Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Jonathon J. Moore, New Holland, $29.99.
Subtitled the catastrophic impact of the Third Reich, this is an eye-opening read for interested readers. Also provided is an interesting and novel understanding of the period.
A military historian, Moore closely examines the horrific nature of the Nazi regime in all its macabre detail.
Latest research is used to answer many unanswered questions. The book places in perspective “how early racial and eugenic theory developed into the sterilization and euthanasia campaigns which in turn heralded the mass slaughter of the extermination camps. The development and role of the Einsatzgruppen and Police Battalions, plus their role in the holocaust, is also covered”.
“Another unique aspect of the text is its treatment of the military history of the period. It details in several chapters how the promising military potential of the reinvigorated Wehrmacht placed world domination at Hitler’s fingertips. The blunders and catastrophic errors that Hitler made are covered in detail proving, in an entertaining way, that it was his flaws and neuroses that stopped the German run of early victories and turned the tide of the War.”
The book finishes with chapter on the ‘escalating air war over the Reich and the stick end that befell many of the top Nazi leadership’.
In the introduction, Moore says: “… for 12 years Hitler was able to fulfil his demonic vision. In that time countless millions experienced appalling deaths and privations. Had he established his empire it would have been a catastrophic end to hundreds of millions of lives”.
