Historian hits out at 'tough playing' Putin over Moscow move to BAN his books

Speaking to the Sunday Express last night James Holland said the move showed how Russian President Vladimir Putin was like "all totalitarians who tailor history to suit their own desires and means."

In 2013 President Putin ordered the creation of an approved list of history books for all Russian books aimed to “show the chronology of events and their official evaluation”.

Last week at least one region announced a ban on British military historians, including Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad, John Keegan and James Holland.

“Many history scholars believe that these authors mistakenly interpret information about the events of the Second World War, contradict historical documents, and are imbued with the propagandistic stereotypes of Nazism,” said a spokesperson for the regional governor of Yekaterinburg.

Last night James Holland, whose forthcoming book The War in The West, Germany Ascendant will be included in the ban, said:"The irony is that, before 1993, Western historians downplayed Russia's role in the the Second World War. ...