This book is a categorical refusal of Holocaust deniers and the conspiracy theories they introduced into popular opinion. After a brief overview of the subject, Shermer explains what the effect of Holocaust denial really is. Even though racism and anti-Semitism lead to Holocaust denial, Shermer explains that the issue is really about history, not about religion. He explains that Holocaust denial is an attack on academic truth.
Shermer introduces various deniers and their theories for how such a conspiracy could be accomplished (These people often argue that the Holocaust were just a conspiracy theory done for propaganda or something). He shows case by case that these conspiracy theorists very often have no proof, no academic credentials, and often are guilty of propaganda themselves. As various deniers are categorically refuted with evidence, Shermer elaborates a larger theory of historical belief.
He even mentions the famous Holocaust denier, David Irving, citing the material found on his website and in his books. Shermer mentions that some of the evidence would be actually helpful if explored in the context of historical revisionism, but often the evidence is given after taking the Holocaust denial for granted. That is, Shermer explains that the overwhelming majority of evidence points to the historicity of the Holocaust, beyond the shadow of a doubt, but still there have been pseudohistorical attempts to cherry-pick the data to form a conspiracy theory, then ignoring the vast remainder of data.
