This work investigates the critical question of how information regarding the Nazi genocide of European Jewry was disseminated and received by international actors between 1941 and 1945. Walter Laqueur, a historian specializing in modern European history and political extremism, utilizes newly accessible archival documents and primary source materials to reconstruct the timeline of awareness. He argues that the 'Final Solution' was not a hidden event but an open secret, and he examines the psychological and political factors that led to widespread disbelief and inaction among Allied governments and Jewish leadership.

Historians and scholars frequently cite this text as a foundational study on the sociology of information and the failure of international response during the Holocaust. Readers often note the academic density of the prose and the sobering nature of the evidence presented regarding institutional indifference.