Hitler’s People – The Faces of the Third Reich
(Richard J. Evans, Allen Lane, £35)
Here are two versions of the same review: the one I submitted to Teach Secondary magazine, and the edited one they published.
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The published review
Nearly a hundred years after the rise of Nazism, people still are asking that key question – how could such apparently ordinary, and sometimes even highly cultured people commit such terrible crimes? Evans draws on previous studies into Nazism’s origins and subsequent growth, while pulling in additional material and insights that have come to light since, to produce a highly readable, extremely detailed and well-organised set of character studies that can be examined in any order. Said studies pertain to Hitler himself, his paladins, Nazism’s enforcers and its instruments, with Evans appearing to argue that even the most sophisticated people can become monsters if influenced by malign attitudes, in an era when acting upon those attitudes is actively encouraged. That said, he also notes how many of those involved were additionally motivated by personal ambition and greed, as well as blind adherence to a fanatic.
The submitted review
Nearly a hundred years after the Nazi phenomenon people are still asking the question: how could apparently ordinary or, in some cases, highly cultured, people commit such terrible crimes. Evans draws together previous works on the subject, including additional material and insights that have come to light since those were published. The result ius a highly readable, extremely detailed and well-organised set of biographies. These are categorised as Hitler himself, the paladins, the enforcers and the instruments. Evans’ general thesis appears to be that even highly sophisticated people can become monsters if they are not only influenced by particular attitudes but live in an era in which acting upon such attitudes is enabled. Well, perhaps. Other characteristics of a number of the people involved were their personal ambition and greed, as well as a blind adherence to a fanatic. It is easy to select the character studies in any order.
You will have notiuced that although these reviews are almost identical, my original version includes the phrase “Well, perhaps.”
That makes all the difference.