Rating: 
Summary: A fraud expertly demolished
Review: When David Irving sued for libel after Deborah Lipstadt claimed he was an anti-Semitic Holocaust-denier who deliberately falsified and manipulated evidence, the Cambridge historian Richard J Evans was charged with examining Irving's writings to discover whether Lipstadt's claims were true. He was NOT, as is often alleged, paid to formulate a case against Irving. He was paid as an independent historian to give expert evidence, and Penguin books (being sued) would simply have to hope his investigation came out in their favour. Had he found Irving's writings to be credible, he would have gained nothing financially by denying it. (I mention this because it often surfaces as an argument for discrediting Evans's evidence.) Evans's findings proved Lipstadt's claims about Irving to be justified, and Irving lost his case in spectacular fashion.Here is Evans's evidence presented in gripping form, beginning with an overview of the controversy, continuing with a systematic presentation of Irving's main claims (that the Holocaust killed only several hundred thousand Jews rather than several million; that Hitler tried to prevent much of the Holocaust, and was in fact unaware of much of what went on; that there was never a systematic attempt to exterminate the Jews etc.) and Evans's evidence that those claims were based on deliberate fabrication, taking us through an account of Irving's testimony in the witness box, and ending with the verdict, including an insightful overview and assessment of the public response to the verdict. Professor Evans very clearly and persuasively demonstrates that Irving's manipulation of historical sources was not merely careless oversight, but calculated and deliberate falsification, borne out of anti-Semitism and a desire to vindicate Hitler.
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