The Founder
David Irving.
A life in the archives.
British historian, author and founder of Focal Point Publications. For six decades, an archival method — letters, diaries, ministerial papers — has defined his work and this imprint.
"History is like a constantly changing tree — new branches always growing as new documents come to light."
— David Irving
The historian
Six decades. Thirty books. One archival method.
David Irving's career centres on what he calls Real History — primary-source research drawn from the archives rather than from received second-hand accounts. He has published more than thirty titles since 1963, working in English and German, and has translated significant archival material that had not previously been available to Anglophone readers.
His scholarly method — exhaustive archival investigation, cross-referencing, and a willingness to re-examine dominant narratives — has been influential and controversial across the profession. His books are cited in academic literature worldwide, his Hitler biography was debated in scholarly journals, and his interpretations continue to draw strong responses from historians on every side of twentieth-century debates.
After health setbacks in late 2023 during a lecture tour in the United States, he has been recovering through 2024 and 2025 supported by a readership built over four decades — one that has kept his books in print, in circulation and in libraries worldwide.
Selected works
A thirty-year bibliography, in brief.
1963
The Destruction of Dresden
International bestseller on the 1945 raid — translated into fifteen languages.
1977
The Trail of the Fox
Biography of Field-Marshal Erwin Rommel, drawing on private letters and campaign diaries.
1977
Hitler's War
Millennium edition 2002. Archive-grounded biography of the wartime Hitler.
1987
Churchill's War, Vol. I
First volume of the multi-decade flagship biographical series.
1989
Göring: A Biography
Drawn on newly released interrogation transcripts and personal papers.
1996
Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich
Uses diaries sourced from Moscow archives, published in English for the first time.
1997
Nuremberg — The Last Battle
The post-war trials re-examined from primary source transcripts.
2001
Churchill's War, Vol. II
Second volume of the flagship series; Vol. III in preparation.
2026 · Forthcoming
Churchill's War, Vol. III
In editorial — anticipated publication mid-2026.
Personal
The life behind the bibliography.
Irving was born on 24 March 1938, the son of a Royal Navy commander. He studied at Imperial College of Science & Technology and University College London, working for a period at a Thyssen steel mill in Germany to attain fluency — a decision that would shape half a century of archival work with German-language sources.
He lived in Grosvenor Square, London, for more than three decades before moving to his current West London office. He is the father of five daughters: Jessica, Josephine, Pilar, Paloma, and Beatrice. Outside the archives, he has been a frequent lecturer at universities and historical societies on three continents.
The imprint that became Focal Point Publications began in 1980 as a London-based society — the Focus Group — producing an irregular newsletter for roughly five hundred subscribers. From 1982 the broader International Campaign for Real History anchored a touring programme of lectures across universities and public institutions worldwide.
Four decades later, FPP carries his complete body of work plus selected archival editions from other historians. The same editorial office in West London receives submissions, reviews manuscripts, and ships books direct to readers in more than eighty countries.
Read the work behind the reputation.
Start with the flagship titles — Hitler's War, Churchill's War, Goebbels — or dive into the archival editions that only exist because of this imprint.