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{{Short description|British author, artist, and publisher (1945–2020)}}
{{for|the basketball player|David Britton (basketball)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name           = David Britton
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| birth_date     = 18 February 1945
| birth_place    = 
| death_date     = 29 December 2020
| occupation     = Author, Artist, Publisher
| period         = 1970s–2020
| genre          = Speculative fiction, Horror
| notable_works  = ''Lord Horror'', ''Motherfuckers: The Auschwitz of Oz'', ''Baptised in the Blood of Millions''
| alma_mater     = St John's College, Durham
| partner        = Michael Butterworth (co-founder of Savoy Books)
}}
'''David Britton''' (18 February 1945 – 29 December 2020)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/britton_david| title = SFE: Britton, David}} </ref> was a British author, artist, and publisher. In the 1970s he founded ''Weird Fantasy'' and ''Crucified Toad'', a series of [[small press]] magazines of the [[speculative fiction]] and [[Horror fiction|horror]] genres. In 1976, Britton and [[Michael Butterworth (author)|Michael Butterworth]] co-founded the publishing house Savoy Books.<ref name="telegraph-obit">{{cite web |title=David Britton, maverick who published the last novel in Britain to be banned for obscenity – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/01/29/david-britton-maverick-published-last-novel-britain-banned-obscenity/ |website=The Telegraph |access-date=14 March 2021 |date=29 January 2021}}</ref>

==Biography==
Britton was a student at [[St John's College, Durham]], graduating in 1969 with a degree in Education.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Class Notes |journal=Dunelm Magazine |date=2015 |issue=1 |page=10 |url=https://issuu.com/durhamfirst/docs/02_dur_alumni_mag_lo_res/33 |accessdate=8 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> In 1976, Britton founded the publisher and distributor Savoy Books with [[Michael Butterworth (author)|Michael Butterworth]], who he had met in the early seventies. At the time, Britton was running the bookshop The House on the Borderland in Manchester.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://thequietus.com/articles/10988-michael-butterworth-savoy-publisher-interview | title=The Quietus &#124; Features &#124; Tome on the Range &#124; Lord Horror: A History of Savoy Publishing }}</ref>

In 1989, Britton wrote ''Lord Horror'' published by Savoy Books, a dystopian horror with a central character based on Nazi collaborator [[William Joyce]], also known as [[Lord Haw-Haw]]. This became the last publication to be banned under the United Kingdom's [[Obscene Publications Act 1964|Obscene Publications Act]] in 1992, with Britton serving a jail term at [[HM Prison Manchester]]. The ruling was later overturned on appeal after a defence led by human rights barrister [[Geoffrey Robertson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/160870252-last-author-banned-obscene-comes-out-hiding-manchester-exhibition-boundary-pushing|title = Last author banned as 'obscene' comes out of hiding for Manchester exhibition on boundary-pushing books|date = 16 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A679016|title = H2g2 - the Obscene Publications Act, 1857 - Edited Entry| date=30 January 2002 }}</ref> Copies of the book which had been seized were not returned.  A graphic novel adaptation of the book also remained banned.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/britton_david| title = SFE: Britton, David}} </ref>

==Work==
Britton was the creator and scriptwriter of the ''Lord Horror'' and ''[[Meng and Ecker]]'' comics published by Savoy. These characters also appear in a trio of novels written by Britton: ''Lord Horror'', ''Motherfuckers: The Auschwitz of Oz'', and ''Baptised in the Blood of Millions''.

"''Lord Horror''," Britton said, "was so unique and radical, I expected to go to prison for it. I always thought that if you wrote a truly dangerous book -- something dangerous would happen to you. Which is one reason there are so few really dangerous books around. Publishers play at promoting dangerous books, whether they're [[Serpent's Tail]] or [[Penguin Books|Penguin]]. All you get is a book vetted by committee, never anything radically imaginative or offensive that will take your fucking head off. Ironically, I think it would do other authors a power of good if they had to account for their books by going to prison -- there are far too many bad books being published!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.savoy.abel.co.uk/HTML/dave.html|title=Savoy People: David Britton}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=March 2016}}

According to [[Michael Moorcock]], ''Lord Horror'' series is the only "alternate history" to confront "Nazism with appropriate originality and passion."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3644962/If-Hitler-had-won-World-War-Two.html|title = If Hitler had won World War Two…| date=11 July 2005 }}</ref>

==Influence==
[[Keith Seward]] has produced a book looking at the Lord Horror stories called ''Horror Panegyric'' which features excerpts as well as a prologue examining the tales.<ref>[http://supervert.com/essays/horror_panegyric/ ''Horror Panegyric'']</ref>

===Publications===
* ''Lord Horror'' (1989, Savoy Books) - Butterworth edited and provided text<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.savoy.abel.co.uk/HTML/lhorror.html|title=Savoy Books: Lord Horror}}</ref>
* ''Lord Horror: Reverbstorm No.12'' (1996, Savoy Books) {{ISBN|9780861300969}}
* ''Motherfuckers: The Auschwitz of Oz'' (1996)
* ''Baptised in the Blood of Millions'' (2001)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, David}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century British novelists]]
[[Category:British alternative history writers]]
[[Category:British comics writers]]
[[Category:Keytarists]]
[[Category:British male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century British male writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Durham]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in comics]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in literature]]
[[Category:Overturned convictions in England]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales]]