David Southwell
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{{BLP sources|date=May 2010}}
David Southwell (born 1971) is a British writer, and the author of several books on conspiracy theories and organized crime.
Career
Prior to full-time writing, Southwell worked as a journalist and as Director of Communications for the British Retail Consortium (BRC).{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} In his role at the BRC, he regularly clashed with the British government's media relations department and pressure groups, and played a part in forcing Stephen Byers to scrap the Rip-Off Britain campaign.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} In a front-page story in The Sunday Times in 2003, Southwell, then a spokesman for the BRC, mentioned that MI5 was coordinating with the business community with regard to potential terrorism.{{cite news
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1030206.ece
|title=MI5 fears Christmas bombings
|last=Leppard
|first=David
|author2=Rufford, Nicholas
|date=30 November 2003
|work=The Times
|accessdate=26 June 2009 | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Southwell later stated in his own books that he had liaised with MI5 on anti-terrorism issues and with the UK Government's emergency planning Cabinet Committee Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA).{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
He has acknowledged a specialist knowledge and ongoing interest in the Angry Brigade and conspiracies surrounding the events that inspired VALIS. {{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} In 2005 he was thanked as an inspiration by Gary Russell in his Doctor Who novel Spiral Scratch.
A regular broadcaster in the UK and North America on the subjects of conspiracies and counter-culture, he jokingly claims on the back of his books that if he "dies a mysterious death it will be because he knows too much and has upset some very powerful people".{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
Southwell lives on a narrowboat on Regent's Canal in London, and married for the second time in 2010.[http://www.davidsouthwell.com/2008/06/year-in-three-bridge-kingdom.html David's blog] He wears an eye-patch due to the loss of 80% of the sight in one eye.[https://twitter.com/cultauthor/status/382613588567142400 Tweet from official account]
In early 2016 Southwell was a winning contestant on the BBC quiz Pointless.
Major non-fiction works
- Guano Stains Grandma aka Astounding Anagrams (with Anne-Marie Forker) - 1999
- Conspiracy Theories (with Sean Twist) - 1999
- Dirty Cash - 2002
- Conspiracy Files (with Sean Twist) - 2004
- Secrets and Lies - 2005
- Global Gangland The History of Organized Crime - 2006
- 1001 Ridiculous Ways to Die (with Matt Adams) - 2008
- The Kennedy Assassination: The Truth behind the Conspiracy that Killed the President - 2012
- 1001 More Ridiculous Ways to Die - 2013
Notes and references
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.davidsouthwell.com ENGLISH DREAMING, ENGLISH RAIN] David's blog
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