ALBUM OF THE DAMNED: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE THIRD REICH [Hardcover]

Paul Garson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This haunting photo collection takes readers on a new tour of Nazi Germany, through snapshots taken by average citizens and soldiers living, loving, working and playing in Hitler's Germany. It's practically impossible not to identify with these scenes of domestic life, making the juxtaposition of Nazi ephemera, costumes and soldiers both sharper and more human: the young boy standing at attention in his backyard like a Cub Scout is actually a member of Jungfolk, the organization that prepares kids for the Hitler Youth. Writer and photographer Garson (Born to be Wild) provides ample historical context and Third Reich trivia without overwhelming or overreaching. What Garson wants to know, looking "into the very faces of men and women, often smiling faces" is that old chestnut: how do "such ordinary people... commit such extraordinary crimes?" Though the answer is "essentially unfathomable," the folks peering out from this book, though swept up in a nation-wide madness, look an awful lot like ourselves and our neighbors; this, perhaps, is what makes the book so terrifying and arresting.
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Review

"...these dog-eared photos capture something chilling--everyday life in Nazi Germany." --New York Post

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 410 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897335767
• ISBN-13: 978-0897335768
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > History

More About the Author

G. Paul Garson was born in Washington, D.C.,grew up in W.Palm Beach,FL, graduating from Forest Hill High School with high grades and a couple expulsions. On to Tulane University in New Orleans where via several miracles he survived and graduated, followed by a educational while teaching and living among migrant worker children, then on to M.A. graduate work in Writing and Literature at The Johns Hopkins U. in Baltimore, during which he won First Place in the Carolina Quarterly National Young Fiction Writers contest, followed by 6 month run to Mexico before returning to more teaching at a private school. Using a small Olivetti typewriter he punched out a science fiction novel immediately taken by Doubelday without so much as a spell check. Then off to L.A. where he worked as a security guard protecting outdoor furniture until securing a job teaching at USC after seeking work as a janitor. Earned an M.F. A. and part of a Ph.D but after not sleeping for six months due to teaching composition, taking more grad classes classes and working nights as a parking lot attendant, he took off on one of his motorcycles and started writing bike and car stories as a Staff Editor at Hot Bike, Car Craft,then Easyriders. A couple motorcycle books later, he began focusing on European WWII history resulting in a massive/obsessive collection of original photos and documents from which magazine features and a book, Album of the Dead, the latter published in 2008. His latest book Eye of the Beholder: Imagery and Ideoloy in Nazi Germany is on its way to the publisher. Several others book in progress with aspirations to creat a documentary film concerning the subject. He continues to ride motorcycles and likes a hot cup of miso soup in the evening.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Album of the Damned, April 25, 2009

By 

Valerie S. Kime (Montana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ALBUM OF THE DAMNED: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE THIRD REICH (Hardcover)

In my opinion, Album of the Damned, is one of those benchmark books. There are thousands of books that deal with the subject of WWII and Nazi Germany. We always see tanks and airplanes and official pictures of the various political and military leaders. But the author of this book gives us a very different and you could say haunting perspective by putting us face to face with individual Third Reich Germans. Faces that looked too much like the ones we see in the mirror.

Very obviously the author, apparently a professional photographer as well as a longtime journalist, has very carefully selected photos both for their historic value and also because they could stand alone as powerful photographs thanks to the composition, lighting, etc.

Album of the Damned is a lesson well-learned, you could say one better learned. I found it's best to ponder the images rather than flip through the pages. Also, read the words. It's way more than a "photo book." Obviously some serious research went into it to add depth to the photos. Buy it for someone who doesn't know much about history. Or someone that does. Buy and it give to your kid's history teacher, your local library, somewhere that other people can see it. Ultimately I see Album of the Damned as a teaching tool. It leaves you with what they call indelible images that bring me back to my copy to look at again and again.

5.0 out of 5 stars Looks and reads like a Burns Archive book, August 28, 2009

By 

Cypress Green "She Who Has a Book in Hand Eve... (Ohio) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: ALBUM OF THE DAMNED: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE THIRD REICH (Hardcover)

If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was. And I LOVE the Burns Archive books!

The photos are casual and personal, covering a wide range of people, places and time in the Third Reich. The author breifly describes each photo, then gives additional information about the place, time ect.

For instance, pictures of the "Brownshirts" (SA?) are joined with a couple of paragraphs on the SA, it's beginnings and demise. Much more interesting than I make it sound, though!

It's the perfect book for the visually oriented who are interested in the Third Reich without reading volumes of boring detail.

4.0 out of 5 stars not beach or before bed reading, July 29, 2009

By 

Michigan Reviewer (holland, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ALBUM OF THE DAMNED: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE THIRD REICH (Hardcover)

This book is certainly not for those seeking a light "beach read" or for those seeking a book to fall asleep by. Fantastic snapshots taken by WWII era German soldiers and citizens w commentary by the author. As a history teacher I find WWII fascinating. Many of the accounts we get are from scholars studying this era ex post facto. Seeing these photos does spark the imagination and does require the viewer/reader to think about what the photo illustrates. The scope of the Nazi atrocities was horrific: a point Mr. Garson does point out quite vividly. Other facts not so obvious include the 80% attrition rate of unterseeboot crew members & the number of death or concentration camps in Germany. We as a society tend to focus on the major camps whilst forgetting just how many there were. Very interesting concept very well executed. Not for the faint of heart and certainly not light reading. Very thought provoking, although I did not find it a depressing read. It certainly made me rethink my position on the knowledge of the German citizenry in reference to the existence of concentration/death camps.