The book is extremely thorough, which is amazing for when it was originally written (1960). I found it interesting to read the perspective of a man who had actually seen these people or had contact with them. Now, don't get me wrong, this book is not full of opinions and first-hand accounts by the author. It is full of what happened and a look behind the scenes. Most of the first-hand accounts and opinions are coming from diaries and documents that were found after the fall of Germany. The author's opinion comes through at times (calling the bunker a lunatic asylum for instance), but I rather enjoyed those glimpses of his personality. It broke up the more academic information.
I can actually narrow this review down to one word: fascinating. I couldn't believe that so many people could be so disconnected from a sense of humanity. I knew the Nazis didn't value life, but reading some of their memos, plans and testimony from Nuremberg disturbed me. It was also fascinating to see how a lot of it could have been prevented. The number of chances to stop Hitler was more than I even knew about, and it was frustrating. No one was listening at the time, and then it was too late.
Normally, with a book like this, I would feel every page. Longer books tend to put me off, but this one didn't. This is probably the longest book I've ever read straight through, and I turned off the % counter at the bottom of my Kindle since it moved so slowly. I didn't want to be distracted by that while I was reading. I think the author did a great job with this book, and if you're interested in what went on behind the scenes in Germany, with evidence to back it up, this could be the book for you. Good Book!
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