7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Nazi Princess: The Final Deception, March 30, 2005
This review is from: Nazi Princess: The Final Deception (Paperback)
Fred J. Rubino, The Nazi Princess: The Final Deception, Baltimore: Publish America, 2005, paperback, 115 pages.
The title, "the final deception," adequately describes the book, which at 115 pages is more accurately described as a pamphlet. And the back cover quote, attributed to Joseph Goebbels, "if you tell a lie long enough, it becomes true," pretty well sums up the book's content. There are no source citations for any of the absurd claims made in the text. The principal subject, the alleged Heidi Goebbels, was not interviewed, all the information about her coming second-hand from a friend, Kevin, who apparently has no last name. There are no photos. There is no evidence offered to substantiate what is nothing more than a fantasy. The book is poorly written and historically inaccurate.
I'm a historian and the first thing I look at is the bibliography. In this case the bibliography is seriously lacking in relative content. Rubino gives four sources:
Manvell, Roger and Heinrich Fraenkel, Dr. Goebels, His Life and Death, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.
Reuth, Ralph George, Goebbels, New York: Harcourt and Brace, 1994.
Harcelrode, Peter and Brendan Pittaway, The Lost Masters: WWII and the Looting of Europe's Treasure Houses, Unk: Welcome Rain Publishers, 2000.
[...]
There are no source citations in the text that refer to any of the bibliographical entries.
The first sixty-six pages, 57% 0f the book, are devoted to a historically inaccurate rehash of the rise of the NSDAP and the final hours in the bunker. The part dealing with Heidi Goebbels is covered in the final forty-nine pages.
Among the many wildly inaccurate historical errors is this quote from page 76: "...Don't forget, the war was over in Germany, but WWII was still going on, and the United States was still bombing some sections of Germany." One has to ask, which sections-the British, French, and Soviet occupation zones?
And on page 42: "By the time the Third Reich was in full swing, Joseph Goebbels was, literally, in charge of Germany." One has to wonder, what happened to Hitler?
As a military historian I particularly liked this gem, which describes the night of 30 April 1945, found on page 60: "As the night continued, both US forces and Soviet forces entered Berlin..." US troops did not participate in the Battle of Berlin.
There are many more examples of similar historical error and distortion, but those that I have provided give an idea of the lack of historical research that went into the writing of this book.
Dwight R. Messimer, Professor of History, Ret.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bunker Exposed, March 31, 2005
This review is from: Nazi Princess: The Final Deception (Paperback)
Mr. Rubino's tale of deception and deceit is not only informative and insightful, but also quite a page turner if I may be so bold. I have read many texts on the final days of Hitler and his minister of propaganda in the bunker, and always found it odd that the Goebbles children would be sacrificed. The Nazi Princess answers all of the questions that have been haunting me for years, as it relates to the last days of the Third Reich, and then some. Even if you are not a historian you will find this novel captivating, as it reads like a novel, not like a boring historic documentary. I for one, can't wait for Mr. Rubino's to spin his next historical yarn!!!!!!
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