Front cover
Seconds after take-off from Gibraltar, General Sikorski’s aircraft hit the sea. David Irving follows the witnesses, wreckage and wartime diplomacy behind a crash whose cause his investigation leaves unresolved.
Choose format
Physical hardback bookPrinted to order and shipped to your address
Buying ten or more for a shop, library or group? Trade terms →
Printed to order · tracked delivery
30-day returns on physical orders
Secure checkout
Ships worldwide
You can buy this edition without joining. Paid Circle membership offers book discounts; a free account earns reward points.
The flight had barely begun when General Władysław Sikorski’s aircraft plunged into the sea off Gibraltar. Poland’s prime minister in exile was dead; the pilot was the only survivor. In Accident: The Death of General Sikorski, David Irving reconstructs the journey that ended on 4 July 1943 and examines the inquiries that followed.
DAVID IRVING’S RECONSTRUCTION
The investigation moves between the airfield, the wreckage and the witness stand. Guards, divers, ground crew and passengers’ companions supply different pieces of the account. Missing manifests, the aircraft’s cargo, the pilot’s recollections and tests of the flight controls become central questions.
Behind the aviation inquiry lies Poland’s precarious position in the Allied coalition. Irving follows the rupture with Stalin over Katyn, disputes about Poland’s frontiers and the pressure on Sikorski’s government in London.
First published in 1967, the book draws on official proceedings, diplomatic papers, contemporary reporting and interviews. It weighs mechanical failure, pilot error, loading and sabotage theories, while questioning the inquiry’s certainty. The closing chapter leaves the cause unresolved; the book does not establish an assassination.
Hardback, 279 pages, with photographs, aircraft diagrams, a runway plan and detailed notes and sources.
Available in the public research corpus
Research Accident: The Death of General Sikorski with WinstonAsk questions and follow the cited source trail.
Author profile
David Irving is a renowned British historian and author of over 30 books. Known for his meticulous primary source research, he has spent decades in archives across the globe, unearthing diaries, documents, and first-hand accounts that have reshaped our understanding of the Second World War and its key figures.
View all books by David IrvingJoin the Irving Books list and the new 2026 edition is yours in EPUB and PDF, with first word on new editions and source documents. About the book
HardcoverDavid Irving · Hardcover · 494pp
Rommel won fame by moving fast. David Irving follows the victories, supply failures and command quarrels behind that reputation, from France and North Africa to Normandy and his death in 1944. Standard hardback.
Check availability
BundleDavid Irving · Bundle
From Poland to the Berlin bunker, David Irving follows Hitler’s wartime decisions. This set pairs the hardback with the physical Hitler’s War DVD. The book’s Holocaust-denying interpretation requires critical reading.
Check availability
HardcoverDavid Irving · Hardcover · 497pp
Eisenhower had a war to win and an alliance to hold together. David Irving follows his clashes with Montgomery, Patton and Bradley from the planning of D-Day to Germany’s surrender, then into the struggle over how their victory would be remembered.
Check availability
HardcoverDavid Irving · Hardcover · 724pp
Joseph Goebbels turned radio, film and the press into weapons of Nazi rule. David Irving’s biography follows his rise and private life, while advancing discredited claims about Hitler and the Holocaust.
Check availability