The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened
and Why Do They Say It?

Denying History takes a bold and in-depth look at those who say the Holocaust never happened and explores the motivations behind such claims. While most commentators have dismissed the Holocaust deniers as anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi thugs who do not deserve a response, historians Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman have immersed themselves in the minds and culture of these Holocaust “revisionists.” In the process, they show how we can be certain that the Holocaust happened and, for that matter, how we can confirm any historical event. Includes an extensive analysis of other pseudohistory claims, such as the denial of the “rape of Nanking”, the claim that Aristotle stole philosophy from African philosophers, the belief that early civilizations were egalitarian and peaceful, the notion that the Phoenicians (or the lost tribe of Israel) discovered America, and many others.

“Convincing … A patiently stunning case that denies the deniers.”

—Los Angeles Times

Deserves a prominent place … especially for its survey of the flaws, fallacies and failings in the deniers’ arguments.

—Financial Times

An inventively thorough treatment … Important … A powerful weapon for anyone who cares about learning from the credible historical record.

—Publishers Weekly

You won’t be able to stop reading this great, gripping story.

—Jared Diamond, author of Collapse

Abridged audio presentation read by Michael Shermer.
Produced by John Wagner of John Wagner Studios.
Copyright © 2009 Michael Shermer. All rights reserved.
Five disk set. Total time: 5 hrs. 30 min.

Download a Chapter for free

In Denying History Dr. Michael Shermer takes on the darkest subject of his career — Holocaust denial — and exposes it for the pseudohistory that it is. In this free audio download from the first chapter, Dr. Shermer recounts how he and his co-author, Dr. Alex Grobman, went to visit Canadian Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, which subsequently took them on a journey that included Auschwitz, Majdanek, Mathausen, Treblinka, Sobibor, and the killing machinery of the Third Reich. Shermer then discusses the free speech issues and why Holocaust denial is primarily an American phenomenon (where it is not illegal as in most other countries), and what it is that Holocaust deniers are denying. He then closes with a dramatic reading from the Scopes Monkey Trial, quoting Clarence Darrow on the importance of freedom of speech, even and especially for points of view that we find distasteful.

DOWNLOAD the free sample MP3 (20MB)