Jeremy Paxman Radio interview

[michaeldr]

Stuart,

Many thanks

reply already sent

Michael

[stevem49]

I have heard rumours that Paxo did not know when, where or how Lord Kitchener died. Only a minor point of course!

[AlanCurragh]

I have heard rumours that Paxo did not know when, where or how Lord Kitchener died. Only a minor point of course!

That was on Have I Got News For You - well, all I can say is that at Cheltenham last Sunday, he knew a lot about the circumstances of Kitchener's death. He was asked to speculate why there are conspiracy theories about his death, and the official papers are still hidden, and to that he replied that he had no idea.

So maybe there was a previous event at which he had been caught out, but it certainly wasn't the one we were at. As I mentioned above, the standard of his answers to the audience was pretty good, in my opinion.

[stevem49]

Thanks Alan.

[David Filsell]

I totally fail to understand the snidism deployed in the criticism of authors using researchers. It doesn't by definition devalue a work. It has a long history (not least Churchill used them)

It does not imply that the writer has himself not done considerable reading and research. If the researchers are good they simply supply the information which the author requires and needs. Writing historical books is hard enough work on its own - slow, often tedious, and stretching. It seems to me rather like criticising a letter writer for using a secretary (who might make the odd grammatical mistake), an author for not drawing his own maps, taking his own pictures, the graphic designer for a crap presentation, the publicist for not knowing who to send review copies to. Good - expert - researchers, as I know personally, save time, wasted effort and often find information that you just didn't know existed. The final judgement on the package is its accuracy, readability and the quality of authorship.