Irving, David

(1938– )

   A specialist in the military history of World War II, Irving’s books on Nazi Germany have proved highly controversial due to allegations against him of undue sympathy for the Third Reich, anti-Semitism, and his involvement in the Holocaust denial movement. Irving has been described as the most skillful preacher of Holocaust denial in the world. He is the author of 30 books, including The Destruction of Dresden (1963), Hitler’s War (1977), and Goebbels-Mastermind of the Third Reich (1996).

   Irving’s reputation as a historian was widely discredited after he brought an unsuccessful libel case against American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books in 1996. During the trial, an English court found that Irving was an “active Holocaust denier,” as well as an anti-Semite and racist, and that he “associates with right-wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism.”