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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
Book wasn't bad just honestly not what I'm looking to read anymore.
I'm really glad I read this. With all the political talk of people being Nazi's and Hitlers and communists, I decided to take a deep dive into history, to try and gain a better understanding of how these political parties were formed, how they flourished, how they died, and what we can possibly learn from them. I have to be honest, this book was CRAZY HUGE. Overall, I enjoyed it very much and learned things about Hitler and the Nazi party that I didn't know very well, but I'll be honest... it seemed like the author got really bogged down in Poland and never really found his way out again. Still, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a general, historical and DETAILED account of Hitler and his rise to power (and inevitable fall).
The author was a journalist and war correspondent who was present when Hitler rose to power and in later years. Published in 1960, a mere fifteen years after the death of Hitler it is without a doubt a well written and thoroughly researched work of historic literature. Over the years I have read many books about this time some fact and others fiction but none have affected me as much as this. During Hitler's reign of terror the reader becomes well acquainted with how deep and extensive his hatred was. It wasn't just limited to the Jews albeit they were top of his list...but to any human not being of German nationality. Even before he conquered a country he already had plans on how he would cut it up, either annihilate the inhabitants or make them slaves to the German people. If Hitler hadn't been the megalomaniac he was the world we know would not exist in any form. When the end was upon him, one of his last orders was to annihilate Berlin and all it's inhabitants, the people he professed to love he felt were not worthy of his greatness. The order was disobeyed and he died a cowards death taking his hate with him. I do think this is a book worth reading and any questions I might have had about Hitler and the Third Reich were fully answered, also be prepared there are many gruesome descriptive parts included in the book.
Not a weekend read, the audiobook version clocking in at over 55 hours, but definitely a must-read for anyone interested in World War 2 history. Especially good to have a firsthand account of much of the subject matter, the author being a reporter in Germany at the time.
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Nazis sit alongside zombies pirates and sharks as things our culture is obsessed with. There are hundreds of documentaries, movies tv series and videogames about them. You probably think you understand them. That you have the basic gist. I thought so too. You probably learned about them breifly in school as I did. She short version is that they were evil. The problem is that's the only version all the books movies documentaries etc. give you. Except this book. The long version is that they were evil and... and you have to read this book to get the rest.
Took me a looong time but worth every second. This is a masterpiece and deserves 10 stars
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
What a mission of a book. Nonfiction is not a muscle I have developed in my brain. While this is undoubtedly a feat to have constructed and written, it certainly remains a product of its time as well. The author has some really heavy blind spots - calling Hitler a pervert, a short hand for gay men or anything queer, and has a very self admitted (at the start of the book) personal stake and lens to apply to history. Many times his own diaries are quoted. This is really effective because I think the voice crafted works quite well. And the structure… more or less works. But one can’t help but wonder what other blind spots there are, especially when he goes off about vagrants and mocks Hitler as stating he was a great artist, which is hilarious. I mean, you don’t need to imbue further undesirable qualities he has many already, and he devised pretty indisputably effective propaganda, which is… art.
However, when it actually segues into the movements and machinations of the war I think it is really valuable and feels like it is meticulously constructed, holds reinforced conclusions. It collects a staggering amount of information and that particular arrangement of books 3 on, or so, are great. It is so much information I don’t know how much I actually retained, but it effectively shows what is known, what is thought to be known, and some suppositions in very clear and stark terms.
It has been criticized for the thesis of the formation and dissolution of the “third reich” itself, but I didn’t particularly care about that aspect and so had no dog in that race. Whatever reasons of the formation, the death blow seems incontrovertible. Mostly, it’s valuable for a macro perspective during the war. Go to it for that. Turning points and decisions, the dissection feels good to me, a laymen.
However, when it actually segues into the movements and machinations of the war I think it is really valuable and feels like it is meticulously constructed, holds reinforced conclusions. It collects a staggering amount of information and that particular arrangement of books 3 on, or so, are great. It is so much information I don’t know how much I actually retained, but it effectively shows what is known, what is thought to be known, and some suppositions in very clear and stark terms.
It has been criticized for the thesis of the formation and dissolution of the “third reich” itself, but I didn’t particularly care about that aspect and so had no dog in that race. Whatever reasons of the formation, the death blow seems incontrovertible. Mostly, it’s valuable for a macro perspective during the war. Go to it for that. Turning points and decisions, the dissection feels good to me, a laymen.
tense
medium-paced