Tag Archives: Nazi

Life and Death in the Third Reich

Posted on October 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Life and Death in the Third Reich© 2009 Peter Fritzsche384 pages A few years ago I read Peter Fritzsche’s An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler, which examined how the Nazi conquest of most of Europe permeated into its culture in … Continue reading →

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Germans: terror and tedium

Posted on November 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

In the past week I’ve read or mostly-read, in the case of The Vampire Economy, two books with a German connection. The first, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, was by far the most interesting of the two. I read this … Continue reading →

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Mephisto

Posted on October 2, 2021 by smellincoffee

Mephisto© 1936 Klaus Mann272 pages I was fortunate, in my time at the University, to have a class with my favorite professor every semester that I was there; he had an enormous command of late 19th century and early 20th … Continue reading →

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COVID Reviews #6 Cleaning Up with gangsters, Navajo, politicians, and so many Germans

Posted on October 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Back in September and early October when I was under quarantine, I didn’t have computer access, so I couldn’t take many notes or write reviews when things were fresh on my mind. I tried to post comments intermittently, but some … Continue reading →

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In the Garden of Beasts

Posted on July 30, 2020 by smellincoffee

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin © 2011 Erik Larson 432 pages In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt needed a man for a post no one wanted to fill: US Ambassador to Germany.  … Continue reading →

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German Resistance to Hitler

Posted on October 14, 2017 by smellincoffee

German Resistance to Hitler© 1988 Peter Hoffman188 pages Peter Hoffman’s research into the German resistance culminated in a 900-page History of the German Resistance 1933-1945, but this work – simply titled German Resistance to Hitler —  is a much smaller … Continue reading →

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They Thought They Were Free

Posted on October 22, 2014 by smellincoffee

They Thought they Were Free: the Germans, 1933-1945346 pages© 1955 Milton Mayer How could ordinary, decent people abide the Nazis for the span of twelve years — to allow a baby born at the NSDAP’s seizure of power to practically … Continue reading →

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An Honourable Defeat

Posted on September 23, 2014 by smellincoffee

An Honorable Defeat: A Hiastory of German Resistance to Hitler© 1994 Anton Gill293 pages          No civilized nation on Earth is as haunted as its history as Germany. For twelve years, one of the worst governments conceivable … Continue reading →

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Field Grey

Posted on September 29, 2013 by smellincoffee

Field Grey© 2011 Phillip Kerr384 pages Bernie Gunther survived Hitler’s Germany and a Soviet prison camp, so when he’s forcefully detained by the American  Navy on the open seas and interrogated, he’s not too much impressed by their attempt at … Continue reading →

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The Plot Against America

Posted on March 2, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Plot Against America© 2004 Philip Roth400 pages Mister Charlie Lindbergh, he flew to old Berlin,Got ‘im a big Iron Cross, and he flew right back againTo Washington, Washington. Misses Charlie Lindbergh, she come dressed in red,Said: “I’d like to sleep … Continue reading →

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