"Selling the Holocaust" is an excellent study of how history is presented. While Tim Cole uses the Holocaust as the subject for this particular study what he shows is how history generally develops at various times and in various places.History-at any particular time and place--is a refining and processing of pertinent facts with the cultural values of the existing establishment that creates a `myth' of the historic reality. Different times in the same place or different places at the same time result in varying `myths'.The subtitle of the book--"From Auschwitz to Schindler, How History is Bought, Packaged and Sold"-is most appropriate in expressing this manipulation of historic events to conform to a particular country's existing policies.Cole analyzes six subjects for illustration: the diary of Anne Frank; the trial of Adolf Eichmann; Steven Sondheim's film "Schindler's List"; the concentration camp at Auschwitz; the Israeli memorial of Yad Vashem; and the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C.By exploring each, he shows us that in different places (Israel, United States, Poland) and at different times (post World War II, post six-day war, `80s, `90s) the Holocaust has been interpreted and portrayed differently. The cultural values of each unique time and place determine how we perceive the Holocaust.This is obviously a study of how all of history is revealed. Events looked at in distant places and times acquire different meanings-often at variance with what actually occurred. Writers who challenge conventional history by disclosing the truth are usually criticized as revisionists and are reviled and disregarded by the establishment.This analysis is obviously in conflict with the author's message and with other readers' interpretations. Nevertheless, it relies on six excellent case studies for validation.