Libel Case
In 1968, David Irving published a controversial book about PQ17. It concentrated on allied blunders and shortcomings, and in particular, alleged that Broome's decision to withdraw his destroyers was the primary cause of the disaster to the convoy. Broome mounted a libel action to defend his reputation. He was successful, winning £40,000 in damages and securing the withdrawal of all copies of the offending book from circulation (although it has since been republished, with corrections.) The damages payment (donated by Broome to charity) was the highest paid in legal history until Jeffery Archer's controversial action against The Sun newspaper.
Read more about this topic: Jack Broome
Famous quotes containing the words libel and/or case:
“Nor do they trust their tongue alone,
But speak a language of their own;
Can read a nod, a shrug, a look,
Far better than a printed book;
Convey a libel in a frown,
And wink a reputation down.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“It was a maxim with Mr. Brass that the habit of paying compliments kept a man’s tongue oiled without any expense; and that, as that useful member ought never to grow rusty or creak in turning on its hinges in the case of a practitioner of the law, in whom it should be always glib and easy, he lost few opportunities of improving himself by the utterance of handsome speeches and eulogistic expressions”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)