In Banged Up, David Irving delivers a riveting narrative of his unexpected arrest and subsequent incarceration by the Austrian secret state police (Stapo) in November 2005. Based on a lecture given sixteen years prior, Irving found himself sentenced to three years in Austria’s most formidable prison, navigating through an ordeal that would test the limits of any individual’s resilience and belief in the freedom of expression. This hardback edition recounts the trial and imprisonment and the ensuing legal battles; all conveyed with Irving’s characteristic absence of bitterness and a keen sense of humour. Spanning 146 pages, Banged Up unfolds the startling story of a British historian caught in the crosshairs of Austria’s post-war legal system, convicted under a law dating back to 1945. With a narrative enriched by vivid colour photographs, Irving shares the nuances of his 400-day confinement in solitary, the international outcry his case ignited, and the absurdity of facing new charges for simply engaging with the media. As the saga advances to the Court of Appeal, readers are offered a front-row seat to the stark realities of standing firm on one’s historical interpretations amidst a legal and societal climate that often favours silence over truth.
