Review of Daily Life in Hitler's Germany (Hardcover)

I must agree with with other two reviews of this book about the rather poor text.While it does occasionally bring up an interesting point, a number of its arguments are discredited by a large number of contrasting studies.

That said, what is important are the photographs.Here is the face of Nazi Germany.One of the most frightening pictures was of the young men, students and SA, burning books outside the university in Berlin in May of 1933 (page 94).The expressions of pure predatory joy are typical of ideological "true believers."The thuggish brutality of the SA is brought out in another photo, which at the same time hints at the more subtle evil of the SS (page 90).Pages 47 and 51 give evidence of the deadness, normally seen in revolutionary art, of Nazi high art.An entire chapter is devoted to the Hitler Youth; showing the indoctrination of the young by dressing them the same, having them beat drums, and march chanting political slogans.

Hitler came to power promising to save Germany's middle class, though his base was initially among the prolitariat.In the beginning the laboring class was largely split between left and right.The National Socialists started as a rightist labor union.Attaining power, they outlawed all other unions.While working conditions before the Nazis weren't good,from the pictures, one gets the impression that they slipped even before the Allied bombing campaign.

Buy this book for the pictures and buy "The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945" by William Sheriden Allen (available from Amazon.com) for the text.

Product Description
ritten by historical experts, Daily Life in Hitler's Germany offers a chilling portrayal of the Third Reich to bring Germany's most harrowing era to life. Topics include: -The Nazi indoctrination of children through the Hitler Youth -The subversion of the arts to serve National Socialist ideology -The Nazi obsession with sports as a means of creating a super-fit Aryan race -The role of women in Germany in the 1930s -The fate of those individuals and races who had no place in the Thousand Year Reich. Illustrated with over 270 black and white period photos, Daily Life in Hitler's Germany examines fully how Hitler influ-enced the everyday lives of millions of ordinary Germans.

About the Author
Dr. Matthew Seligmann is an expert on the foreign and colonial policy of Wilhelmine Germany, as well as the origins of World War I. He is the author of Rivalry in Southern Africa 1893-1899: the Transformation of German Colonial Policy, co-author of Germany from Reich to Republic 1871-1918: Politics, Hierarchy and Elites; and co-editor of Leadership in Conflict 1914-1918. He currently lives in Great Britain.

Dr. John McDonald is a former teacher and an expert on twentieth-century European history. He currently lives in Great Britain.

Dr. John Davison is an expert on twentieth-century European history. He currently lives in Great Britain.


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