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

While the initial critical response was harsh, it was the 2000 libel trial that provided the definitive, forensic demolition of Irving's work. Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust scholar, had labeled Irving a Holocaust denier in her book, Denying the Holocaust . Irving, seeing this as an opportunity to vindicate his reputation, sued Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books.