- Unknown Binding: 117 pages
- Publisher: Vivibar Publications (1991)
- Language English
- ASIN: B0006DK74A
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The author became a respected writer and as a young man in Germany held, as he makes clear, right wing views - but not extremist ones that came to be adopted by Hitler and the Nazis. For much of the book, his tone is matter of fact, descriptive of his upbringing. The writing is clear - the book is deceptively easy to read, which makes it all the more of a shock to feel the horror that Haffner himself felt at the way political events were developing. The analysis towards the end of the book is astonishing - inasmuch as it made me realise how this young man understood that his beliefs in decency could be so destroyed - helped by willing ordinary people, who convinced themselves of the 'right' of what was happening. I have never read anything quite so simply convincing to try to explain the reality of Hitler and how people were drawn into acceptance of what took place. I urge readers to sit down with this remarkable book and be transported into pre-war Germany and then be brutally awakened into what happened.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Throughout my adult life, I have often wondered how the Nazis could have come to be so powerful in a country which, to the casual observer, seemed so 'civilised'. How could the German people have been taken in by Hitler, allowing him to become so powerful when most felt he was repulsive and inappropriate? Even more, how could so many of these people then be persuaded to commit such horrendous atrocities in the name of the Third Reich and Aryanism?
Sebastian Haffner will, I think, begin to give you the answer in this book. The Germanic culture is without doubt different form the British and events during and after the First World War were very significant in creating an attitude amongst those who were to eventually 'run' Germany in the 1930s and 40s. How many of us are aware that there was a revolution in Germany after WW1?
Mr Haffner was undoubtedly someone who had enough of a conscience, was intelligent and independent enough to have been able to think for himself when the Nazis were so successfully terrorising the majority of Germans into following them. You will see that he too was very aware of the manipulation, introduced by the emerging Nazi party, to acheve it all.
To be able to read an ordinary man's account of the rise of Nazism was, I found, fascinating. His insights, perceptions and feelings as to why and what was happening around him are rivetting.
Above all, this is a book you can read. Haffner's style is moreish; the more you read the more you want to keep going.
It is only a pity that the book ends so suddenly because he never finished it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am going through a bit of a German period at the moment, but after reading Antony Beevor's Berlin, Michael Burleigh's The Third Reich and now this book, I'm doing it chronologically in reverse. Many non-Germans wonder how Germany was taken in by Hitler and this book is particularly good at describing the country's crazy circumstances of post 1918 (Burleigh's book is good on this too). It's written in an entertaining, breezy style and filled contemporary insight. All three books leave me more sympathetic to the plight of ordinary Germans through this period and even more impressed by the (largely) pacifist and peaceful modern European state...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How Were the Nazis Possible?Why Didnt You Stop Them ?
These are questions asked by the post war generation of their parents.Reading this book may well give them some answers to these questions. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mb Davis
An answer of sorts
This book has been the answer to my main question about Hitler and the Third Reich. I always wanted to know why so many people, some very clever and well read, went silently behind... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Sontee
A memoir with huge explanatory power
Haffner became a well-known historian but this memoir was written in England when in exile and was not published until 2000, after his death, becoming a bestseller. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by Martin White
A 'must read ' book
A contemporary account of life in Germany between WWI and WWII as seen through the eyes of a young, middle-class, law student. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by D. M. Gethin
Germany as the first Nazi-occupied land
Sebastian Haffner gives a chilling account of how, after the exhilarations and traumas of 1914-33, an advanced land fell into the hands of totalitarianism. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2009 by Mr. Terence H. Edwards
"Fantasic educational and effective book"
This book was a revelation to me and helped me understand a time that was a major turning point in the world's history - it helped me to look at how people behave when they are... Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2008 by Mr. R. N. Lock
Agree with the others - a worthy 5 stars
Just to say that I fully agree with the general high ratings for this book, and that I agree with most of the comments that Cyber Vigilantes made
(except that I had not... Read more
(except that I had not... Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2008 by M. W. Ellwood
Fascinating and empowering - a layman witnessing ponerology in action
It is unusual to find such well-written personal accounts that deal with the biggest question of Hitler's rise to power: why did normal Germans become Nazis, kill and wave flags... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2008 by Cyber Vigilantes
An inciteful and very human memoir
Since books on the Third Reich are published by the truckload, it would seem almost superfluous that a simple, personal memoir such as Sebastian Haffner's should top best-seller... Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2007 by Felix Valencia
A gripping account with deep human insights into a fascist takeover
This is a powerful story of the rise of the Nazi movement with scary parallels to modern day events. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2007 by Aeneas
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