Published as La Guerra de Hitler by Planeta in 1980 and 1988.
Despite the controversy surrounding his work, Irving's books have had a significant impact on Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic discourse. His ideas have been influential among some far-right and neo-Nazi groups, which have used his work to promote their ideologies.
Además, las críticas no se limitan a la interpretación histórica. La visión de Irving sobre Hitler ha sido acusada de contribuir a la rehabilitación de la imagen del Führer y, por extensión, del régimen nazi. Detractores como el historiador Ian Kershaw han argumentado que el trabajo de Irving representa una forma de "historia basura" que simplifica y trivializa la complejidad de los hechos históricos. Published as La Guerra de Hitler by Planeta in 1980 and 1988
Here is the story behind the book, its central thesis, and the impact it had on the author and the world of history.
This position evolved into outright Holocaust denial. In a landmark 2000 libel trial, a British High Court judge, Charles Gray, found that Irving was not only a Holocaust denier but also an anti-Semite and a racist who had "deliberately falsified and distorted" historical evidence to align with his ideological views. The trial, Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt , effectively destroyed Irving’s reputation as a historian in the public and academic spheres. Además, las críticas no se limitan a la
Irving sostiene que no existen documentos firmados por Hitler que ordenen explícitamente el exterminio de los judíos europeos, una postura que ha sido fundamental en las críticas contra su rigor histórico, según señalan fechas clave en la negación del Holocausto del USHMM . Contexto y Controversia
The book is undeniably well-researched in terms of primary source material. Irving consulted a vast array of German military records, archival documents, and the unpublished diaries, notes, and correspondence of the Reich's top ministers. It is this patina of scholarship that has, for some readers, given the book a veneer of credibility. Even some of his most vocal critics acknowledge the book is well-written and contains a great deal of new and interesting detail. Here is the story behind the book, its
While the book became a bestseller, particularly in Germany, it was met with fierce criticism from mainstream historians. The following points were central to the backlash:
David John Cawdell Irving is an English author born in 1938 who has written extensively on the military and political history of World War II, with a particular focus on Nazi Germany. In the 1970s, he was considered by some a promising, if unconventional, military historian. His 1977 book, “Hitler's War,” was the first installment of his two-part biography of Adolf Hitler (the prequel “The War Path” was published in 1978). It was first published in April 1977 by Hodder & Stoughton and Viking Press, with Avon Books reissuing it in 1990.