David Southwell (born 1971) is a British writer, and the author of several books on

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. He has also written scripts for Independent British comic books.

Career

Prior to full-time writing, Southwell worked as a journalist and as Director of Communications for the British Retail Consortium (BRC). 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 Stephen John Byers (born 13 April 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997, and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002, and was ...

to scrap the

Rip-Off Britain Rip-off Britain is an expression used by some to refer to the phenomenon in which some products and services cost significantly more in the United Kingdom than in other countries, especially member states of the European Union and the United St ...

campaign. In a front-page story in

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

in 2003, Southwell, then a spokesman for the BRC, mentioned that

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

was coordinating with the business community with regard to potential terrorism. 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). He has acknowledged a specialist knowledge and ongoing interest in the

Angry Brigade The Angry Brigade was a far-left British terrorist group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972. Using small bombs, they targeted banks, embassies, a BBC Outside Broadcast vehicle, and the homes of Conservati ...

and conspiracies surrounding the events that inspired

VALIS ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vis ...

. In 2005 he was thanked as an inspiration by

Gary Russell Gary Russell (born 18 September 1963) is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs in other media. As an a ...

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". Southwell lives on a narrowboat on

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in e ...

in London, and married for the second time in 2010. He wears an eye-patch due to the loss of 80% of the sight in one eye.Tweet from official account
/ref> In early 2016 Southwell was a winning contestant on the BBC quiz ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers t ...

''.

Major non-fiction works

*'' Guano Stains Grandma aka Astounding Anagrams'' (with Anne-Marie Forker) - 1999 *''

Conspiracy Theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

'' (with Sean Twist) - 1999 *'' Dirty Cash'' - 2002 *''

Conspiracy Files ''Conspiracy Files'' is a 2006 Discovery Times documentary 4-part television series about conspiracy theories. Episodes (in chronological order) # ''JFK Assassination'': A bullet's bizarre trajectory. A grassy knoll. A suspect shot to death jus ...

'' (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

External links

ENGLISH DREAMING, ENGLISH RAIN
David's blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Southwell, David 1971 births Living people British writers