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Speer: The Final Verdict (Hardcover)

by Joachim Fest (Author)

3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (27 Sep 2001)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0297646168
ISBN-13: 978-0297646167
Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 16.5 x 3.7 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 765,197 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#13 in Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Historians > Fest, Joachim

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Product Description

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.

Product Description

Albert Speer is the great Enigma of Nazi Germany. Before he was thirty he had become Hitler's architect. Soon he was building the new Reich's Chancellory and had transformed the Nuremberg rallies with his cathedrals of light' and gift for stage management. In 1942 Hitler appointed him his Armaments Minister and Speer quadrupled German arms production, keeping the German Army in the field and prolonging the war. Joachim Fest examines all the phases of Speer's life and work. Precisely because of Speer's contradictions, Fest sees him as representative of the mood and susceptibilities of the German people of the time. In this brilliant and persuasive book Fest argues that Albert Speer's life helps to explain how Germany broke with its traditions in 1933 and descended so far into crime and barbarism. This book is a crowning achievement for the writer who pioneered a new school of biographical writing in the 1960s with his Face of the Third Reich and his masterly Hitler biography, which has become a classic.

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56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good on sources, but no 'final verdict', 19 Dec 2006

By	Moon Cheese - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speer: The Final Verdict (Hardcover)

Alongside the works on Speer such as those by Sereny and Van Der Vat, this biography is simply that: a biography. It is not as thorough as the former, nor as entertaining as the latter. Fest steers a course that although quite sub-textually (and in places overtly) is 'pro-Speer' guides the reader quite swiftly through Speer's professional life.
If Sereny's excellent 'Battle With The Truth' is vast and impartial, and Van Der Vat in 'The Good Nazi' almost swinging the executioners axe in fury, the this is the Biography that Speer, were he still alive would have endorsed. Fest's relationship with his subject began upon his release from Spandau when Fest 'assisted' him with writing 'Inside...' and '... Secret Diaries'. The larger part of this biography is based upon the extensive notes Fest took at that time (recently published in Germany as 'Unanswerable Questions') and this is the books main asset.
However, it fails in that there is no 'Final Verdict' as it claims, and the prose is a little pedantic, to say the least. If you are new to Speer, I suggest Sereny's book. If you are familiar to him, this book is little more than a useful addition to the still expanding Speer 'legend'.

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