Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial - Hardcover

Evans, Richard J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465021522 ISBN 13: 9780465021529

Publisher: Basic Books, 2001

Synopsis

A Cambridge University professor explores the David Irving/Deborah Lipstadt libel case in detail and asks important questions about ôobjectiveö history and the role of historians in interpreting the past.

About this title

Synopsis:

In ruling against the controversial historian David Irving in his libel suit against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt, last April 2000, the High Court in London labeled him a falsifier of history. No objective historian, declared the judge, would manipulate the documentary record in the way that Irving did. Richard J. Evans, a Cambridge historian and the chief advisor for the defense, uses this pivotal trial as a lens for exploring a range of difficult questions about the nature of the historians enterprise. For instance, dont all historians in the end bring a subjective agenda to bear on their reading of the evidence? Is it possible that Irving lost his case not because of his biased history but because his agenda was unacceptable? The central issue in the trialas for Evans in this bookwas not the past itself, but the way in which historians study the past. In a series of short, sharp chapters, Richard Evans sets David Irvings methods alongside the historical record in order to illuminate the difference between responsible and irresponsible history. The result is a cogent and deeply informed study in the nature of historical interpretation.

About the Author:

Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University and a noted specialist on modern German history. He is the author of In defence of History and Death in Hamburg.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0465021522
• ISBN 13: 9780465021529
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 318