Deborah E. Lipstadt

Spellbinding and powerfully written book. Deborah Lipstadt is or was the head of Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. She had previously written Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. David Irving was a prominent "historian," Holocaust denier and anti-Semite mentioned in the book. David Irving proceeded to sue the author under the UK's libel laws, where the defendant bears the burden of proving that the writing was true, and the losing party pays the winner's attorneys' fees.

To illustrate the depths of David Irving's evil he stated, with regard to the testimony of another witness,"I am not just going to annihilate evidence from Dr Roth, I am going to exterminate
it when the times comes." That was particularly vile court testimony in a trial about the Holocaust. To illustrate the level of David Irving's credibility, he testified there were Zyklon B residues in what he testified was a morgue because the gas was present "because the room was used "for fumigating objects or cadavers."

The book details both the excruciating effort for trial preparation, the lurid details of the trial and the aftermath of a glorious victory. It was a hard book to put down. One of the best books I've read.… (más)

The is little doubt that anti-semitism is on the rise, fueled by the explosion of social media and the rising tide of hatred in the U.S. and overseas. This book dives into current examples of anti-semitism and white nationalist violent demonstrations happening in the U.S. and in Europe today as well as in the past, including a long look at Holocaust deniers. I did not care for the book's format, where Lipstadt uses a series of letters to guide her wide-ranging but seemingly unfocused discussion. Anger against Israel's treatment of Palestinians, unjustified fears of Jewish control of governments and the media, even stereotypes or arguments that Jews are better off than other minorities, indifference to aggression against by political leaders like President Trump, the Labour Party in the U.K. and in France, and the failure of Warsaw bloc to acknowledge their complicity in the deportation of Jews are some of the many reasons for this deplorable situation.… (más)