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Title: Spandau: The Secret Diaries by Albert, Speer ISBN: 0-02-699501-8 Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company Pub. Date: February, 1976 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (18 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Introspection on the inside of Spandau
Comment: Speer is an intriguing personage in the Nazi hierarchy: was he really the only "good Nazi", as he was called, or merely a master manipulator? I read his "Inside the Third Reich" many years ago and found him to be unafraid of his history in Hitler's cabinet. Although "Inside" was published before "Spandau", the diaries had to be written before he could write "Inside". Speer struggles mightily trying to comprehend his role in Hitler's agenda and subsequent responsibility for its actions. This alone is interest enough, however, Speer's anecdotes about life with his fellow inmates, first at Nuremburg, then at Spandau, give a different view of such historical figures as Goring and Donitz. Speer even manages to humanize the odd and remote Rudolph Hess. Alone of the men convicted at Nuremburg, Speer sought and accepted personal accountability. His writing provides a deeply introspective view of how ordinary men are caught up in extraordinary circumstances. That he sought to understand this in himself was his redemption. The casual reader will enjoy the book for its human insights, however, some passing familiarity with WWII, Hitler, and European politics will add depth to the reader's experience. Speer may have longed for an abiding fame as an architect, but I believe he has built something much more lasting and significant with this work than he could have imagined.
Rating: 5
Summary: ALBERT SPEER'S SPANDAU DIARIES
Comment: This is an excellent book which gives a brilliant account of the day to day life of the Nuremburg men at Spandau. While Albert Speer's thoughts on the 'Third Reich' are interesting, I much prefer his diary entries which incidentally cover his time spent at Nuremburg too. Some entries are only one or two lines long but they make a very sensitive and moving account of himself. I loved reading about the various dreams he had in Spandau (some of which were very vivid) the attitude to him of the other prisoners are interesting too. Referrences to Rudolf Hess make fascinating reading but for a full picture of Hess I suggest that reliable back up information of a sympathetic nature be read as well such as the book by one time Spandau Director Colonel Eugene Bird (The Lonliest Man In The World) now sadly out of print but worth seeking second hand through the internet. Albert Speer could not have known that Rudolf Hess was genuinely ill with an undetected stomach ulcer when he wrote how Hess complained so much of being in pain. The reality of Hess's very real illness was only discovered after Speer had been released from Spandau. The book also highlights the sometimes harsh treatment meted out to Rudolf Hess. The diary entries show a sensitive and intelligent man who wondered how he was going to get through his 20 year sentence. It is an extremely human and moving account and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Third Reich and in particular anyone who is seeking to know what the men at Spandau were really like and who are willing to put any pre-conceived prejudices they may have or have heard about Nazi's aside.
A brilliant read!
Louise Brown
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating account
Comment: What a good story. I couldn't put the book down. I recommend that you read a book on the Nuremberg trials (Persico's is a good one) before plunging into Speer's diary. Speer wrote his diary while paying his 20 years sentence at Spandau prison for his responsibility as one of the leaders of the Thirch Reich.
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Title: INSIDE THE THIRD REICH by Albert Speer ISBN: 0684829495 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Albert Speer : His Battle with Truth by Gitta Sereny ISBN: 0679768122 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 29 October, 1996 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Speer: The Final Verdict by Joachim Fest, Ewald Osers, Alexandra Dring ISBN: 0151005567 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 09 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Nuremberg Diary by Gustave M. Gilbert ISBN: 0306806614 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.50 |
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Title: The Good Nazi: The Life and Lies of Albert Speer by Dan Van Der Vat, Dan Van Der Vat, Vat Dan Van Der, Dan Vandervat ISBN: 0395924944 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 21 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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