 |
The author with his form class in Brent, London in 1978 |
This remarkable book deserves to be read more widely - that's the author's unsurprising opinion and one I would fully endorse. It is a good and interesting read, as well as delivering a sound analysis of why this country has one of the largest death tolls from COVID-19 in the world, per head of population.
The other day, the author was telling me about one of his attempts to publicize the book. You might find it as interesting as I did. It seems that the author is on Facebook, now known as Meta, and he has a webpage there devoted to Dying to Know and what he calls the Road to Justice. It used to be called The Road to Corbyn which may be true in a metaphorical sense but you can see why he changed the name. Well, Meta decided to try to persuade him to advertise the webpage and book for around 30 dollars spread over seven days. He thought that would be a worthwhile outlay - better to try than not.
So the advert went out in the form that Meta had created and approved to an audience that they had also selected, presumably to achieve maximum returns. Almost immediately, middle-aged gentlemen with a grudge against Corbyn were on to it, leaving disparaging comment after comment. They were particularly incensed by this image below which is also in the book:
These Global Extinction members were demonstrating outside the Royal Cornwall Hospital when tipped off that the PM, Boris Johnson, was visiting one summer's day in August 2020. |
The author told me that over a dozen of these hostile remarks had been posted within the first four days before Meta suddenly intervened. He was messaged by Meta and told that his advert was no longer approved and had been terminated. A week or so later, he got the bill for around £14, the cost of the days it was running.
Make of that what you will.
Incidentally, one of the pictures not in the book and revealed for the first time here is this one, also taken at the same demonstration:
The author has wished me 'Good luck!' for this blogpost. I do hope, for the sake of spreading the word about this buried malfeasance, there are readers out there who will buy a copy or more, for themselves and for family and friends, to help the author in his bid to bring these matters to the surface. They should not remain buried and lost in the mists of time.
One final thought - if you have enjoyed this blogpost, perhaps you would share it with friends and family - it all helps!
I own a highly-cherished, autographed copy of "Dying to Know." The author of this book is (as is the writer of this blog) a person of amazingly wide experiences and knowledge, all of which he is glad to share. I might not agree with all of his positions, but his publications are always a joy to read and are very enlightening. His photos in DTK are great as is the previously unpublished one in this blog showing him on the "far left." Humor and subtle (usually) sarcasm are a hallmark of his writings in addition to comments regarding politics, history, society, and science. Please keep it all coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Howard - just reread this and realized I hadn't replied - I just love your hearty-felt comment!
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