About David Irving
His Story
In late 2023, amidst a challenging health battle while in the United States, David Irving found himself supported by an unwavering base of readers and well-wishers. As he convalesces in 2024, the outpouring of support underscores the impact of his lifelong dedication to presenting Real History as he sees it, unfiltered and unabridged. Irving has consistently championed the free expression of scholarly thought, challenging mainstream narratives and welcoming diverse viewpoints on his platform.
Irving’s work has not been without controversy. His pursuit of Real History has sparked significant debate, a testament to the provocative nature of his extensive archival research and writings. Yet, it’s this very commitment to challenging prevailing narratives that has solidified his place as a pioneering historian cited by many scholars.
As we look to the future, our mission is to ensure that Irving’s voice reaches a wider audience, fostering robust discussions and encouraging readers to engage critically with history not as “written by the victors”. We invite our community to join us in this endeavour.
David Irving’s journey is far from over. With increased engagement and support, we are poised to bring his extensive body of work to new platforms and audiences.
Focal Point Publications (FPP) began its operations in 1980, created by David Irving’s Focus Group, a small, ad hoc society of Londoners interested in preserving the British way of life. For a while it issued an irregular newsletter, Focal Point, to a mailing list of about five hundred. The group spawned an informal private dining society, The Clarendon Club, which met irregularly until the activities of the traditional enemies of Free Speech made further meetings virtually impossible.
As these pressures began, roughly in 1982, FPP began to take action to preserve what Mr Irving calls Real History. He founded an International Campaign for Real History, conducting a campaign of historical lectures at universities and to public societies, which took him around the world several times. In 1987 an associated publisher in Australia issued the first volume of Mr Irving’s biography of Winston Churchill.
In June 1989 FPP issued The Leuchter Report, a controversial, perhaps even flawed, first forensic investigation of the WW2 Nazi concentration camp site at Auschwitz. In 1991 FPP republished Hitler’s War. The lavish quality of its output has attracted envy. Attempts to silence him redoubled. American publishers came under pressure not to publish US editions of FPP titles.
Ugly pressures were already beginning on the British publishing industry in an attempt to force FPP out of business. Mr Irving’s flagship biography of the NSDAP leader Hitler was followed in short order by his transcript of the unpublished 1938 diaries of Dr Joseph Goebbels, then in 1996 by a full-scale biography of the Nazi propaganda minister and in 1997 by Mr Irving’s history of the post-war Nuremberg trials. The year 2001 saw the publication of Churchill’s War, Vol. II, and the following year, the Millennium edition of “Hitler’s War”.
Despite the continuing pressures to silence him, Mr Irving persists, in what he describes as ploughing (plowing) a straight furrow.
Personal Life
Born on March 24, 1938, Irving is the son of a Royal Navy commander. He attended Imperial College of Science & Technology and University College London and later spent time in Germany working in a Thyssen steel mill to improve his German language skills. He is known for his extensive archival research and has published around thirty books, with notable works including “Hitler’s War”, “The Trail of the Fox: The Life of Field-Marshal Rommel“, and “Göring: a Biography”. He has also translated several works by other authors.
David Irving lived for over thirty years in Grosvenor Square, London, and is the father of five daughters. His youngest daughter is Jessica, while his other daughters are Josephine (who tragically passed away in 1999), Pilar, Paloma, and Beatrice. Irving’s first major publication was “The Destruction of Dresden” in 1963, which became a bestseller. He has also written works only published in German, such as documentation on the 1944 Morgenthau Plan, and continues to work on historical biographies.
"History is like a constantly changing tree."
David Irving
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