The Hitler Diaries: Fakes That Fooled the World [Hardcover]

Charles Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1991

Now for the first time, the complete expose of the most daring and successful forgery of all time. For seven days in April 1983, the sensational discovery of Hitler's sixty-two volumes of secret diaries dominated the news headlines of the world. Scholars hailed the diaries as the greatest find of the century, a historical bonanza that would entirely alter our views of Hitler and the Third Reich. Shocked readers followed daily installments showing that Hitler knew nothing about the Holocaust. Then, in an abrupt reversal, the diaries were proved to be bogus!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

One of the postwar period's most flamboyant historical scandals was the forgery of the so-called "Hitler Diaries." The acceptance of these fakes as genuine by prominent journalists and historians, the publicity surrounding their publication in news magazines in West Germany and the United States, and the unraveling of the fraud perpetrated by their author, a sleazy dealer in pseudo-Nazi relics, rocked West Germany in the mid-1980s and resounded in journalistic and historical establishments elsewhere. Unfortunately, this book is for the most part awkwardly written, self-opinionated, and superficial. Hamilton, a handwriting expert, barely touches on such fascinating subjects as the market in Nazi relics and its seamy underside and his own involvement as a critic of the manuscripts' authenticity. Instead, he makes sweeping and mostly undocumented generalizations about the personalities involved. This book may appeal to World War II buffs, but for most libraries Robert Harris's Selling Hitler ( LJ 5/15/86), a more detailed and interesting account, is a better buy.
- Barbara Walden, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"One of the postwar period's most flamboyant historical scandals was the forgery of the so-called "Hitler Diaries." The acceptance of these fakes as genuine by prominent journalists and historians, the publicity surrounding their publication in news magazines in West Germany and the United States, and the unraveling of the fraud perpetrated by their author, a sleazy dealer in pseudo-Nazi relics, rocked West Germany in the mid-1980s and resounded in journalistic and historical establishments elsewhere." -- Library Journal

"A lively chronicle of the 1983 sensation in which historians and the media, and their credulous public, were tricked by a petty German thief into temporarily rewriting the history of the Third Reich. Handwriting expert Hamilton details his role in exposing the hoax, and recounts the circus-like trial." -- Book News

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky; 1St Edition edition (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813117399
• ISBN-13: 978-0813117393
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #993,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read and promt!, October 31, 2011

By 

A. J. Shymkiw "deputy sheriff" (Milton) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hitler Diaries: Fakes That Fooled the World (Hardcover)

Was used library book but okay shape and fascinating read! Would order from vendor again. Love it sofar! Recommend!!!! THANXXX

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Study in Fraud, August 11, 2007

By 

Avital Pilpel "classics_lover" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hitler Diaries: Fakes That Fooled the World (Hardcover)

This is the definitive account of the fake Hitler diaries: how a small-time con man (and talented amateur artist), Konrad "Connie" Kujau, wrote the diaries; how he flimflammed Gerd Heidemann, a reporter for "Stern" with "a Nazi bug" (as his colleagues called him) into buying them for hundreds of thousands of marks; how "Stern" came to publish the diaries; and how the fraud was exposed.

Hilton's account of the backstabbing world of fakes and fakers cannot be improved. Kujau flimlammed Heidemann out of greed; Heidemann, desiring to become world-famous, lied to "Stern" about the origin of the diaries; "Stern", in turn, lied to Trevor-Roper and other experts it consulted in order to make sure they get a "genuine" verdict, and dishonestly tried to force Murdoch to raise the price he previously agreed to pay for publication rights; Murdoch, for his part, lied to everybody by claiming--after the diaries were exposed as fakes--that the reason he didn't buy the rights was that he suspected forgery. Hilton notes, for example, that Heidemann and Kujau once made a swap: one of Goering's greatcoats for a rare Hitler watercolor... both fake. (One wonders: when a cheater cheats a cheater as the other cheater cheats him back, is there a crime committed?)

This account is worth the price of the book all by itself, but, in addition, Hilton presents us with a crash course on evaluating the authenticity of historical documents in general, and Nazi memorabilia in particular, as well as an amusing account of historical fakers who preceded Kujau. He notes the gullbility of "experts" and proves his case with amusing anecdotes, such as the history professor who bought from Vrain Lucas (a 19th-century forger whose career mirrored that of Kujau in many ways) documents allegedly by Plato and Cleopatra signed "Platon" and "Cleopatra"--that is, the way their name is written in modern French.

If you have any interest in the Hitler diaries at all, this is the book to get.