A Revisionist Reading List

Partly for the bibliographic record, we have begun a preliminary list of some key Revisionist titles and papers spanning several subjects. Although it has been argued that revisionism is as old as history itself, here we will begin with the First World War. The first group of revisionists sought to revise the harsh Treaty of Versailles. That early generation of Revisionists led to subsequent generations who were skeptical of “official” stories, quick to identify propaganda, and determined that cutting through the lies of governments and “official” histories would not only lead to the truth, but ultimately to peace among nations.

In May of 1963, Harry Elmer Barnes wrote one of his most enduring essays, “Blasting the Historical Blackout.”  Barnes essay was a reaction to the recent publication of The Origins of the Second World War by A.J.P. Taylor a trail-blazing revisionist work.  In his essay Barnes described what he meant by the “Historical Blackout.”  He called the Historical Blackout, “the effort which has been made since the outbreak of the second World War to suppress the truth relative to the responsibility for this great conflict and the manner in which the United States entered the war.  This has involved ignoring or suppressing the facts which run counter to wartime propaganda when writing books on these subjects, and suppressing, ignoring, or seeking to discredit those books when have taken account of such facts.”  Partly to honor the memory and the valiant work that Barnes performed to bring history into accord with the facts, we name this collection after his seminal phrase.

The cover of the World War II Revisionist classic, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, edited by Harry Elmer Barnes (Caxton: 1953).

World War One

• Barnes, Harry Elmer.  The Genesis of the World War.  New York: Knopf, 1929.
• Barnes, Harry Elmer.  In Quest of Truth and Justice.  Chicago: Nat. Hist. Society, 1929.
• Viscount James Bryce, The Bryce Report
• Fay, Sidney. Origins of the World War.
• Neilson, Francis. How Diplomats Make War.  New York: Viking, 1916.
• Ponsonby, Arthur.  Falsehood in Wartime.  New York: Dutton, 1929.

World War Two

• Barnes, Harry Elmer (editor). Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton, 1953.
• Barnes, Harry Elmer. Revisionism and the Promotion of Peace
• Buchanan, Patrick J. Churchill, Hitler and “the Unnecessary War”: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World. New York: Crown Publishers, 2008. 
• Chamberlin, William H. America's Second Crusade.  Chicago: Regnery, 1950.
• Current, Richard.  Secretary Stimson: A Study in Statecraft.  New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press 1954.
• Flynn, John T. As We Go Marching.  New York: Doubleday, 1944.
• Grenfell, Russell.  Unconditional Hatred.  New York: Devin-Adair, 1953.
• Hoffman, Joachim. Stalin's War of Extermination 1941-1945. Capshaw, Alabama: Theses & Dissertations Press, 2001.
• Irving, David. Hitler's War. London: Focal Point Publications, 1991.
• Kollerstrom, Nicholas. How Britain Pioneered City Bombing
• Martin, James J. American Liberalism and World Politics 1931-1941. New York: Devin-Adair, 1964.
• Marcellus, Thomas. The Tradition of Historical Revisionism
• Neilson, Francis.  The Makers of War.  Appleton, Wisc: CC. Nelson Pub. Co., 1950.
• Sanborn, Frederic R. Design for War. New York: Devin-Adair, 1951.
• Suvorov, Viktor. Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War? London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd., 1990.
• Topitsch, Ernst. Stalin's War: A Radical New Theory of the Origins of the Second World War.  London: Fourth Estate, 1987.
• Utley, Freda.  The High Cost of Vengeance.  Chicago: Regnery, 1949.
• Veale, F.J.P. Advance to Barbarism.  London: Thompson & Smith 1948.
• von Muralt, Leonard. From Versailles to Potsdam. Hinsdale, Illinois: Henry Regnery, 1948.
• Walendy, Udo. Truth for Germany: The Guilt Question of the Second World War.  Torrance, California: Institute for Historical Review, 1981.
• Wormser, Rene.  The Myth of the Good and Bad Nations. Chicago: Henry Regnery,  1954.

Pearl Harbor

• Barnes, Harry Elmer. Pearl Harbor after a Quarter of a Century.  Torrance, California: Institute for Historical Review.
• Martin, James J. Beyond Pearl Harbor. Little Current, Ontario: Plowshare Press, 1981.
• Martin, James J. The Pro-Red Orchestra Starts Tuning Up In the U.S.A., 1941
• Morgenstern, George. Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War.  New York: Devin-Adair, 1947.
• Rusbridger, James and Nave, Eric. Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into War.  London: Michael O'Mara Books Limited, 1991.
• Stinnett, Robert B. Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
• Tansill, Charles C. Back Door To War.  Chicago: Regnery, 1952.
• Theobald, Adm. Robert A. The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor. New York: Devin-Adair, 1954.
• Toland, John. Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath.  New York: Doubleday, 1982.