Starred review from June 15, 2024
Penetrating biographies of Hitler and 21 other Germans who played important roles in Nazi-era atrocities. Evans, author of the Third Reich Trilogy and other acclaimed books of German history, offers these eye-opening portraits of the heart of evil in an effort to understand what kind of people fell under Hitler's spell. The subjects include the "Paladins," top Nazis such as Hermann G�ring, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels; "Enforcers," such as Rudolf Hess, Reinhard Heydrich, and Adolf Eichmann; and "Instruments," including filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and military officer Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. "What had happened to their moral compass?" asks the author in this robust historical investigation. "Were they gangsters acting with criminal intent?" Were they "ordinary Germans" or "deviants" of some kind? Seeking answers, Evans thoroughly examines each of his subjects' early years, their reasons for joining the Nazi party, what they did in the war years, and their postwar fates. Common denominators include a desire to find someone to blame for the loss of World War I and for the Great Depression, as well as the belief that a strong leader could return Germany to its rightful place in the world. Tellingly, few ever showed remorse for their deeds. Hitler's virulent antisemitism and his charismatic speaking style combined with ruthless opportunism to bring him to power, even though the Nazis never attained a majority of the electorate in a fair election. Hitler's delusion that Germany could fight three much larger powers--the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.--was widely shared among Germans, though its effects were exacerbated by their leader's constant overruling of his generals and the derangement of his later years. The author avoids drawing parallels to any current political figures or movements. A meticulously researched, sobering look at the Nazi era and the people who helped bring its evil intents to fruition.
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August 1, 2024
Names such as Hermann G�ring, Albert Speer, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler resonate with students of the Third Reich. Evans (The Third Reich Trilogy, 2005-10) details these inner-circle lives and their embrace of Nazism right through the regime's 1945 collapse. The great value of Evans' work lies in his examination of the second-, third-, and minor-level characters who also fell utterly under Hitler's malevolent spell. General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb held his religious convictions staunchly but allowed himself to be corrupted with generous gifts from Hitler. Leni Riefenstahl, accomplished actor and director, was the rare woman who broke some boundaries in the ideologically hyper-masculine Nazi leadership. Hamburg schoolteacher Luise Solmitz kept a daily detailed diary from 1905 through the war's end. Conservative and antisemitic, she embraced Nazism till the destruction of her nation became inevitable. Dozens more figure in Evans' biographical sketches, manifesting the ease with which many Germans cooperated or at least failed to object to the regime's crimes. The breadth and depth of Evans' work make this a worthy, person-centered history of the Third Reich.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.