Product Description
Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first strategic use of airborne forces in history. The assault began on 20 May, with landings near the island’s key airports, and reinforcements the next day allowed the German forces to capture one end of the runway at Maleme. By 24 May, the Germans were being reinforced by air on a huge scale and on 1 June Crete surrendered. This book describes how desperately close the battle had been and explains how German losses so shocked the Führer that he never again authorised a major airborne operation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A decent synthesis of the facts
This is the second campaign of Mr Antill that I've read and it seems apparent the author reads a lot of secondary sources but does little research into primary documents before writing these campaigns. His Stalingrad coverage was disappointing but with the scale of the Crete invasion being smaller and the requirements less demanding, he has done a better job with Crete. Perhaps I'm too lenient when rating Osprey titles but I do believe authors of most of these campaigns are working under a handicap from a page limiitation and do not expect comprehensive coverage. Overall the author has given a credible story, enough to give a new reader a good understanding of the campaign and can make a determination as to if the reader wants to research the events further.

The introduction was good for the most part, giving Hitler's reasons for invading the Balkans. The key reasons were Stalin's aggressive nature against Rumania and Mussolini's continued attempt at being a conqueror but failing. With Hitler intent on invading Russia, he needed a stable Balkan flank and needed to vanquish the British from stirring up trouble in Greece and Crete. He needed to control the area to prevent further communist spread and protect the oil fields of Rumania. The author stating a primary reason for the invasion was to bring the British to the negotiating table was in error. It may have been a secondary issue but clearly not the primary concern. The reasons for the invasion were brief but adequate to get a base understanding.

The three page chronology was very good covering from Oct 1940 when Italy attacked Greece to June 1941 when the Allies evacuated Crete.
The Opposing Commanders chapter was excellent, giving coverage to a wide array of key people on both sides. I thought it was one of the best "Opposing Commanders" chapters in all the Osprey books. Opposing Forces was good, including the participation of all involved countries and Opposing Plans was pretty good but wished for a little greater detail.
Mr Antill devotes 50 pages to the actual invasion and the coverage was good here as well, giving daily coverage of the nearly two week campaign. The coverage at the four main landing sites for the first few days when the action was the hottest and the outcome still in doubt was very good. The naval engagements were mentioned as well but could have been expanded; the author had room for it. (The key landing sites were Maleme, Souda Bay / Prison Valley, Keraklion and Rethymnon.)

The author provides excellent maps. There were six 2-D maps. The first covers the German Balkan campaign that included Yugoslavia and Greece. He then focuses his attention on Crete with a map of the entire island then drills down to maps that cover Souda Bay and Prison Valley, Rethymnon, Heraklion and the Allied retreat to Sphakion.
There were three 3-D maps that included the fighting at Maleme, Platanios and Galatos. All the maps were very good and the 3-D maps included helpful comments.
In Aftermath, the authors summarizes the costs and ramifications of this costly battle to both sides and for the future war effort. It had a particularly negative impact on Hitler and his Operation Barbarossa. The battle also proved that the Germans were over confident and planned poorly and it cost them dearly.
Overall this campaign has merit and for anybody looking for an overview of this under rated campaign should consider this book. The Bibliography has some commendable choices if further reading is desired.

Mediocre
Nearly all Osprey books start out with some perspective on the relevant battle. This includes some discussion as to how the battle fits into the overall strategic picture in terms of the war, in general, and a particular theater. This book contains no such discussion. There is no mention as to why it was of such importance to the German High Command to expend such resources in such a high risk venture. The book also has little discussion as to what exactly the German strategy was to capture Crete (although the British strategy is discussed).

The book has a fairly good discussion of the leadership of both sides but is weak in its discussion of the training and general condition of the British side although its coverage of the German side is good. The book is also weak as to coverage of weapons each side used, illustration of infantrymen and weapons.

On the positive side, the maps are good, most of the pictures are very relevant to the text and the description of how the battle played out are good.

German Airborne Assault on Crete in WW II
I bought this book as part of my research into a presentation on "The Role of the Glider in WW II", and found it to be well written and not only an excellent historical record of the German assault on Crete, but also providing much descriptive contextual material, and is well illustrated.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a detailed analysis of WW II events, as well as those enjoying war stories as a good read.

Excellent maps, interesting read
Crete 1941 is another solid edition in the Osprey military history series. I bought this one since I am very interested in military airborne operations. The author does a fine job of setting the stage with background material about the campaign, its participants, and the opposing strategies. Then he takes the reader through this interesting operation detailing the various battles that ensued after the initial airborne assault onto the island of Crete.

I rather enjoyed this book for a few reasons. First, as others have mentioned, the maps and graphics are top-notch. The photos in this book are actually pretty good as well. Secondly, I think the author's analysis about this important and somewhat unique operation is on target. The Allies could have held with more timely decision making. Lastly, the book is about the right length. While other battles, such as the Battle of the Bulge, deserve a much longer treatment - this one can be covered in about 100 pages.

If you are interested in WWII history, especially Airborne warfare (in this case the paratroopers are German) then you will find this book interesting, and I recommend it.

quick review of German Crete campaign book
great detail, well written with excellent supporting pictures and diagrams.If you're interested in military history, this is a good book to read. ... Read more

Product Description
This new volume covers development from the VK 45.02(P), VK 45.03(H) to the modifications under design for the Tiger II at the end of the war. All of this illustrated with scale drawings by Hilary L. Doyle combined with drawings, sketches, and photographs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

King Tiger - Excellent Technical Book
Even before the Tiger tank went into production, the Germans began working on the King Tiger. They knew they wanted a longer 88 mm cannon than the L/56 found on the Tiger 1. That meant a larger chassis, while they were at it, more armor protection. No easy task to get a design into production in less than two years, especially if your country is being bombed 24x7. To put the size of the Tiger 2 in perspective, it is as wide as the M-1 Abrams, taller and almost as long. No Allied tank in WW2 could fight it on equal terms. Fortunately for the Allies, less than 500 were produced, they were very underpowered and like many new vehicles, prone to break down.

Thomas Jentz and Hillary Dolye have been researching German tank designs for over 20 years. They were determined to only use original sources to ensure accuracy. This dedication to the truth, along with the high quality of the published material, make this a first rate book. Every single component of the tank is addressed - road wheels, track, chassis, hull, engine, cannon and turret. There are photos, line drawings, cut-aways of the inside and exterior from every view point. Original German schematics have the German and English translation. The Appendix has the statistics, sizes, performance of the engine, hull, turret, cannon. Quotes from soldiers giving feedback or suggestions to improve the vehicle, memos from the manufacturer all help create a superb picture of this massive tank.

This is a very, very good book. I highly recommend it for all armor buffs, WW2 fans, histories who want an exceptionally detailed technical book. I am very glad to have this in my library.

Outstanding resource - a MUST HAVE for the Tiger enthusiast.
There are just some books you MUST have if you're interested in the Tiger tank and its many variants.All of Jentz's books should be considered in this category.This is an excellent look at the technical world of the Tiger II, and it has more than ample text and great photos guaranteed to satisfy.I highly recommend all of Jentz's books on the German Tiger.

Excellent technical history of the Tiger II
Thomas Jentz and artist/collaborator Hillary Louis Doyle have created an excellent technical overview of the development and production modifications of the Tiger II "King Tiger," using only originaldocumentation and actual preserved vehicles as references. There is nosecond-hand information of any kind, and no propagation of postwar myths.There is less pure engineering information than the earlier work by WalterSpielberger (i.e. don't expect diagrams of the inner workings of engine andtransmissions), but the intended audience for this book is clearly themodel-builder. The numerous drawings are to the popular modeler's scale of1/35th, and numerous detail photos will aid the would-be model builder. Incombination with such works as Wolfgang Schneider's "Tigers inCombat," you would have an ideal library on the King Tiger. However,this volume does not cover the Jagdtiger tank destroyer (Schiffer doespublish a two-volume work on this vehicle by another author).

An excellent case study of the Tiger Ausf. B.
This is THE book about the German Tiger II tank.

Thomas Jentz outdid himself in researching every bit of detailed technical information about this historical vehicle. Included in this book are many never-before-seen internal and external photographs of both the prototypes and productionvehicles. There are also pages of detailed technical drawings of the TigerII tank at different stages of it's development and the war.

Althoughdetailed and loaded with technical information, this book has absolutelynothing about the combat and operational history of the Tiger II. There areno explanations about why the various modifications were made and makes itreally hard to casually read the book.

In general, this is a technicalmanual about the Tiger II tank aimed at technical history buffs andmodellers. It is a great supplement to Thomas Jentz's other book about theoperational history of the Tiger tanks. But for the technical drawings,photographs anddescriptions alone, this book is cannot be matched and isworth every penny of it's price. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The Third Reich met its end in the spring of 1945 in an unparalleled wave of suicides. Hitler, Goebbels, Bormann, Himmler and later Goering all killed themselves. These deaths represent only the tip of an iceberg of a massive wave of suicides that also touched upon ordinary lives. As this suicide epidemic has no historical precedent or parallel, it can tell us much about the Third Reich's peculiar self-destructiveness and the depths of Nazi fanaticism.

Christian Goeschel looks at the suicides of both Nazis and ordinary people in Germany between 1918 and 1945, from the end of World War I until the end of World War II, including the mass suicides of German Jews during the Holocaust. He shows how suicides among different population groups, including supporters, opponents, and victims of the regime, responded to the social, cultural, economic and, political context of the time. He also analyses changes and continuities in individual and societal responses to suicide over time, especially with regard to the Weimar Republic and the post-1945 era.

Richly grounded in gripping and previously unpublished source material such as suicide notes and police investigations, the book offers a new perspective on the central social and political crises of the era, from revolution, economic collapse, and the rise of the Nazis, to Germany's total defeat in 1945. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most famous and controversial works by possibly the highest profile historian of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An Exercise in Polemics
As much as I enjoy Taylor's writing for it's own sake, for me, this one was more anti-German rhetoric than serious historical essay. His intrepration of the reforms implemented by the Prussians during the Napoleanic period in particular are invariably viewed in the most negative possible light. For example (and i'm paraphrasing here): The school teacher, the head master, and the professor, became willing accomplises in the German engine of conquest. Really? It's difficult to see this as having value in discussing the Germans of the era, since quite frankly the Germans were actually pretty damned quiet for most of the rest of the century. Certainly in comparison to the French or the British, or hell, the Dutch even.

Aside from this in my opinion faulty analysis, this actually is a fairly good and concise view of several hundred years of history. His grasp of the intricately complex relationships between the HRE and the various independent states is excellent - though even here his pro-Austrian/anti-German bias is a bit too obvious. Still a worthwhile read, if you keep these issues in mind.

A fine rant.
Taylor can be a better writer than he is a historian, and that's what many thought of "The Course of German History."But it's easier to scoff than to point out significant errors.

The book is controversial in part because Taylor argues, in effect, that Hitler and Nazism were logical consequences of German history, rather than unforeseeable accidents inflicted upon Germany.Naturally the debates over responsibility for the Holocaust are affected by whether one agrees with Taylor.

I best remember from this book Taylor's observation that after so many liberal-democratic Germans emigrated (to the U.S. in particular) after 1848, those who were left were naturally the more inclined to practice or tolerate authoritarian governments.That's a good example of the kind of thing you can expect from this book.

Perspective of a German history novice
A couple of years ago, an economist I knew said the following to me "Germans are hard workers but they're easily led." First of all it was difficult to imagine someone as intelligent as an economist would use such a sweeping generalization about a particular ethnic group. But despite the silliness of the statement, I didn't know enough about German history to say anything.

"The Course of German History" covers over a thousand years of German history in about 300 pages. You would think this would make it a shallow overview (which is what I was looking for). But this was by no means an introductory level textbook; it seems to have been written for an advanced student of German history. It is not heavy on dates or events, but rather emphasizes interpretation of events and institutions that the reader is expected to already be familiar with.

Like my economist acquaintance, the book made some generalizations of its own- statements like, "The industrialists secretly resented the Chancellor" or "the farmland policy was a surface manifestation of prejudice against the Slavs".

Now these exact quotes you may not find in the book (I don't want to flip through 300 pages of the point 8 font to find one or two exact quotes). But the examples above are very characteristic of many passages. It made me wonder exactly what were the sources that clued the author in on hidden agendas and secret resentments of entire social classes? It was if the author was psychoanalyzing policies and politics.

In this book, "easily led" certainly did not characterize the German people when we take into account how difficult it was for the various dynasties, landowners, and industrialists to collaborate. The only thing it seems they could collaborate on was military expansion, which was in their interests of the upper classes. My interpretation of this book is that the Junkers, royal houses, and Prussian militarists were consciously avoiding liberalization and democratization at home by occupying the country's resources with military campaigns into new areas.

Unlike England or France, which were moving away from the feudal methods of governance, Germany's upper classes were able to hold onto their status for much longer. Those that wanted democratic reform were either not influential enough or could not cooperate enough to effect change, although there were a few revolutionary attempts. With the Napoleanic wars and the massive emigrations of Germans away from their homeland during the 1800s and early 1900s, Germany never developed the institutions or attitudes that would lay the foundation for a peaceful democracy.

I'm glad others can enjoy the book, but for me- a novice in German history- it was a tedious read.

Fundamental for students of 20c Europe
Taylor concentrates on the influence Germans divided history and expansion into Slavic areas had on their actions toward other nations. Not everyone will like his thesis, but it deserves a hearing. The book, which was long out of print, is well written, making it a pleasure to read. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers lively description and convincing interpretation of the most significant events, cruces and ongoing themes in German history from the end of the Second World War up to the present.

The chronologies that accompany each chapter record the most important dates, facts and names occurring in the narrative. Jürgen Weber`s text supplies the reader with a combination of vivid descriptive history, easily absorbed chronology, and a reliable reference work for the parallel lives of the two Germanies, a product of the Cold War.

Weber describes in a clear and reader-friendly manner the history of Germany since 1945. The narrative begins with the period of the allied occupation and progresses through the diverse developments in East and West Germany up to the Federal Republic of today. The most important events, cruces and ongoing themes of the last fifty years are not only succinctly and vividly presented and interpreted, they are also placed in the context of international political developments. Each chapter is accompanied by a chronology featuring the most significant dates and facts relating to the period it covers. The last chapter gives a summary of what happened after 1990 and on present and future political problems of German reunification. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Commendable work but thesis is dead wrong...
In this massive tome Fischer seeks to place the blame squarely on Germany and Germany alone. However, Fischer's thesis is dead wrong: Germany did not start World War I because it was bent on becoming a world power (weltmacht). Germany was forced into war by circumstances somewhat beyond its control. The so-called "September Memorandum" proves nothing. The fact is that tension had been building in Europe for decades before the war began in August 1914. Many factors influenced Germany's decision to go to war: the European arms race; the alliance system (which ironically was designed to prevent war); Germany's sincere belief that it was being surrounded by hostile powers (Einkreisung). This book is a good starting point but it shouldn't be the only book someone reads regarding who's to blame for World War I. I highly suggest reading works by James Joll, Joachim Remak, and Paul Kennedy in order to get a more balanced assessment of the complex situation surrounding the outbreak of the Great War.

exhaustive exploration of Germany's War Aims in WWI
Fritz Fisher "Germany's War Aims in the First World War" dwells on the tremendous amount of material collected primarily from the archives of the Central powers. It deals with one topic, and deals with it in methodical and exhaustive manner -a continuation of policy of War Aims of the Imperial Germany during the period immediately preceding and throughout the First World War.Germany, only united within the memory of the generation of 1914, was fighting the war not only for its rightful place as a European Great Power, but for a leading, pre-eminent place in the European and by extension the World balance of power. Germany was aiming to displace Britain as a traditional power broker in Europe, unite Austria-Hungary and other Central European powers in the economic and geo-political unit known as MittleEuropa, dominate Russia on its Eastern border and France on its Western.Bethman-Hollweg's (Chancellor for most of the War) vision of the post-war World was Germany dominating continental Europe, and 4 Great Powers (Germany, Britain, USA and Russia) sharing the World. France was to be eliminated as a World Power, Britain as a traditional European Power broker, and Russian desires for the warm sea port of Constantinople and expansion into Persian Golf to be forever denied.

Fisher shows an incredible tenacity, determination and consistency of the War Aims policy from 1914 until 1918.Clearly Germany is to be primarily blamed (perhaps together with Russia) for the outbreak of the war; but once the war started her aims never waived. Germany's War aims were essentially annexationist, aggressive and thriving for world dominance. With France she strived to no less then for elimination of that country as a Great Power, with Britain via annexation of Belgium, to deny it security of an external border and expel it from Europe; and with Russia to annex Poland and Baltic States and thus ensure future economic dependency. One can perhaps argue that by historical irony all this came to fruit after two world wars and 90 years of world conflict; but the verdict is clear that Germany was prepared and carried its policy to the bitter end without much regard of international law, civil liberty, conventions of honor and without much sense of humanity.

Fisher points out that essentially autocratic country, with under-developed democratic institutions, with traditions of Prussian militarism, sense of manifest destiny thriving for world dominance, sense of inferiority and ambiguity about its present position - all those complex causes united in German public opinion almost uniformly supporting the War effort and its government aggressive policies. When the end came, sense of betrayal, disappointment and failure catalyzed the war generation to create the seeds for the second conflict 20 years later.

Fisher's sources are primarily diplomatic correspondence, circular dispatches, minutes of the conferences of military and political leaders, speeches and such. The book is careful to use almost exclusively primary sources; thus ensuring accuracy and lack of bias. All throughout, there is a tremendous care taken by the author not to pass judgment and thrive towards the historical objectivity. It is perhaps a somewhat dry read, but, in my view, essential to understand the motivation of policy which God granted not ever to materialize.

Groundbreaking, Controversial Study!
Fischer's works regarding Germany and the First World War is a must for anyone interested in the events and decisions leading up to 1914 and for anyone interested in historiography.When Fischer unleashed this book in 1961, it created a tidal wave in the German historian community.Germany's Aims... challenged traditional views regarding the origins of the First World War and developed conclusions that were devastating to the reputations and memories of individuals and an entire nation.

The traditional view regarding the causes of the Great War, as explained by prominent German historians on the subject like Gehard Ritter, was that the leaders of Germany felt surrounded by the allied nations and thus entered the war for defensive reasons.Most historians outside of Germany agreed that Germany was not the sole culprit of 1914.The "guilt clause" in the Versailles Treaty is still almost universally condemned.Through an exhaustive study of documents out of Germany, Fritz Fischer comes up with a different--and shocking--conclusion:Germany was to blame.

Here are a few of the ways Fischer drew his conclusion:(1) Fischer considered the authoritarian nature of German society that allowed military forces to take over.(2) He looked at the economic situation that pressed German leaders to seek more annexations or, rather, a "place in the sun"(a Marxian approach not used by more traditional historians).(3) He regarded Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg (a man with plenty of apologists) not as a man who wanted to limit the war, but as a product of the forces who aimed at world power status for Germany. (4) Most importantly, Fischer discovered the "September Memorandum" which spelled out the minimum war aims of the German civilian leadership (to overrun France and spread German power eastward by weakening Russia).

Fischer earned many critics because of his work.One weakness is that Fischer only studied German documents.To be fair, a similar exhaustive examination of the archives of the other belligerents would be an impossible task for any one historian.Fischer's work needs to be seen as a starting place not as a final assessment.The ramifications of this study on Germany are clear:it's obvious Germany was the most to blame for WWII.Having to also accept blame for WWI would be a hard pill to swallow.

One Stop Source
What were Germany's aims in WWI?WWII has completely overshadowed the first war in our classrooms.This work may seem a little much, but it will give one a sense of the causes of German aggression in one complete source. ... Read more

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Product Description
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began the largest and most costly campaign in military history. Its failure was a key turning point of the Second World War. The operation was planned as a Blitzkrieg to win Germany its Lebensraum in the East, and the summer of 1941 is well-known for the German army's unprecedented victories and advances. Yet the German Blitzkrieg depended almost entirely upon the motorised Panzer groups, particularly those of Army Group Centre. Using previously unpublished archival records, David Stahel presents a new history of Germany's summer campaign from the perspective of the two largest and most powerful Panzer groups on the Eastern front. Stahel's research provides a fundamental reassessment of Germany's war against the Soviet Union, highlighting the prodigious internal problems of the vital Panzer forces and revealing that their demise in the earliest phase of the war undermined the whole German invasion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

The war for the Germans was not irrevocably lost in 1941
First ever review, I will hope to add and clarify this later.

The book is first class research, but then stretches to add a grandiose claim to this research, that Germany was basically defeated after the battle of Smolensk.

The book does little to prove this point, only telling the story from the German side.A hypothetical comparison of victory or defeat can only be done when a comparison is made between the two sides. This is just not done in this book. This is like thinking your local pro team is no good ... but compare them to a small college team. now they are world beaters in comparison! Strange that Stahel faults the German generals for not considering the Soviet strength, when he glosses over Soviet weaknesses.

Read Mawdsley's careful review of this work,where he is careful not to support the claim that victory was assured to the Soviets by the end of Smolensk. Instead, read Mawdsley's "Thunder in the East" a true 5 star work!

Far from losing the war after Smolensk, the Germans went on to inflict an overall 8-1 kill ratio in 1941 (p117 from Thunder...). Soviet manpower resources were in no way vast enough to stand this kind of loss rate. This kind of loss was not "bearable", as Stahel say's on p439, given a Soviet 2-1 or or 3-1 advantage in population. Less than 2-1 if this is accurate: [...]

Another problem with Stahel's claim is the hand-waving arguments made in discussing the Kiev pocket and Typhoon. The author credits Hitler with the correct decision regarding turning Guderian south, stating on p438 that Hitler's decision was "certainly the wiser alternative given both the Germna logistical constaints and the dreadful Soviet strategic deployment in the south".

I'm not sure, but look at a map. It would seem that Guderian's supplies would have to come from AGC, around the Pripyat marshes, and then south. Hardly a savings in distance!

Next, given the tremendous early success of Typhoon, no strong points are made regarding the ultimate question in 1941 ... what if after Smolensk the Germans kept going towards Moscow after a refit (like was done after Minsk).Yes, there would have been a terribly exposed right flank, but the Soviet record in mobile warfare in 1941 does not inspire confidence that they could redeploy from the south to successfully attack AGC. If the Russians did turn north, then we're left wondering how AGS would have made the Southwestern front pay for this. True, Viazma would not have occurred, but given Stalin's record in this phase of the campaign it seems likely that Soviet strength would have been smashed with poorly led and coordinated counter attacks against an even stronger German army with far better air support.

Even 1942 presented a chance for Germany to mortally cripple the Soviet Union. What if after the initial success of Case Blau Hitler had continued to stick with the plan? Instead of sending the bulk of the mobile forces into the Caucasus, the Germans instead motored into Stalingrad and put pressure on or even captured Voronezh? The Soviet Union would have been cut in two.

I did enjoy this book, my issue is with the poorly supported claim that after Smolensk the Germans were sure to be defeated. No, instead there seems to be a rush in some more recent books to cherry pick facts to move ever earlier the date for when Germany's defeat in the east was assured. I think Stalingrad, turning point, still deserves this place in history.

21st Century Hindsight Applied to Operation Barbarossa
It should be an opportune time for a fresh narrative history of Operation Barbarossa.After nearly 70 years, Soviet archival material has become available, the distortions introduced by the Cold War have begun to fade, and the Oxford has made the work of the Research Institute for Military History (Germany and the Second World War) available in English.Alas, "Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East" is not it, and the wait must continue.It does not supplant "Before Stalingrad" (D.M. Glantz, Tempus, 2003) or "War of Annihilation" (G.P. Megargee, Rowman & Littlefield, 2006) as general histories of Operation Barbarossa, and adds little to them.

The basic problem is that its approach to Operation Barbarossa is completely anachronistic and is compounded by the use of a framework common to 21st century journalism.Put simply, it can be summarized as follows:1) Operation Barbarossa was a failure, at least in the broadest sense of failing to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union.2) The failure must the fault of someone, who must be blamed.3)The author decided that Franz Halder, the General Staff, and Army High Command must take the blame.The approach then taken is to construct the narrative by using facts and quotations selectively extracted from memoirs, diaries, and unit reports that can be interpreted to imply malfeasance or incompetence by Halder, the General Staff, and Army High Command.

Since the structure is built on fixing the villains of the piece at the start, it permits obvious contradictions to permeate the book.For example, Halder is criticized for both defying Hitler and for obeying Hitler.Well, which is it?Apparently it doesn't occur to the author that differences of opinion on how to proceed can exist in the leadership structure of large organizations.Another example:intelligence about the military strength of the Soviet Union (especially its mobilization capacity) was inadequate, and the General Staff is castigated for its poor performance in this area and that they were willfully optimistic.However, it is subsequently mentioned how the intelligence estimates of the USA and Great Britain predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union in a similar, short time period!Similarly, with respect to German optimism in July 1941, the author does not consider that it could have been justified by how the progress to date aligned with the pre-campaign estimates of Soviet strength and strategy. One needs only to look to the recent United States war in Iraq for a demonstration of this phenomenon, where the exceedingly optimistic claim that "major combat operations" were over was made early in the campaign.Another problem in the campaign was logistics.Traffic congestion, poor road conditions, and the attacks of by-passed Soviet units are cited as creating serious logistical problems in the opening weeks of the campaign, again in support of the general premise that the logistical planning was bungled.But a few paragraphs later, the desires of Hoth and von Bock for a much deeper envelopment are discussed.Clearly, they must not have thought their logistical situation did not preclude this option.Again, which is it?Was there a serious logistical problem or not?By-passed enemy formations were after all inherent to blitzkrieg, and even the fully motorized, logistically unconstrained US Army outran its supplies in the autumn of 1944.These types of inconsistencies and selective reading of the archival resources make this book very frustrating to read.

In terms of perspective on the Nazi Germany-Soviet Union war, although some mention is made of Soviet strategy, this book is basically is in the tradition of previous works written from the German prospective.In a number of instances, it follows "Germany and the Second World War", Vol. IV closely.For example:

"The `chief enemies in any attack' were space and climate; the utmost importance attached to the colossal extent of the territory" ("Germany and the Second World War", Vol. IV, 1998, Oxford, p. 260).

"The report concluded that the principal enemies in any attack were space and climate with the vastness of territory being of the utmost importance" ("Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East", p. 46).

The German perspective taken comes through clearly in the attribution of Germany's defeat not to the Red Army but rather to the loss of "the ability to win the war" (p. 259).This is almost certainly false; given the actual size of Soviet reserves and Stalin's ruthlessness in using them, Germany would have been hard pressed to defeat the Soviet Union even without logistical problems.

Near the end of the book, the author's motivation is clarified; he apparently believes that "Anglo-American readers" have much too high a regard for the German High Command, and he would like to disabuse them of it.This explains the polemical, journalistic approach.The most egregious contradiction in the book is also found near the end:after spending about 200 pages describing the contentious dispute between the Army High Command and Hitler over the priority of Moscow as an objective, it is stated that "From Brauchitsch down this was indeed Hitler's army" (p. 447)!

The best thing about the book is the jacket photograph, which shows Hitler appearing to be dazed and confused, as if he just realized he was in way over his head.For those desiring to read it, I would recommend waiting for the price to fall.

At long last!
At last a book about operation Barbarossa by someone who has done his homework (i.e. consulted the relevant archives and studied the relevant books). In this book, which is a revised version of his doctoral dissertation, Stahel focuses on the battle for Smolensk during the summer of 1941. I highly recommend this book because he lays a lot of persistent myths to rest. Basically his thesis is that Germany lost the Second World War not at Stalingrad, nor at Kursk, but rather in the battles near Smolensk in August 1941. Whether one goes along with this or not is up to the individual reader. I find his arguments most persuasive. Although I already knew many of the facts from the series 'Das deutsche Reich und der Zweite weltKrieg' Stahel adds to them and paints a convincing picture of a country embarking on a campaign which at best it only had a very small chance of winning. In the process he cuts Halder (and a lot of other key German military figures)down to size. There is not much new in this for those who can read German (and are familiar with the ground breaking studies of the Militärgeschichliches Forschungsamt), but it will hopefully open a lot of eyes in the English speaking world.
Why not five stars? two reasons: first of all the price, which is scandalous. It also means that it will not reach the audience it should (anybody interested in the Eastern Front). Second, a minor criticism: Stahel (or his publisher) might have included a few more maps. Although I am familiar with the campaign and have lots of maps myself, not every reader will. There is nothing more annoying than giving names of towns in the text and not show them on any of the maps. Also, it is not an easy book to read and presupposes a lot of knowledge about the campaign. Nevertheless, all in all, this book is a must read for those interested in the Eastern Front, or basically the Second World War in Europe in general.

Clear Understanding of German Failure
One of the best books on the Eastern front to date, if not the best.It provides a clear picture of why the German Army was not able to meet their planned goals much less take Moscow.Stahel spends a good deal of the book discussing the planning for Operation Barbarossa, while the second half of the book focuses on the invasion and the battle of Smolensk.

What is striking is the German high command's complete lack of honesty in dealing with the facts, and does not put the vaulted German General Staff in a very good light.Stahel's research shows much of the facts on the logistical difficulties were never even passed on to Hitler.Later as the campaign unfolds, Stahel shows how infighting between within the German Command, competing egos, combined with the logistical failures lead the Germans to head long disaster.This book is well written, and provides a lot of insight, it is a must read for the serious student of the war in the east.

Easy to Read
I purchased this book a few months ago.I am a regular reader of world war 2 history and have a decent size library including books from Glantz and even a few books from one of the reviewers Munoz who also knows all their is about ww2.I find this book easy to read and the author goes into in deep thought about the German Generals and their preoccupation with personal rivalries and a lot of pre-conceived notions about how this battle will end.What is interesting is the role of supply, tank strength, railroads, and basically the breadth of the Soviet Union.After reading this book or even in the middle of the book you start to realize this"What the heck were the generals thinking along with Hitler?"Good book and I think the author is right on with his material and the role OKH played from Halder, Brauchitsch, Jodl, Keitel, Kluge, Leeb, Manstein, Hoth, Rundstedt and of course Guderian.Worth the $$ ... Read more

Product Description
This book attempts to combine geopolitics, modernization theory and the primacy of foreign policy to provide a fresh perspective on the struggle for mastery in Germany before 1850. Any form of rigid determinism is eschewed; the outcome of this contest was still relatively open in 1780. Nevertheless, the book shows why after the upheavals--domestic and internal--of the revolutionary period, and the geopolitical revolution of 1815, Prussia and not Austria was on the verge of winning the struggle for mastery by mid-century. At every decisive stage along the way, it was Prussia rather than Austria or the "Third Germany" which showed itself capable of socio-economic and (partial) political modernization in order to adapt to external pressures and opportunities.
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To modern sensibilities, nineteenth-century zoos often seem to be unnatural places where animals led miserable lives in cramped, wrought-iron cages. Today zoo animals, in at least the better zoos, wander in open spaces that resemble natural habitats and are enclosed, not by bars, but by moats, cliffs, and other landscape features. In Savages and Beasts, Nigel Rothfels traces the origins of the modern zoo to the efforts of the German animal entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck.

By the late nineteenth century, Hagenbeck had emerged as the world's undisputed leader in the capture and transport of exotic animals. His business included procuring and exhibiting indigenous peoples in highly profitable spectacles throughout Europe and training exotic animals -- humanely, Hagenbeck advertised -- for circuses around the world. When in 1907 the Hagenbeck Animal Park opened in a village near Hamburg, Germany, Hagenbeck brought together all his business interests in a revolutionary zoological park. He moved wild animals out of their cages and into "natural landscapes" alongside "primitive" peoples from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the islands of the Pacific. Hagenbeck had invented a new way of imagining captivity: the animals and people on exhibit appeared to be living in the wilds of their native lands.

By looking at Hagenbeck's multiple enterprises, Savages and Beasts demonstrates how seemingly enlightened ideas about the role of zoos and the nature of animal captivity developed within the essentially tawdry business of placing exotic creatures on public display. Rothfels provides both fascinating reading and much-needed historical perspective on the nature of our relationship with the animal kingdom.

Product Description
Six months before World War II erupted in 1939, Bruno Friesen was sent to Germany by his father in hopes of a better life. Friesen was drafted into the Wehrmacht three years later and ended up in the 7th Panzer Division. Serving as a gunner in a Panzer IV tank and then a Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer, Friesen experienced intense combat against the Soviets in Romania, Lithuania, and West Prussia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Detailed Look at Being a Panzer Crewman
"Panzer Gunner: A Canadian in the German 7th Panzer Division, 1944-45", by Bruno Friesen is Mr Friesen's memoirs of his time living in Germany and serving in the German Army as a Panzer IV and Jadgpanzer IV (tank destroyer) crewman, as well as covering some of his pre and post-war life in Canada.What's interesting about his tale is that he was born in Canada but was sent to Germany by his parents shortly before World War II began as they thought Germany provided more opportunities for a better life.As such, his perspective is somewhat unique ... basically that of a Canadian fighting for the Wehrmacht.

The book gives some very good detail on how German tankers were trained, organized, and fought, particularly with regards to their initial training.As he became a gunner in a tank, he explains what that entailed, partly through the use of excerpts from a translated panzer training manual.He covers his career from the training barracks, to some emergency occupation duty in Italy (due to the Italian government's surrender to the Allies), to eventual deployment and combat on the East Front.

The book is fairly fast paced, and he gives a much earthier description and worm's eye view of what it was like to be a soldier in the German Army than you typically see in most memoirs.Mr Friesen's writing style tends to be a little on the pendantic side, though, and can be a bit dry.However, the author provides a level of detail that is lacking in most similar works, and for this, I recommend this book to those wanting to know what it was like to be a crewman in a panzer and jadgpanzer in World War II.

A Canadian Panzer Gunner
Presented in typical Stackpole fashion, "Panzer Gunner" is the memoirs of a German-Canadian in the German 7th Panzer Division, on active service from 1944 to the end of the war.This was an interesting read for me, as I haven't previously read a soldier's memoir from a German perspective.

This is a full account of the author's time in the German army, having been conscripted at the age of 17, in 1943.The first portion of the book, following the depiction of how the author and his brother came to Germany from Canada, is primarily based upon his military training. He spent time doing the training every army recruit must complete, before undertaking tank driving school.Of course, given the title of the book, we know that ultimately the author became a gunner. Of particular interest is the author's account of gunnery training on which a full chapter is devoted; the text includes reproductions of the pages of a training manual.Prior to serving on the Eastern Front, the 7th Panzer Division was on occupation duty in Italy, encountering various Allied POWs.Of course, this only delayed the inevitable shift to Russia (via Romania as the author delivered some Panzer IVs).

The author spent the majority of his service fighting the Russians; several chapters are devoted to Panzer IV and Jagdpanzer IV actions. Only in the last days of the war did his unit withdraw to the west, finally surrendering to British troops in March 1945. Interestingly, the author states that he himself never formally surrendered, and never spent time as a POW.Wounded in West Prussia, and separated from the rest of his unit, he was medically evacuated to Eastern Germany and finally made his way into the British occupation zone.The final chapters deal with the author's post-war life, both in Germany and when he returned to Canada in 1950 to life as a tyre engineer, and subsequently as an English professor (shades of which come through in the language used throughout the book!).The author never comes across as an embittered Nazi, merely a teenager who fought on the wrong side and was lucky enough to survive what many of his mates didn't.

There are a number of photographic illustrations throughout the book.Unfortunately, many of these are not particularly well reproduced.The author's language struck me as formal, and somewhat dry at times.Despite this, it was still easy to read as the narrative is quite fastpaced. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the many tales of life as a Panzer gunner - not just the combat stories, but the downtime and the training (which forms the majority of any soldier's life.What is that expression? 99% boredom, 1% sheer terror!) "Panzer Gunner" is recommended for those interested in the life of a conscript in the German Panzer Arm.

Panzer Gunner
I enjoyed this book very much. It was a differnt view on one of the most terrible conflicts of present times. I found it very interesting that his Ukrainian Parents sent the Brothers from Canada to Hitlers Germany. Where they were placed with families on Farms. until a time when they were able to serve in combat. It was a book I would reccomend. A very interesting life lived in a very unique way. Not something I would of thought of without reading the book itself. I'm grateful this Gentleman wrote his experience the way he did.

Richtschütze
This book is a very insightful account of a tank crew member in the last two years of World War II. At a time when German Panzers on the Eastern Front operated on a platoon rather than a regimental level, Friesen provides his readers with many details of life in a Panzer IV and a Jagdpanzer IV, including combat. The author also describes in detail the challenges German soldiers were facing behind the front: "Soldatenklau" being only one of them. An easy and interesting read, I recommend this book to anyone who is not only interested in the glorious days of the Panzertruppe but also how it all ended.

Different
An interesting account of the author's experiences in WW2. A different book in many ways: the author's background (born and lived in Canada teenage), the author's style (pedantic style of an English teacher mixed with very crude soldier speak), and the mix of technical information and personal recollections. The books sometimes feels as if it were a collection of magazine articles - most of them quite interesting. It would have been nice to include diagrams for the few engagements described in the book.

All in all an interesting and recommended book. ... Read more

Product Description
Between Dignity and Despair draws on the extraordinary memoirs, diaries, interviews, and letters of Jewish women and men to give us the first intimate portrait of Jewish life in Nazi Germany.This deeply moving picture of an oppressed community looking inward for strength gives us a new way to address the unrelenting question, Why didnt they leave?

Kaplan tells the story of Jews in Germany not from the hindsight of the Holocaust, nor by focusing on the persecutors, but from the bewildered and ambiguous perspective of Jews trying to navigate their daily lives in a world that was becoming more and more insane. Focusing on the fate of families and particularly on women's experiences, Between Dignity and Despair takes us into the neighborhoods, into the kitchens, shops, and schools, to give us the shape and texture, the very feel of what it was like to be a Jew in Nazi Germany.Amazon.com Review
As the old saying goes, hindsight is always 20-20; peoplelooking back on the Holocaust and the events leading up to it oftenwonder why the Jews didn't flee Nazi Germany or why they put up withthe prejudice and degradation inflicted upon them by the Nazis. Fromour perspective, 50 years later, it seems almost incredible that thevictims of genocide didn't see it coming and made little effort toescape. But as Marion Kaplan makes clear in her powerful book,Between Dignity and Despair, the choices were much murkier atthe time. The Jews didn't leave because Germany was their home and hadbeen for centuries; like everyone else, they had responsibilities andcommitments to family, jobs and communities that kept them there. Nor,in the early days of Hitler's regime, could the Jews of Nazi Germanyhave foreseen the terrible humiliations they would suffer or imaginedthe horror of the Final Solution.

Kaplan's sensitive narrative,supported by a host of letters, memoirs, and interviews, aims to givea balanced account of German Jewry under the Nazi regime. Sheconvincingly shows how it was German society (indoctrinated by Nazipropaganda) that dealt the first crippling moral blow to the Jewishpsyche, before any laws dictated their actions. The Jews succumbed todaily humiliations, ranging from little boys being maliciously teasedfor being circumcised to older Jews being treated like social pariah'sby one-time friends who fell easily into the mindset of racialenmity. Hatred breeds hatred; slowly the German populace strangled thepride of the Jews, creating resentment, distrust anddisharmony. Kaplan conveys a poignant, yet subtle message: thefundamental de-facto abandonment of decency and moral civility by thegentile Germans was the catalyst which allowed Nazi leadership toproceed with more aggressive policies that ultimately led to theHolocaust. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Thorough and moving
I read Marion Kaplan's Between Dignity to Despair a number of years ago and am now realizing what a powerful effect it had on me. It was very important to my own research into the 1930s and daily life in Germany. Her approach and scholarship were inspirational for me, and I appreciate her attention to detail and accuracy. I recommend the book for any group, college students or adults, studying the coming of the Holocaust.

Wonderfully informative
This book does a marvelous job of helping us to understand how such a thing as the Holocaust could occur in a supposedly "civil" society such as Germany in the mid-20th century. Kaplan shows us how the deprivations increased so incrementally that by the time people became aware of what was truly taking place, it was too late for many of them to rescue themselves. This book also reveals how the people of Germany came to accept what was happening to the Jewish people among them; even rejoicing in it, and it lifts the veil over our eyes of the day-to-day tribulations endured before the exterminations. Well done.

"Social Death"
Marion Kaplan's, Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) is an in-depth study into the lives of Jewish people in Nazi Germany beginning with the takeover by Adolf Hitler in 1933. She concludes that not only were the physical lives of the Jewish people tormented and taken from them, the pervasiveness of the German government into everyday life led to emotional and physiological death of the Jews.
In developing the reader's mind to comprehend the lives of the Jews, Kaplan gives attention to little known details of Nazi Germany. As spoken about in chapter one, by establishing the Jews as social outcasts, they were removed from the rest of Germany. The new position of Jews in the public sphere affected their private lives as well.Focusing primarily on the role of women in the Jewish household, the challenges of dealing with new laws makes apparent the death beyond that of the physical means. Perhaps most intrusive to the emotional downfall of the Jews was the hostile environment they were forced to live in everyday.Faced with the torturous nature of school, Jewish children became aware of the plight of their families even as their parents tried to hide it from them. The November Pogrom of 1938 stifled the Jews politically, economically, and socially more intensely and more violently that ever before. By the official outbreak of World War II, Hitler had succeeded in massacring the Jews psychologically.
Throughout the book Marion Kaplan makes it very apparent that the destruction of Jews did not begin when war was declared in 1939 but instead in 1933.The affliction against the Jewish people deteriorated them emotionally and psychologically as well as physically.There is concrete evidence proposed in the book such as the staggering number of suicides, and the indifference to death among the Jews. The deceased were not criticized or blamed for their actions, but they were admired and envied signifying the loss of Jewish will to live.
Overall, Marion Kaplan's Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany is extremely well written. Through her frequent use of primary sources, the pain and distress of the Jews is more easily comprehended as the expressions of the suffering Jews appeal to the reader's emotions.Its exploration of little known details of Jewish life in Germany is useful not only to those studying the Holocaust, but also to all people.Kaplan makes it evident that acts of discrimination or the invasiveness into one's private life can profoundly destroy a person's pride.Ultimately, the destruction of the emotional and physiological conditions of people can occur as it did to the Jews in Nazi Germany.

Accurate Portrayal of the results of hatred
Missing in many Holocaust works are the experiences of common German Jews and what daily life for them became like after Hitler's rise to power in the early 1930s. One can read about the Nuremberg Laws or the November Pogrom but one can't get a real feel for how those laws impacted daily life except through memoirs and the testimony of common people. Marion Kaplan's book wonderfully fills the gap between history from the "top down" and history from the "bottom up."
This book makes you realize that stories of hiding and rescue weren't just an occasional thing that's celebrated by Hollywood in such things as Schindler's List, but they happend every day. Kaplan also makes it clear the incredible courage involved in hiding and also the courage of others who hid Jews during Hitler's reign of terror. One bone of contention among historians many times is also how popular were the anti-Semitic measures, with many historians asserting that the population at large really wasn't that bad. Kaplan's book destroys any myths that the German popluation didn't overwhelmingly approve of Hitler's anti-Semitic measures, even if they perhaps didn't see the conclusion of them coming in the "Final Solution." If a German didn't know about the anti-Semitic measures it's only because they willingly didn't pay attention or tried to delude themselves.
One interesting part that Kaplan writes about are the Jews who collaborated with the Nazis in cities as "Jew Hunters," including one Jewish woman who led the Gestapo to over 60 hidden Jews in a single day. Reading stories such as this, perhaps Hannah Arendt's frightening conclusion wasn't so far off in that without the help of the Jews many more could have been saved.
The one drawback to this book is that Kaplan focuses on memoirs and testimony exclusively from women and assumes much about the male Jewish population. This could have been a much better book if she had included memoirs from a wider selection of men rather than constantly referring to Klemperer's book.

Intersection between Jewish and Women's history
In Between Dignity and Despair, Kaplan sought to examine the everyday lives of Jewish people under the Nazi Regime. Many Holocaust historians tend to approach the Jewish history from the male perspective (as men were involved in politics). Kaplan sought to explain the importance of women's roles in the Jewish society and how Jewish women urged their husbands to leave Germany when the Nazi gained power and influence.

Kaplan also sought to explain what it felt like to be a Jew living under the Nazi regime and how they became isolated from the rest of the society. She also explained how by and large Germans participated in this persecution and by this she did not mean physical persecution but social persecution.

She gave special attention to the Jewish women and how the women tried to adapt to their new roles and the new situation. The women were able to provide mental and emotional support to their families when their husbands lost their jobs. It was indeed insightful to see how the women were able to cope and how they were the first group to realize the isolation that took place, mainly because of their interaction with neighbors, store owners, public officials, etc.

I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the Jewish life under Nazi Germany and the focus here is not those who suffered under the concentration camps but the "ordinary people" who had to cope with their new situation. ... Read more

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Access to History: From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany 1900-1945 for Edexcel charts the developments in Germany from 1900-1945 including an examination of:
- the Second Reich: society and governent 1900-1919
- the democratic experiment 1919-29
- the rise of the Nazis
- life in wartime Germany 1939-45

Throughout the book, key dates, terms and issues are highlighted, and historical interpretations of key debates are outlined. Summary diagrams are included to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the period, and exam-style questions and tips written by an examiner provide the opportunity to develop exam skills ... Read more

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The decades around 1900 were crucial in the evolution of modern medical and social sciences, and in the formation of various national health services systems. The modern fields of psychiatry and mental health care are located at the intersection of these spheres. There emerged concepts, practices, and institutions that marked responses to challenges posed by urbanization, industrialization, and the formation of the nation-state. These psychiatric responses were locally distinctive, and yet at the same time established influential models with an international impact. In spite of rising nationalism in Europe, the intellectual, institutional, and material resources that emerged in the various local and national contexts were rapidly observed beyond any national boundaries. In numerous ways, innovations were adopted and refashioned for the needs and purposes of new national and local systems. International Relations in Psychiatry: Britain, Germany, and the United States to World War II demonstrates that any up-to-date history of knowledge and medical practices must take forms of transnational communication and transfer into account. The volume brings together hitherto separate approaches from the social, political, and cultural history of medicine and health care and argues that modern psychiatry developed in a constant, though not always continuous, transfer of ideas, perceptions, and experts across national borders. Contributors: John C. Burnham, Eric J. Engstrom, Rhodri Hayward, Mark Jackson, Pamela Michael, Hans Pols, Volker Roelcke, Heinz-Peter Schmiedebach, Mathew Thomson, Paul J. Weindling, Louise Westwood ... Read more

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Nazi Germany is a succinct general study of the origins and development of the Nazi dictatorship, its impact on Germany and Europe and its consequences for our understanding of German and European history.Tim Kirk focuses on the relationship between Nazism and German society, and covers a number of important and controversial themes, including the social base of Nazism, the role of Hitler in the party and the Third Reich, the impact of Nazism on the everyday lives of ordinary Germans and the relationship between Nazi racial and eugenic policies and the Holocaust.He also examines the role of Hitler and Nazi ideology in the development of German foreign policy and concludes with a review of the many different interpretations and explanations of Nazism.
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Containing documentary and visual sources, this book is a practical work for post-16 history students of Nazi Germany. Practical advice, specimen answers, essay plans and a short contextual introduction to each section are also included. It is written by a teacher and A-level examiner who is also responsible for the book "History at Source: Russia 1914-41". ... Read more

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The formidable economic power and political influence the new Germany is likely to exert in Europe make more desirable than ever an understanding of its past. The latest edition of Carr's classic text and been thoroughly revised and includes a new chapter on the revolution of 1989-90. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Excellent Introduction to German History
For those who teach German History and need a book to assign to students, Carr is still the best introduction. While not as sophisticated as some of the more recent offerings, with its emphasis on political history, it has the advantage of preserving a strong narrative line. Thus it re-inforces lectures and provides the necessary chronological background for other readings drawn from cultural and social history. It should go back into print! ... Read more

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From images of jubilant mothers offering the Nazi salute, to Eva Braun and Magda Goebbels, women in Hitler's Germany and their role as supporters and guarantors of the Third Reich continue to exert a particular fascination. This account moves away from the stereotypes to provide a more complete picture of how they experienced Nazism in peacetime and at war and offers a penetrating account of what life was really like for women living under the Third Reich. What was the status and role of women in pre-Nazi Germany and how did different groups of women respond to the Nazi project in practice? Jill Stephenson looks at the social, cultural and economic organization of women's lives under Nazism, and assesses opposing claims that German women were either victims or villains of National Socialism. Women in Nazi Germany goes beyond the stereotype to present more authentic and comprehensive portrait and includes a fascinating selection of contemporary documents including official papers, memoirs, and articles from Nazi women's magazines. For readers interested in German history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nazi women
Women in Modern Germany is a book for people interested in German History.The book describes traditional and non - traditional roles Nazi set forth for 'Arayan' women.In addition it describes how the Nazi's regimeaimed to control the 'Aryan' women by violating their rights and privacy.At the same time it describes how they prevented `non Aryan' people, Jews, Gypsies,and Slavs to reproduce, by enforcing sterilization.The book ends with the debate whether or not women were victims or villains during the Nazi period. ... Read more

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