31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strange Feeling Of Being Present But Unconcerned, September 13, 2002
This review is from: Speer: The Final Verdict (Hardcover)
Albert Speer has proved to be a lasting enigma for historians, and of continued interest to the public. This is not the first book written about Speer, and contrary to the title it will not be the last. I found the book to be well done, and while it does bring some new detail to the life of Speer it is not a book that provides any fundamental shifts in generally accepted facts.
There are at least two troubling issues that I found worthy of note. The first is a certain arrogance of the author during his introduction when he expresses the opinion that there has not been a proper biography written of Speer. The author is certainly an authority on Speer and had an unusual opportunity to work with and get to know the man as much or more than any other writer. I have read several biographies of Speer, and two of Speer's own works, and there is a great deal of biographic writing available, and it is not as lacking as the author suggests. Issue number 2 is that the author uses David Irving as a reference and also refers to him as a historian. David Irving has been the subject of books, and a man who was handed a miserable defeat in a courtroom in England that condemned him as a dubious historian but perhaps a good researcher, and confirmed that his views of Nazi Germany were largely revisionist and without documentary facts. David Irving may be a researcher, he may even gather accurate information, no where have I read of any legitimate historian grant the same honor and respect to Irving, in fact his is considered little more than a demagogue. His associations with groups that wish to minimize the Holocaust to the point of triviality, if they admit to it at all is well documented, and why Mr. Fest would quote him from all the available sources is a mystery.
The author describes Speer as a man with many abilities, but no qualities. This is one of the better summations of Speer that I have read. Others have also correctly characterized him, as John Kenneth Galbraith did, as a very intelligent escapist from the truth. And the words that head these comments are those of Speer himself.
The book is based on the premise that it is men like Speer that allow the rise of tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, and the balance of history's representatives of evil. That the tyrants are routinely produced by history, but only those who have a massive supporting cast that are willing to follow, that are willing to selectively see only what they choose to view, and who place ambition above all else, are necessary for the rise of such dictators.
The issue that continues to fascinate me is Speer's escape from execution at Nuremberg, He clearly cooperated with the allies to a degree that no other defendant did, and he at least gave the impression of remorse, and played a brilliant game of saying he was responsible for crimes that were committed, but not guilty as he lacked specific knowledge. This is the same charade that allows a defendant in this country to be found not guilty in a court of criminal law, and then to be held responsible in a court of civil law.
Speer deserved to hang as much as any of those who actually had the courage to accept their sentence without taking the coward's way out like the Reich Marshall. There is no question that his brilliant organizational skills, and his willingness to accept labor from anywhere that was collected by any means, allowed the war to continue for years longer that it might have without his talents. The idea that Speer knew nothing of the camps while being arguably the closest of friends and confidants of Hitler is preposterous, and it is amazing anyone was able to delude himself or herself otherwise.
The other concept I am tired of reading is of the alleged erotic but not carnal relationship between Hitler and Speer. Hitler had wanted to be an architect like Speer since he was a very young man. The two men shared a passion for building and art, and their age differences would suggest a father and son relationship, but taking it to the next level may be sensational, but again I find it tiresome, absurd, and a position that is prurient but unproven.
I enjoyed the book with the exceptions that I have noted, I don't believe the book broke any important new ground, and will certainly not be the last book about Albert Speer. The Germany of the Nazis continues to fascinate, and until it ceases to do so books will be continually written.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing Revisitation Of The "Speer" Issue!, September 17, 2002
This review is from: Speer: The Final Verdict (Hardcover)
Anyone unfortunate enough to have experienced a bitter divorce can testify as to the degree to which two otherwise intelligent and perceptive human beings can violently disagree as to what the truth is regarding matters both witnessed and had been parties to. So it is with our continuing fascination and absolute incredulity regarding Albert Speer, an otherwise intelligent and perceptive soul, who just so happens to have been a willing participant in one of the most horrific administrations in the history of the 20th century, the Nazi Third Reich.
In two quite absorbing but incredibly self-serving books, Speer argued that he never understood the full extent of the Nazi war crimes nor the degree to which his own actions were complicit with those horrific aims. He first argued this at the war trials in Nuremberg, but did so in such a way as to admit his own culpability based on his rank and his actions as Chief Of Armaments Production, during which he employed slave labor in service to the German war effort. By being the only defendant at Nuremberg to show any semblance of remorse, he saved himself by admitting his own guilt, though largely guilt by association.
Careful readings of the trials transcripts show that he was, in fact, fairly forthcoming in his admissions, although he always contended that he lacked specifics regarding the so-called Final Solution or even of the fact that the concentration camps in Poland and elsewhere were being used to systematically annihilate millions of Jews and Gypsies. In fact, he was an incredibly sophisticated human being who was expert in toadying up to whomever he needed to. The fact that he was convincing enough to the Allies to escape the death sentence speaks volumes about his persuasiveness and ability to read into the possibilities any situation offered.
It is the authors contention that Speer must be held accountable for having allowed a tyrant like Hitler to rise. Yet Hitler was well in place before Speer ever met him. Speer is a man of stunning contradictions, someone of education, culture, and breeding who succumbed to the siren call of power, fame, and riches. While he eventually became expert at fashioning a defense both for himself and his actions both during and after the war, the truth of the matter is that most of what he argued in his own defense was (and is) preposterous. No one could have walked in the circles he did, have acted in concert with the aims and goals of the Nazi regime with such success and energy, and yet have been as totally naïve and ignorant as he always claimed he was. What he recalls more than anything is the old adage Hitler was said to have coined.; Tell a man an outrageous lie often enough for long enough and even he will come to believe it I think Speer proved the accuracy of that adage, believing in his own lie. This is an absorbing and provocative book, and one I can heartily recommend to the student of modern history. Enjoy!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book on Albert Speer, June 12, 2004
This review is from: Speer: The Final Verdict (Hardcover)
I found this book to be one of the more perceptive books I have read on members of Hitler's inner circle. Albert Speer as many of the previous reviewers have already wrote, proves to be a great mystery. However, the author provides some very interesting insights to Speer's rather naive but contradictory asute behavior during the time he serves for Hitler.
The book proves to be very readable and easy to get into. Its provides a very informative picture of Albert Speer without overwhelming you with mindless details and gives a clear idea what kind of man Speer was, before, during and after the Third Reich.
Its interesting that of all the individuals of Hitler's inner circle, Speer was intellectually, culturally and morally above the rest but Fest make it understood that Speer had some sort of psychological blinder on and spent much of his post-World War life with that blinder still partially on. From what Fest wrote, it seem that Speer suffered from some sort of a self-imposed martyrdom at Nuremberg.
Interesting book and well worth the effort to read, I thought I knew Speer a bit better now then before.
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