The Devil's Disciples: Hitler's Inner Circle

Anthony Read

W. W. Norton & Company, 2004 - History - 984 pages

The Nazi Regime was essentially a religious cult relying on the hypnotic personality of Adolf Hitler, and it was fated to die with him. But while it lasted, his closest lieutenants competed ferociously for power and position as his chosen successor. This peculiar leadership dynamic resulted in millions of deaths and some of the worst excesses of World War II. The Devil's Disciples is the first major book for a general readership to examine those lieutenants, not only as individuals but also as a group. It focuses on the three most important Nazi paladins-Göring, Goebbels, and Himmler-with their nearest rivals-Bormann, Speer, and Ribbentrop-in close attendance. Others who were removed in various ways-like Gregor Strasser, Ernst Röhm, Heydrich, and Hess-play supporting roles. Making the fullest use of diaries, documents, and memoirs, The Devil's Disciples offers fresh insights into their characters and their relationships to one another and to Hitler. Perceptive, illuminating, and grandly ambitious, The Devil's Disciples is above all a powerful chronological narrative, showing how the personalities of Hitler's inner circle developed and how their jealousies and constant intrigues affected the regime, the war, and Hitler himself. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Nazi period, or the workings of a dictatorship.

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THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLES: The Lives and Times of Hitler's Inner Circle

User Review  - Kirkus

Hermann Göring to Heinrich Himmler, April 1945: "Herr Reich Marshal . . . if anything should prevent you from succeeding the Führer—say you are eliminated—can I have the position?"Adolf Hitler may ...

Detailed account of Hitler's inner circle

User Review  - Borders

This book provides a very detailed and fascinating account of the lives of the men in Hitler's inner circle, from childhood to the final days in the bunker underneath the Reichstag. It is an important ...

Contents

• PROLOGUE: 1
• ROOTS 19181923: 11
• OUR TIME WILL COME AGAIN: 13
• IF ONLY THERE COULD BE FIGHTING AGAIN: 39
• FIGHTING THE NOVEMBER CRIMINALS: 61
• BEER HALL REVOLUTION: 85
• THE YEARS OF STRUGGLE 19241933: 103
• REGROUPING: 105
• A STAR IN THE MAKING: 126
• CHIEF BANDIT OF BERLIN: 154
• WE COME AS ENEMIES: 176
• SSMAN YOUR LOYALTY IS YOUR HONOUR: 202
• NOW THE CHESS GAME FOR POWER BEGINS: 223
• THE TURNING POINT: 248
• POWER AND REVOLUTION 19331936: 273
• POWER: 275
• COORDINATION: 292
• THE END OF THE BROWN REVOLUTION: 317
• NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES: 345
• WE ALWAYS APPROVE EVERYTHING OUR FUHRER DOES: 375
• THE FOURYEAR PLAN: 404
• EXPANSION THE GREATER GERMAN REICH 19371939: 429
• THE BLOMBERGFRITSCH AFFAIR: 431
• ANSCHLUSS: 456
• THE SUDETENLAND CRISIS: 480
• KRISTALLNACHT: 505
• ILL COOK THEM A STEW THAT THEYLL CHOKE ON: 528
• I HAVE THE WORLD IN MY POCKET: 554
• IF WE LOSE THIS WAR THEN GOD HAVE MERCY ON US: 574
• WAR GERMANY TRIUMPHANT: 593
• BLITZKRIEG: 595
• YELLOW: 614
• EAGLES AND SEA LIONS: 641
• THE WHOLE WORLD WILL HOLD ITS BREATH: 664
• THE GREATEST DECEPTION OPERATION IN MILITARY HISTORY: 693
• BARBAROSSA: 710
• WAR DEFEAT: 735
• THE FINAL SOLUTION: 737
• THE BEGINNING OF THE END: 761
• DO YOU WANT TOTAL WAR?: 783
• CALL ME MEIER: 809
• LAST THROW OF THE DICE: 831
• GOTTERDAMMERUNG: 860
• THE END OF THE ROAD: 891
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: 925
• NOTES: 926
• SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY: 948
• INDEX: 957

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Devil's Disciples: Hitler's Inner Circle
• Author: Anthony Read
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004
• ISBN: 0393048004, 9780393048001
• Length: 984 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Germany; History / Military / World War II