Selling Hitler: Story of the Hitler Diaries [Hardcover]

Robert Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 1986

Spring 1983: it seemed that one of the most startling discoveries of the century had been made, and that one of the world's most sought after documents had finally come to light - the private diaries of Adolf Hitler.What followed was a fiasco of fakery, greed, the duping of experts, and the exchange of extraordinary sums of money for world-wide publishing rights. But that was just the beginning of the story. . .

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Discovery of Adolf Hitler's secret diaries several years ago caused first a worldwide sensation and then a howling scandal when they proved to be a crude forgery. Harris, a BBC journalist, competently reconstructs this tale of international chicanery, which eventually cost gullible press barons in Germany, Britain, and the United States some $4 million, making it "the most expensive and far-reaching fraud in publishing history." Especially interesting are Harris's colorful profiles of the leading players, including Gerd Heidemann, the German reporter who "found" the diaries, and Hugh Trevor-Roper, the Oxford don who, to his lasting regret, originally authenticated the documents. For popular collections. Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 402 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber (February 17, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571135579
• ISBN-13: 978-0571135578
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,292,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Harris is the author of Pompeii, Enigma, and Fatherland. He has been a television correspondent with the BBC and a newspaper columnist for the London Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. His novels have sold more than ten million copies and been translated into thirty languages. He lives in Berkshire, England, with his wife and four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sit Back, Read, Learn & LAUGH, August 15, 2001

By 

spideranansie (Singapore - Manchester) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling Hitler (Mass Market Paperback)

A well-told and detailed account on the biggest publishing mess in the whole of history, Harris' "Selling Hitler" is hilarious, but has serious lessons to impart. Behind his account of how some of the biggest names in international publishing were conned into making the most enormous fools of themselves are some very chilling scenarios which we witness -- the callousness of the "primitive" Kujau, as well as the publishing world where money is above everything and the pursuit of profit is considered above journalistic integrity, the dishonesty and readiness of one such as Heidemann to believe in the authenticity of the diaries and the unrepentance of the reminiscing Nazis on the "good old days". Most importantly, we see the prevalence of and influence of Hitler and the Nazis on the world so many decades after the demise of the Third Reich, and have to imagine what would have happened had the 'diaries' been used to rewrite history if proof that they were forgeries was not conclusive. Harris' book explains the hold Hitler continues to have on the generation which had undergone the war as well as those after it, and serves as a warning on how memory or delusion can be harmful. A fantastic read, this book should be brought back into publication and made accessible to more people. Highly recommended if you're interested in seeing how people make monkeys of themselves on the world stage.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How was it possible?, March 12, 2001

By 

Bart Coessens (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selling Hitler (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the most interesting history books I have read. All along you keep thinking, how was it possible? How could they deceive so many people at the same time. I found myself yelling out loud "wake up, can't you see it's a fraud?" But still they believe the scam. This is a great book, and it teaches us about those "scientific" certainties and experts. I just couldn't stop reading, stayed up at night and kept on reading in the car while my wife drove me to work. A must read for everyone with an intrest in history.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sit Back, Read, Learn & LAUGH, August 15, 2001

By 

spideranansie (Singapore - Manchester) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling Hitler (Mass Market Paperback)

A well-told and detailed account on the biggest publishing mess in the whole of history, Harris' "Selling Hitler" is hilarious, but has serious lessons to impart. Behind his account of how some of the biggest names in international publishing were conned into making the most enormous fools of themselves are some very chilling scenarios which we witness -- the callousness of the "primitive" Kujau, as well as the publishing world where money is above everything and the pursuit of profit is considered above journalistic integrity, the dishonesty and readiness of one such as Heidemann to believe in the authenticity of the diaries and the unrepentance of the reminiscing Nazis on the "good old days". Most importantly, we see the prevalence of and influence of Hitler and the Nazis on the world so many decades after the demise of the Third Reich, and have to imagine what would have happened had the 'diaries' been used to rewrite history if proof that they were forgeries was not conclusive. Harris' book explains the hold Hitler continues to have on the generation which had undergone the war as well as those after it, and serves as a warning on how memory or delusion can be harmful. A fantastic read, this book should be brought back into publication and made accessible to more people. Highly recommended if you're interested in seeing how people make monkeys of themselves on the world stage.