The Research Behind Hitler’s War

The Method: Going to the Sources

Most biographies of Adolf Hitler rely on a chain of secondary sources — historians citing historians, each adding their own interpretation. David Irving took a fundamentally different approach: he went directly to the people who were there.

Beginning in the late 1960s, Irving tracked down and interviewed scores of Hitler’s surviving private staff — his secretaries, adjutants, valets, physicians, and military commanders. Many of these individuals had never spoken to a historian before. They trusted Irving because he spoke fluent German and approached them not as a prosecutor but as a researcher genuinely interested in what they witnessed.

The Documents Nobody Else Had

Beyond interviews, Irving gained access to private archives that remained closed to other historians. These included the diaries of Hitler’s personal physician Dr. Theodor Morell, the private papers of Field Marshal Erhard Milch, and thousands of pages from the German federal and military archives that had not yet been catalogued or translated.

The result was a biography that told the story from the inside — from the perspective of Hitler’s own documents and the testimony of those who worked alongside him daily. Whether one agrees with Irving’s interpretations or not, the documentary foundation of the work remains unmatched.

A Worldwide Bestseller

First published in 1977, Hitler’s War became an international bestseller and was translated into numerous languages. The book was praised by leading historians for its archival depth, even as some of its conclusions generated fierce debate.

The 2002 Millennium Edition incorporated additional documents discovered since the fall of the Berlin Wall, including material from the former Soviet archives. The 2026 edition, now available from Irving Books, represents the most complete version of this landmark work.

What Makes This Edition Different

The 2025 Millennium Edition is a premium jacketed hardback with a new picture section and updated footnotes. It combinesHitler’s War and The War Path into a single definitive volume — over 900 pages of primary-source history, from Hitler’s rise in 1933 through the final days in the Berlin bunker.

“Irving has ransacked the world’s archives; his range of sources, published and unpublished, is extraordinary.”
— Professor Sir Ian Kershaw