Colonialism - A Moral Reckoning

Years ago in 1988 when Salmon Rushdie's book Satanic Verses was first published, a fatwa was issued against him and his life was threatened so much so that in England where he lived at the time,  twenty four hour police protection was afforded to him.

Indeed,  much more recently, in August 2022, Salmon Rushdie was stabbed multiple times just before he was due to give a lecture about the work, in Chautauqua USA. The attacker was even reported as saying that he had only read two pages of Satanic Verses.

Nigel Biggar's book publishing difficulties are in a different league, involving not threats on his life but withdrawal of a contractual decision to publish his non-fictional work entitled:  Colonialism A Moral Reckoning.

Nigel Biggar is  Regius professor of Moral and  Pastoral Theology at Oxford University. His proposed book  was due to be published by Bloomsbury, for which he was being paid a large six figure fee given the learning and effort that the book entailed. 

Shortly before publication was due Bloomsbury decided not to publish  Nigel Biggar's work though still paid him the agreed fee.

Bloomsbury may say otherwise but the reason for the decision not after all to publish, appears to be that using common parlance, the book was insufficiently woke to pass Bloomsbury's views on empire, which appear to me to be of the trendy lefty variety.

Fortunately, publishers Williams Collins  stepped in and have published the book:

Like Salmon Rushdie's work, actually finding and buying a hardback copy, would not have occurred to me but for the attitude of those opposed to free speech.

I read Satanic Verses and hope in due course to read, Colonialism a Modern Reckoning.