Martin Allen (writer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Allen (b. 1958 in Caerphilly) is a British writer who has authored a number of books on German history. He spent his childhood in Cornwall before attending King's College, Cardiff, in the 1970s.
Contents |
[edit] Questioned works
In 2008, his name was widely reported in the media in connection with the Fenton forgeries.[1] A number of forged documents were found to have been inserted into National Archives files, especially those relating to wartime or pre-wartime events. Forensic analysis showed that some 29 documents had been made much more recently, judging by laser printing of headings, false signatures copied over pencil sketches, and poor grammar and spelling. Some phrases and words used in the letters were thought by experts to be anachronistic for the time at which it was alleged they had been written. Slits had been cut in the paper holes to enable the false documents to be slipped into genuine files with minimum trouble.
Allen relied on the disclosures in those same documents to reveal allegedly new information on Hess, Himmler and the Duke of Windsor. He has denied involvement in the forgeries, but he and his wife were the only people to access some of the files in which forged documents were found. A criminal prosecution was envisaged, and numerous witness statements were taken from staff at the National Archives. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided a trial was not in the public interest owing to the poor health of Allen. The witness statements and reports of the expert investigations are available on the National Archive website, including the Questioned document examinations.
[edit] Works
- Hidden Agenda: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies, Macmillan, 2000.
- The Hitler/Hess Deception: British Intelligence's Best-Kept Secret of the Second World War, HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-0071-4119-X
- Himmler's Secret War: The Covert Peace Negotiations of Heinrich Himmler, Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7867-1708-4
[edit] External links
- Martin Allen - Biography, HarperCollins Canada website
- National Archives on forged documents
- Financial Times article
[edit] Notes
- ^ Paul Lewis, "The 29 fakes behind a rewriting of history", The Guardian, 5 May 2008.