Speer: The Final Verdict - Hardcover

Fest, Joachim C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151005567 ISBN 13: 9780151005567

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002

Synopsis

A portrait of Germany's World War II Armaments Minister considers his rise from unemployed architect to designer of the Third Reich's most important buildings, personal relationship with Hitler, and considerable ambition. 30,000 first printing. History Bk Club. Military Bk Club.

About this title

Review:

Joachim Fest remains one of the most acute chroniclers of the dark period of history that is Nazi Germany, and this fastidious study of the Reich's greatest architect is a monumental achievement. What particularly distinguishes the book is the author's even-handedness regarding Speer and his work; as with Leni Riefenstahl, the important distinction between the genius of the work and the ambiguous relationship of the creator with monumental evil is handled with sensitivity. Speer remains an enigma: before he was 30, he had become Hitler's architect, and had transformed the Nuremberg rallies with his 'cathedrals of light' and his gift for stage-management. His spell as armaments minister quadrupled German arms production and may be said to have prolonged the war. There are those who point to his never being part of the Fuhrer's inner circle, while historians such as Hugh Trevor-Roper have described him as 'the true criminal of Nazi Germany'. As a picture of a complex man working in a monstrous regime, this is both compelling and dispassionate.

Book Description:

The last word on Albert Speer, by Joachim Fest, the greatest historian of the Third Reich and the editor of Speer¿s memoirs, Inside the Third Reich, a worldwide bestseller.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0151005567
• ISBN 13: 9780151005567
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432