Denying History – Who Says The Holocaust Never Happened & Why do They Say it?: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It? - Hardcover

Shermer, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520216121 ISBN 13: 9780520216129

Publisher: University of California Press, 2000

Synopsis

Taking an in-depth look at those who say the Holocaust never happened, this text explores the motivations behind such claims. While most commentators have dismissed the Holocaust deniers as antisemitic neo-Nazi thugs who do not deserve a response, historians Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman have immersed themselves in the minds and culture of these Holocaust "revisionists". They have conducted personal interviews with the deniers, read their literature, monitored their Web sites, attended their conferences, engaged them in debate, and even travelled around Europe to conduct research at the Nazi extermination camps. Uncovering a complex social movement, the authors go in deep not only to try and understand the motives of the Holocaust deniers, but also to refute their points one by one. In the process, they show how we can be certain that the Holocaust happened and, for that matter, how we can confirm any historical event.

About this title

Review:

Denying History is a courageous and accessible study of "a looking-glass world where black is white, up is down, and the normal rules of reason no longer apply". Authors Michael Sherman and Alex Grobman have immersed themselves in the conferences, literature, and Web culture of Holocaust deniers; they have engaged the pseudo-historians in debate; and they have visited the concentration camps in Europe to investigate the truth of what happened there. Denying History presents Sherman and Grobman's findings. The book refutes, in detail, the Holocaust deniers' claims, and it demonstrates conclusively that the Holocaust did happen; it also explores the fundamental historical issue in all debates over the truth of the Holocaust: the question of "how we know that any past event happened". Thus, Denying History is a doubly useful book; it sets the record straight on one of history's most terrible events, and it instructs readers in the scientific, logical, and historiographical principles that can help us make wise judgments about history on our own. -Michael Joseph Gross

Review:

"A fascinating look at the way history works that at the same time provides a detailed and convincing answer to anyone who dares say that it never happened. Shermer and Grobman write in elegant, compelling, and jargon-free prose that is a pleasure to read."--"The Bay Guardian

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0520216121
• ISBN 13: 9780520216129
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 330