BOOK REVIEW
It's taken longer than expected, but I have now completed my first reading of 'Hitler's Hangman, The Life of Heydrich'.
This is a scholarly work, meticulously bringing together many sources of information, dissecting and telling the story of Heydrich's life and times, including the dramatic assassination attempt in 1942 from which he died days later.
Second only to Himmler's terror lead in the Nazi hierarchy, the development of evil within the man Heydrich is clear. At the same time the reader is insightly rewarded, yes horrified, with some understanding of how things were and how things developed as the fascist regime became the most fearful killing machine of the 20th century.
Gerwath includes 100 pages of notes, bibliography and indexation in this book. There are many finer details to pour over and this 2011 work is surely the standard for reading about this character and his place in Germany before and during WWII.
To cap off my reading I watched 'The Man With The Iron Heart' (2017), IMDB rating 6.4, available on BBC iPlayer for the next month. The film picks off some key highlights of Heydrich's life and is watchable for its tense drama.
To compare this film to the book would be like trying to imagine what a single Harry Potter film might convey to someone who has read all the books in J K Rowling's Harry Potter saga. You simply have to read the book.
On Amazon: Hitler's Hangman, The Life of Heydrich.
No comments:
Post a Comment