A daunting mission. From the start it is clear that serious problems lurk behind the noble motives she proclaims. For one thing, although she pretends to search for the truth she refuses to debate deniers. Now she will confront their ideas, but not debate them. But she insists that no one should debate deniers.
Any good discussion is a debate, that is, a grappling with contending views.
The useful thing about a formal debate, of course, is that, by its very nature, participants can immediately respond, one to the other. We are expected simply to trust Lipstadt to tell us the truth. Lipstadt, the anti-denier, herself denies deniers the opportunity to answer her. However accurate or mistaken Holocaust revisionists may be, dishonest they are not. It is precisely because revisionists have been so clear and forthcoming with their views that she is able so easily and so vehemently to take issue with them.