Customer Reviews
Good versus Evil - By: J. Duducu, 05 Jul 2007 
It has been awhile since anyone has written a review for this book so while I guess I am not adding anything new it's worth reminding people that this is an amazing book one that makes you realise how we can all be led into carrying out evil deeds & not even realise it. This is a vital study of the ideology behind Germanyin World War 2 but also & more importantly this is a study into the human condition. It makes us realise how easy it is to follow the herd mentality & how easy it is to turn a blind eye. Powerful & vital this is one of the most important books ever written.
A must-read. - By: M. Warburton, 04 Dec 2006 Gitta Sereny is an amazingly talented writer whoin her book on Speer & her meetings/interviews with Speer himself, tries to unravel the enigma that was Speer. The dance of truth that Sereny & Speer have together is often frustrating & Sereny doesn't hide this from us, but she doggedly carries onin search of the 'real' Albert Speer & by the book's end leaves us to decide for ourselves who this man was, what he really did as Hitler's most trusted friend & confidante, & how culpable he really was for much of the Nazi's inhumane treatment & murder of millions & millions of innocent Jews. An astonishing book.
A study in deception - By: Mr J Tarbett, 16 Jul 2002 This book is superbly researched & thorough. It is also tremendously exciting & sustains a level of analysis which brings not only Speer but the whole of that period into sharp focus. With the new A2 History exams involving synoptic papers which have as their starting the analysis of documentary evidence this book is an absolute must for the able student. Quite apart from Speer's equivocations about the fate of the Jews & his knowledge of such matters, the study offers views on the other key figuresin the story & their roles. The debate about Hitler & his dealings with his henchmen is superbly illustrated. Gita Seregny leaves no doubt about the centrality of Hitler, but opens up very interesting reflections on the rest, especially Himmler & Bormann. The vicious infighting after 1943 is described with great detail & irony.The book pauses from time to time with reflections that cover a whole gamut of other issues.... which themselves are sufficiently penetrating to invite further study. A true piece of academic research & a tremendous readin the process.
As good a glance into the person of Speer as it gets. - By: samuinka-berlin@t-online.de, 31 Mar 2001 Gitta Sereny handles her subject as professionally & thoroughly as she hadin her interviews with Treblinka's last commandant, F. Stangl (serving a life sentence)in Into That Darkness. Her study of Speer, while exploring essentially the same questions, carries with it more dimension because Speer's life & personality had certain further dimension to them than had Stangl's. Whether covering aspects of his relationship with Hitler & toward his own power-jostling peersin the highest echelons of Nazi hierarchy, or Sereny's encounter with the now grown children of those latter & how she finds them coming to terms with their parents' world, the world of their own childhoods, this book provides certain relevant & valuable insights & surprises which should impress the reader. There is no personal fascination paid to Speer, & this thanks to the masterful balance of Sereny's stylein getting to know not only her subject well but his immediate family, for perspectivein reaching the answers to those questions which so drive the study of Holocaust & all forms of Nazi abuse of power.
An attempt to understand the myth and reality of Speer - By: , 28 Mar 2000 
Albert Speer was undoubtedly an enigma & Gitta Sereny tries her hardest to unravel his mysteries. Speer seemed a mass of contradictions, & I finished this book still undecided as to his character. I felt the book presents him as an actor who seldom showed his true face. Compelling. You find yourself willing Sereny to condemn him, but she treats her subject with fairness & respect - whether he deserved it or not. What more could you ask of a biographer?
