Joseph Goebbels was possibly the most dangerous and intelligent member of the Nazi hierarchy, not excluding Hitler himself. Without Goebbels flair for propaganda and spectacular organisation the Führer might never have come to power. It was through Goebbels practical and intuitive understanding of the instruments of public enlightenment that the dictatorship was built and maintained. As the founder of the Reich Chamber of Culture, the Gauleiter of Berlin and the architect of the complex machinery of modern totalitarian propaganda, Goebbels was unquestionably one of the most significantly evil figures of the twentieth century. A remarkable picture emerges of Goebbels mind as a schoolboy, student, lover, unsuccessful author and apprentice in political agitation. Interviews with his friends and family shed light on his character as a young man. This book charts the full trajectory of Goebbels career, showing him at the apex of his power, a master of oratory, a brilliant and cynical showman and a ruthless administrator. Doctor Goebbels also portrays the man at the end, in the Berlin bunker, the most devoted of the Führer s henchmen, committing the last gesture of propaganda of which he was capable: the sacrifice of his life and that of his wife and six children. Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel are the authors of Goering (published by Greenhill Books) and Himmler.
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'A fascinating study of Hitler's confederate and his record hatred' --- The Scotsman
'A serious work of research based on previously unknown material' --- The Observer
'A serious work of research based on previously unknown material' --- The Observer
About the Author
ROGER MANVELL and HEINRICH FRAENKEL are both critically acclaimed authors who received access to new papers of eyewitness accounts of Joseph Goebbels. They also co-wrote Heinrich Himmler and The Men Who Tried to Kill Hitler (Frontline).
--This text refers to an alternate
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By J. E. Parry
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is a great study of the life and work of the Nazi Minister for Propaganda. We follow his life from his beginnings in the Rhineland through his university years and onto his political life. What strikes you most is the fact that he was fighting from his earliest years against the crippling effects of Polio. Yet throughout everything he never lost sight of his aim to be someone important.
In his early life he wanted to be a writer. Unfortunately he was not able to get his work published and had interviews for journalism posts turned down. It was lucky for him that he found a position in the Gau office for the Rhineland. From there his rise for quick and spectacular.
He soon gained the attention of Hitler who recognised some raw briliance in his organisational and speaking abilities. He was then launched on the road to notoriety and death. He was always an anti-Semite, after all it was Jews who prevented him from becoming a great writer. They therefore drew his anger and ridicule from then on.
We follow his rise to power and the important role that he played in turning around the fortunes of the Party in Berlin and then his manipulation of the media to help push the Nazis into power. He is the person who helped to make political campaigning what it is today - not a very good thing to say I know.
After the ascension to power Goebbels' career went from strength to strength until his affair with a Czech actress almost destroyed it. He was an very ambitious and power hungry man and this is shown throughout the book. he dispised many of his fellow Nazis and wanted more and more power but was not granted it until 1944. By then it was too late for him to save the German military machine.
We follow him until the very end when he chose death with his Fuhrer, over life without him. He was intelligent enough to know that the war was lost in 1943 but kept believing in Hitler until the end. He was able to see Hitler's failings but chose to blame them on those around him, such as Bormann, rather on the Fuhrer himself.
The book is actually a republication from the 1960's and is based on eyewitness reports and his own diary entries. There has been more information uncovered since the fall of the Soviet Union but this is a masterly written book. The only shortcoming is that when the diaries run out the story becomes rushed and brief.
In his early life he wanted to be a writer. Unfortunately he was not able to get his work published and had interviews for journalism posts turned down. It was lucky for him that he found a position in the Gau office for the Rhineland. From there his rise for quick and spectacular.
He soon gained the attention of Hitler who recognised some raw briliance in his organisational and speaking abilities. He was then launched on the road to notoriety and death. He was always an anti-Semite, after all it was Jews who prevented him from becoming a great writer. They therefore drew his anger and ridicule from then on.
We follow his rise to power and the important role that he played in turning around the fortunes of the Party in Berlin and then his manipulation of the media to help push the Nazis into power. He is the person who helped to make political campaigning what it is today - not a very good thing to say I know.
After the ascension to power Goebbels' career went from strength to strength until his affair with a Czech actress almost destroyed it. He was an very ambitious and power hungry man and this is shown throughout the book. he dispised many of his fellow Nazis and wanted more and more power but was not granted it until 1944. By then it was too late for him to save the German military machine.
We follow him until the very end when he chose death with his Fuhrer, over life without him. He was intelligent enough to know that the war was lost in 1943 but kept believing in Hitler until the end. He was able to see Hitler's failings but chose to blame them on those around him, such as Bormann, rather on the Fuhrer himself.
The book is actually a republication from the 1960's and is based on eyewitness reports and his own diary entries. There has been more information uncovered since the fall of the Soviet Union but this is a masterly written book. The only shortcoming is that when the diaries run out the story becomes rushed and brief.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars
10 reviews
48 of 53 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thorough But Not Exciting
28 July 2007
By ian mark quinn
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
When you have finished this book you will surely know almost everything about the life and character of Doctor Goebbels. It is intensively researched and thorough. But somehow it fails to transmit to the reader the continuous excitement and drama that characterized the hateful, roiling Third Reich. Perhaps that is attributable to the authors' commendable effort to present this despicable man in a balanced, non-biased form. But all in all a good history book worth the read.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loyalty of a madman!
12 Nov 2011
By R. H. Swenson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel present a very well documented account of Joseph Goebbels which in itself reveals an individual who was driven and blinded by absolute loyalty and a quest for Nazi power. The authors worked from existing remnants of Goebbels diary's and accounts from people who knew and worked with the Goebbels family and Joseph Goebbels himself. The truths behind the historical facts is a stunning, even shocking, account of a very intelligent narcissistic individual who became the driving force of the Nazi Party. It was Goebbels who designed and shaped the great party rallies and was the written and radio voice of a propaganda machine that has been studied and followed by others, but never matched or duplicated. This book then should be read with care and understanding of an individual whose blind loyalty to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi cause made Germany the most powerful country in Europe and yet destroyed Germany completely in the end.
This monograph is a must read for any student of Nazi history to help better understand the inner circle of the Nazi Party and how it eventually destroyed itself.
This monograph is a must read for any student of Nazi history to help better understand the inner circle of the Nazi Party and how it eventually destroyed itself.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dr. Joseph Goebbles was the infamous Chief of Propaganda in Hitler's Third Reich
15 Feb 2011
By C. M Mills
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Lies and deception, cruelty and hatred were the unsavoury ingredients which were brewed in the brain of Joseph Goebbles (1897-45). He was born in Rheydt in the Rhineland to good middle class parents; graduated with a Ph.D from Heidelberg and wrote "Michael" an early novel. Goebbels was an early member of the Nazi Party. The little doctor was a truculent worshipper of Adolf Hitler his beloved "Fuhrer." Goebbels was a rabid anti-semitic Nazi who drove the Communist Party out of Berlin in his role as Gauleiter of the German capital.
Goebbles was a meticulous well organized workaholic demanding perfection from himself and others. It is rumoured that he wore a different suit for each day of the year. He wed Magda Goebbles a lovely divorcee and rabid Nazi. The couple had six children. The Goebbels commited suicide in the Berlin bunker shortly following the suicide of Hitler. The infamous couple poisoned all of their children even though they could have grown up with relatives. Goebbels was unfaithful to Magda conducting affairs with showgirls and movie stars including Lida Baarova the fetching Czech screen idol of Germany. Magda was also, probably, unfaithful to Goebbels. The couple were forced to reconcile on orders from Hitler.
Goebbels was a master of mass propaganda controlling German media from radio to cinema to theatre and opera. His word was law and there was no freedom of expression in the arts during his reign over German culture.
This relatively brief but comprehensive biography of Goebbles will enable the reader to get inside the mind and world view of this cruel genius of oratory and hatred. The joint authors are deceased writing this book in the 1960s. Despite new research on Goebbles this biography is still worth reading.
Goebbles was a meticulous well organized workaholic demanding perfection from himself and others. It is rumoured that he wore a different suit for each day of the year. He wed Magda Goebbles a lovely divorcee and rabid Nazi. The couple had six children. The Goebbels commited suicide in the Berlin bunker shortly following the suicide of Hitler. The infamous couple poisoned all of their children even though they could have grown up with relatives. Goebbels was unfaithful to Magda conducting affairs with showgirls and movie stars including Lida Baarova the fetching Czech screen idol of Germany. Magda was also, probably, unfaithful to Goebbels. The couple were forced to reconcile on orders from Hitler.
Goebbels was a master of mass propaganda controlling German media from radio to cinema to theatre and opera. His word was law and there was no freedom of expression in the arts during his reign over German culture.
This relatively brief but comprehensive biography of Goebbles will enable the reader to get inside the mind and world view of this cruel genius of oratory and hatred. The joint authors are deceased writing this book in the 1960s. Despite new research on Goebbles this biography is still worth reading.
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