For a man who is on multimillion-pound bail and may be in jail in less than a month, Lord Black of Crossharbour is remarkably upbeat.

Appearing in Britain through the wonders of modern technology, he cracked wry jokes and exchanged banter with members of the public and the press at an electronic signing last night of his recent biography of Richard Nixon.

An audience of 22 paying customers (£3 per ticket) turned up at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, Central London, to hear the 63-year-old former media mogul wax lyrical on Nixon’s presidency and his own troubled personal life.

The evening was not without a touch of irony. Unknown to Lord Black, the screens showing him live from his study in Palm Beach, Florida, were sandwiched between the True Crime and Black Interest book sections.

During a interview with his long-term friend, the historian Andrew Roberts, Lord Black revealed that he hopes to return to Britain after what he believes will be a successful appeal against his convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice. Lord Black, who is awaiting sentencing on December 10, described his intention to continue his legal battle. He said that his legal campaign was not going “as well as I would like, but reasonably well”.

In July after 15 weeks of testimony from 40 witnesses, the presentation of 700 documents and 12 days of jury deliberation, Lord Black was convicted of obstruction of justice and three counts of mail fraud. His codefendants were found guilty of mail fraud. This month he lost an attempt to have the conviction overturned.

This week a confidential presentencing report limited the scope of Lord Black’s fraud to $6.1 million rather than the $32.15 million estimated by the prosecution. This is likely to carry a shorter jail term.

Lord Black, 63, said from his study: “The arguments started against me as a shock and awe campaign, portraying me as a thief on a massive scale, and have gradually shrivelled.”

Despite the prospect of prison, Lord Black said he was confident that he would not be serving a jail sentence. Asked by The Times if he planned to come back to Britain, he said: “We [Lord Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel] expect to return to the UK when this nonsense is over. My wife has been magnificently supportive.”

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