Heinrich Himmler: A Life

by Peter Longerich

Hardcover, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

DD247.H46 L65

Genres

Publication

Oxford University Press, USA (2012), Hardcover, 1072 pages

Description

"In this, the first-ever comprehensive biography of the Reichsführer-SS, leading German historian Peter Longerich puts every aspect of Himmler's life under the microscope. Masterfully interweaving the story of Himmler's personal life and political career with the wider history of the Nazi dictatorship, Longerich shows how skillfully he exploited and manipulated his disparate roles in the pursuit of his far-reaching and grandiose objectives. In the process, he illuminates the extraordinary degree to which Himmler's own personal prejudices, idiosyncrasies, and predilections made their mark on the organizations for which he was responsible--especially the SS, which in so many ways bore the characteristic hallmarks of its leader, and whose history remains incomprehensible without a detailed and intimate knowledge of its deeply sinister commander-in-chief"--Dust-jacket.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member BrianHostad

In depth biography of Himmler which spends too much time on the SS as an organisation and Himmler's input in to it's organisation and ideology. It's sometimes difficult to understand what was driving Himmler in his later life and what he did with the SS. For his earlier life where Longerich has

access to Himmler's diaries then there is much more of the man and what wa sshaping him. I feel Longerich suffers in the latter part of Himmler's life from not having a similar source to draw upon and so deals with the SS as an organisation in too much detail, where there is much more documentary evidence to draw upon.

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