Ebury launches external review of Baños book amid antisemitism allegations

Ebury has launched an independent external review of Pedro Baños’ How They Rule the World, as the PRH imprint comes under mounting pressure to withdraw the book amid allegations of antisemitism.

The review is being led by Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger, author of Antisemitism: What it is. What is isn’t. Why it matters (W&N).  She is reviewing the content of the English and the translation of the original Spanish language editions of the book, the cover of Ebury’s English edition and any other aspects that she feels are relevant to making an overall assessment. On Baroness Neuberger’s recommendation, PRH will also consult with a small number of other independent experts.

Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House UK, said: “This external review is an unusual step, which is a mark of how seriously we view the complaints made and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues involved. We will give full consideration to the review, and any conclusions and recommendations it makes, within the context of our long-held commitment to publish responsibly across a spectrum of opinion and a diversity of voices.”

The initial criticism began last month when British author Jeremy Duns made a series of claims on Twitter about How They Rule the World: The 22 Secret Strategies of Global Power which was published in April. As well as allegations of antisemitism, Duns added the Spanish-language version of the book contains references to the Rothschild family, which do not appear in the English translation. Duns also drew attention to the book cover, which bears an image of octopus tentacles. The octopus symbol is commonly associated antisemitism and was often used in Nazi-era propaganda.

On the book jacket, a PRH spokesman said: “We selected the tentacles on the book jacket to reflect the octopus as a symbol of domination by an imperialist power.  This symbolism has been widely used in political imagery from the 19th century onward by many cultures about their most feared geopolitical rival, which is very pertinent to the subject of the book.”

Following an internal review last week, Ebury said Baños’ book on global power does not contain antisemitic views or any legal concerns and said no action would be taken.

Neuberger told the “Today” programme on BBC Radio 4: “The UK edition of the book is definitely not antisemitic, no question about that. Some people have raised issues with the cover with octopuses on it… they’ve said this is a classic symbol of a Jewish conspiracy thing. I really don’t think that’s fair. I think the picture of octopus tentacles, of people controlling people and all of that, is a well-known back to the 19th century imagery and I think all of that’s nonsense. So I think some of the people making accusations need to say to themselves ‘come on, get a life’.”

However the Rabbi and author said there are still questions to be asked about the book.

“But – and is it an important ‘but’ – the book has been translated from Spanish and edited and 30,000 words have been taken out. And in the 30,000 words taken out there are quite a lot of references – three I think – to the Rothschild family which betray a sort of fascination, that they’re very “powerful” and “secretive”. It’s not antisemitic in itself but it hints at stuff about the Jewish conspiracies: powerful, half-hidden, secretive groups mainly of elder Jewish men, bankers.

“So there are, if you like, possible allusions to some kind of Jewish conspiracy, he’s certainly fascinated by Jews and he likes conspiracy theories… So what I’ve said to the publishers who only approached me on Friday so I’ve only read it, and the English translation of the Spanish is,  I do think there are some questions to be asked about the edits that were made and I think we should look more closely at Banos’ past… So I think we need some more experts to look on this possibly someone who speaks Spanish to make a final call on it but on the English edition, there’s no case to answer.”

The book has sold 447 copies since publication.

American historian Deborah Lipstadt, who previously joined Penguin on a landmark case in 2000, after accusing author David Irving of being a Holocaust denier, has now also weighed in on the issue. She told the Mail on Sunday: “I am disappointed by PRH’s decision to publish the book. Why would anyone want to give voice to someone who is racist? The octopus is absolutely an anti-Semitic caricature, especially when used in relation to finance.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has asked Penguin to withdraw the book, according to the Mail.