Customer Reviews

Heinrich Himmler : A Photographic Chronicle of Hitler's Reichsfuhrer-SS

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Mansson's "Heinrich Himmler: A Photographic Chronicle of Hitler's Reichsfuehrer" is a very disappointing volume, preferably receiving no stars from me because the book is plagued by horrible photographic reproductions (multiple-generations-removed from original). Morover, most of the pictures were blatantly scanned directly from previously printed works, manipulated and crudely reproduced in this ... book. There are better quality reproductions of these same pictures in other publications, only a few of which receive mention in a very brief list of "published material." Sometimes the author claims credit to his own "archives," but since the pictures were lifted from books, perhaps he means his "library?"

The book is not an organized "chronicle" as stated in its title; it's a hodgepodge throughout. Furthermore, the author doesn't know the details of his topic, which is made obvious by many factual errors in the attempted, descriptive captions (sometimes almost laughable). The book offers no resource references for its statements, nor does it provide any original research. It doesn't even contain an index. Further evidences of the author's dereliction are the numerous typographical errors and misspellings of names.

The author has attempted a photographic album of Himmler's life from his youth to his death. There are several hundred photos, the majority taken during the war and emphasizing the Reichsfuhrer's frequent military inspections on the home, eastern and western fronts. Whatever you think of Himmler he certainly kept himself busy. Some of the photos show Himmler with other personalities of the period, including second raters such as Anton Mussert, the Dutch collaborator, as well as senior SS personnel including Karl Wolff and Sepp Dietrich. It is fair to say the contents are not completely comprehensive, although some prints have not been available publicly before. But there is little record here of Himmler's domestic life, for example, which was visually quite well represented in Peter Padfield's biography.
The interest of the book is that nobody before has compiled a visual history of Himmler. He was obviously very conscious of the presence of photographers and usually maintained that official inane grin under all circumstances. Here and there he is caught off guard, for example trying to dodge the camera when too close to Hitler who is handing out awards. If you always thought that the shortsighted Himmler was not overtly photogenic, this book will confirm that belief.
Unfortunately, the book shows signs of being rushed into print without thorough editing. The text accompanying the photos is sometimes quaint, such as the ambiguous suggestion on page 233 that Himmler's adjutants were released several years after the war "due to their membership in the SS." A number of the photos are undated and the later sections are a bit of a chronological jumble. All in all, this is a book for the collector who wants lots of photos of Himmler between two covers.

Martin Mansson's book on Himmler, the desk clerk and chicken farmer, was no doubt-unique- and its hard to believe that there are not many photos of him that are clearer in nature. This book by Mansson is respectable, but not really put together as well as it should be. Earlier photos of Himmler are combined with late war types; they should have been put together in a better fashion. However, Mansson did take the time to do this book-and on a subject that will likely be a poor seller due to the activities and mass murder that Himmler and the Third Reich committed. I did see photos I had never seen before; but some appeared to be reproductions of originals.