Editing David Irving (section)

===Libel suit===
{{Main|Irving v Penguin Books Ltd}}
{{wikisource|David Irving v Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt}}

On 5 September 1996, Irving filed a libel suit against [[Deborah Lipstadt]] and her British publisher Penguin Books for publishing the British edition of Lipstadt's book, ''[[Denying the Holocaust]]'', which had first been published in the United States in 1993.<ref>{{Harvnb|Van Pelt|2002|p=63}}.</ref> In the book, Lipstadt called Irving a Holocaust denier, falsifier and bigot, and said that he manipulated and distorted real documents.

During the trial, Irving claimed that Hitler had not ordered the extermination of the Jews of Europe, was ignorant of the Holocaust and was a friend of the Jews.<ref>{{cite web|title=David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-irving-hitler-appointed-me-his-biographer-1366464.html|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Johann |last=Hari |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref>

Lipstadt hired the British solicitor [[Anthony Julius]] to present her case, while Penguin Books hired Kevin Bays and Mark Bateman, libel specialist from media firm [[Davenport Lyons]]. They briefed the libel barrister [[Richard Rampton]] QC and Penguin also briefed junior barrister Heather Rogers. The defendants (with Penguin's insurers paying the fee) also retained Professor [[Richard J. Evans]], historian and Professor of Modern History at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]], as an expert witness. Also working as expert witnesses were the American Holocaust historian [[Christopher Browning]], the German historian [[Peter Longerich]], and the Dutch architectural expert [[Robert Jan van Pelt]]. The last wrote a report attesting to the fact that the death camps were designed, built and used for the purpose of [[mass murder]], while Browning testified for the reality of the Holocaust. Evans' report was the most comprehensive, in-depth examination of Irving's work:

{{blockquote|Not one of [Irving's] books, speeches or articles, not one paragraph, not one sentence in any of them, can be taken on trust as an accurate representation of its historical subject. All of them are completely worthless as history, because Irving cannot be trusted anywhere, in any of them, to give a reliable account of what he is talking or writing about ... if we mean by historian someone who is concerned to discover the truth about the past, and to give as accurate a representation of it as possible, then Irving is not a historian.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hdot.org/evans/#evans_6.html |work=Holocaust Denial on Trial: Expert Witness Report |title=Chapter 6. General Conclusion |last=Evans |first=Richard J. |author-link=Richard J. Evans |access-date=19 December 2013 |archive-date=1 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001221945/https://hdot.org/evans/#evans_6.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The [[BBC]] quoted Evans further:

{{blockquote|Irving ... had deliberately distorted and wilfully mistranslated documents, consciously used discredited testimony and falsified historical statistics. ... Irving has fallen so far short of the standards of scholarship customary amongst historians that he does not deserve to be called a historian at all.<ref name="Walker">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Andrew |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4449948.stm |title=Profile: David Irving |work=BBC News |date=20 February 2006 |access-date=2 September 2011 |archive-date=28 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070128005937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4449948.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Not only did Irving lose the case, but in light of the evidence presented at the trial a number of his works that had previously escaped serious scrutiny were brought to public attention. He was also ordered to pay all of Penguin's trial costs, estimated to be as much as £2 million (US$3.2 million), though it is uncertain how much of these costs he would ultimately pay.<ref name="Walker"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/709996.stm|access-date=12 January 2011|title=Irving defiant over libel defeat|work=BBC News|date=12 April 2000|archive-date=14 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714174445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/709996.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> When he did not meet these, Davenport Lyons moved to make him bankrupt on behalf of their client. He was declared bankrupt in 2002,<ref>{{cite news |first1=Vikram |last1=Dodd |last2=Guttenplan |first2=D. D. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/05/humanities.highereducation |title=Holocaust denier made bankrupt |work=The Guardian |date=5 March 2002 |location=London |archive-date=16 January 2017 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116120003/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/05/humanities.highereducation |url-status=live }}</ref> and lost his home, though he has been able to travel around the world despite his financial problems.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dodd |first=Vikram |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/22/irving.humanities |title=Failed libel action costs Irving his home |work=The Guardian |date=22 May 2002 |access-date=2 September 2011 |location=London |archive-date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113133710/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/22/irving.humanities |url-status=live }}</ref>

Irving subsequently appealed to the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales#Civil Division|Civil Division]] of the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]]. On 20 July 2001, his application for appeal was denied by Lords Justices [[Malcolm Pill]], [[Charles Mantell]] and [[Sir Richard Buxton|Richard Buxton]].<ref name=appealjudgment>''Irving v Penguin Books Ltd & Anor'' (2001) [http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/1197.html EWCA Civ 1197] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130414121448/http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/1197.html |date=14 April 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Holocaust denier' loses appeal bid |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1448417.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=20 January 2001 |access-date=26 June 2009 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201000834/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1448417.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The libel suit was depicted in the 2016 film ''[[Denial (2016 film)|Denial]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berg |first1=Sanchia |title=The true story behind denying the Holocaust |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38758249 |access-date=9 March 2025 |work=BBC News |date=28 January 2017 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317205558/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38758249 |url-status=live }}</ref>