When Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, the Austrian free speech advocate, asked me to design a cover for her book, I created two versions. She initially favored the first one, based on her description (shown below), but feedback from others suggested it was too intimidating and confrontational, and I agreed. So, I designed another one - milder but still with enough contextual significance to convey the book’s message. This second design was approved by Elisabeth and everyone else involved, and it was chosen as the actual cover.

Elisabeth mentioned the possibility of a book tour in the US soon, so stay alert in case she plans a stop in your town or city.

Truth Was My Crime: A Life Fighting for Freedom

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is a woman caught up in extraordinary times. She has been hectored, vilified, persecuted and prosecuted for the grave offense of telling the truth about the Muslim prophet Mohammed and his “marriage” to a very young child, as related in Islamic sacred literature. She fought bravely in the legal arena through the Austrian courts and eventually the European Court of Human Rights to defend her freedom (and, by extension, the rights of all Europeans) to voice her opinion.

She lost, and her case has exposed the grave danger to freedom of speech—and thus, freedom of thought itself—in Europe and, ultimately, the rest of the free world.

Truth Was My Crime, an updated, revised version of her 2019 book The Truth is No Defense, recounts her life’s odyssey, beginning when she was a young child living in a number of Muslim countries. No stranger to the customs, traditions and doctrines of Islam, Sabaditsch-Wolff is only too aware of its harsh prejudices. Her book serves as a warning call for America and other countries whose cherished freedoms are under attack.

Here is the first version, where Veritas, the Roman Goddess of Truth, is captured, chained, and tormented by little ugly demons. Elisabeth wanted these demons to remain faceless, and I made that version as well, but this one is more interesting. I even proposed a different title to align more closely with this image, and she was open to the idea, but ultimately, we opted for a different design. I still like this artwork, and I'm sharing it here for its artistic merit.

Most Red Square,
You are so nation wide, as Texazistan's little band would say.
Thank you for sharing the work that keeps you away from TPC. The covers are scary, as intended.
Well done.

Comrade J