Customer Reviews

Trading with the Enemy: The Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is a marvel I discovered it some twenty years ago, and I am still enthralled with it. There is a maxim that the victors write the history books (and it can be exceedingly difficult to discover the real facts in a given battle or war). As it happens, Hitler was not simply a madman with a potent and magnetic ability to touch the German people "where they live" and move them to action, and who--more or less single-handedly--created the "Third Reich." There were bankers and industrialists (a Thule Society connection too) that came together to create this enormity of violence, genocide, lies and plunder. And, plenty of cooperation from other nations and other nations' corporations too. Note how Jew-laden ships were turned away by the United States during WWII, a nasty chapter of American history.

This book details the role some major American corporations--such as ITT, Standard Oil, Ford and GM--played in this sordid tale, in the pursuit of the almighty buck (even though it led to the deaths of many Europeans and American GIs. Were the guilty still alive, I would DEMAND they be summarily called to task for their crimes--indicted, and--once convicted--heavily sentenced. This book is a scholarly, but very readable treatment of the subject with fairly comprehensive documentation. It is actually a wonder that there is as much documentation as there is, considering that much of this was deeply "under wraps," until this researcher was able to crow-bar it out, via FOIA means. I consider that the negative reviewers on this page are either asleep or in league with the those who would prevent us from learning the truth.

Books like this one, and "The Real Lincoln," I have found to be enormously refreshing. It is on my list of Top Hundred Books, in my collection. There are a lot of political, corporate and financial shenanigans occuring behind the scenes today, just as there were then. It behooves us to become privy to them, inasmuch as we are able. Wholesale corruption, and the principals sometimes wear liberal labels, and sometimes conservative ones. "Left" and "right" mean little today, as our republic (and our fundamental rights) go by the board, and our overseas wars burn on ceaselessly, maniacally, as in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Never fear; it's merely "Business as usual, mates!!"

i wouldnt put too much faith in the 1 star reviews of this book especially considering that just yesterday the united states government released the names of the 10,000 american corporations that have been doing business with our "arch enemy" iran; all with our governments approval! that announcement all but legitimizes everything in charles higham's book and proves that NOTHING has changed since WWII. these multinational corps play both sides of all wars/conflicts, profiting handsomely from the death and destruction that the governments cook up while the flag waving idiots march off to kill each other with the latest weaponry dreamed up by GM/dupont/carlyle group. this book cites names, places, dates to the point of ad nauseum of the dirty dealings that FORD, DUPONT, STANDARD OIL(ROCKEFELLERS), GENERAL MOTORS, IT&T, the BANK CORP of AMERICA/PRESCOTT BUSH,(BOY GEORGE'S GRRANDFATHER), etc, etc ,etc. had with hitler and the nazi death machine. to say this book isnt referenced or researched well would only lead me to believe that such an opinion would come from someone with a vested interest in the warmongering. i'm sure the crowd down at the COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS isnt too happy with the facts presented by mr. higham. but as winston churchill said himself, "facts are stubborn things" and the fact has become apparent that we the people are being held hostage by these same ruthless banks/corporations that are now run by the cowardly grandsons of those murdering cowards who ran these corps back in the 30's and 40's. this book is a great foundation to begin the dismantling of the belief system that our government and the corporations have our best interest at heart, they dont! WAKE UP PEOPLE FROM YOUR UNCONSCIOUS STATE, its been business as usual for centuries all dressed up with "differing" political regimes/partys but nothing has changed but the first names of these murdering cowards. "no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

Do you want to read a book that will really rock your boat? Then pick up "Trading with the Enemy" The Nazi-American Money plot 1933-1949.
Since I have taken up as a research project for myself, the investigation of World War II, from the philosophical perspective of `The Just War' notion or concept, I find myself being lead down many a strange alley.
After reading much of the conventional literature on the rise of Adolf Hitler, the obvious question occurred to me; Where did Adolf get his money? Nobody gains political power, EVER, ANYWHERE, without money. Anybody who thinks that even our soft spoken, country gentleman Jimmy Carter jumped out of a peanut patch, or Harry Truman out of a Haberdashery store in Missouri, or Abe Lincoln out of a log cabin, or Sun Yat-Sen out of a rice paddy, or even Fidel Castro out of a sugarcane field, is very naive to say the least. Without money, nobody goes nowhere in politics - anywhere in the world - nor throughout the annals of History. It just doesn't happen - ever.
So as an adjunct to discovering the moral righteousness or immoral iniquity of World War II, I have been led to investigating also, the financing of the Third Reich, and the personal backing for Adolf and his buddies. This is without any doubt a story yet to be written, of unbelievable proportions.

Other books on this subject that the reader might find interesting:
"Who Financed Hitler" James Pool
"Hitler and his Secret Partners" James Pool
"The American Axis" Max Wallace
"Hitler's Secret Bankers" Adam Lebor
"The Arms of Krupp" William Manchester
"The Service" Reinhard Gehlen
"The Dutchess of Windsor" Charles Higham
"Merchants of Death" Engelbrecht and Hanighen
"Shattered Peace" Daniel Yergin
"The War Years 1939-1945" I. F. Stone
"Errol Flynn" Charles Higham
"The Secret War Against the Jews" Loftus and Aarons
"Blowback" Christpher Simpson
"The Plot to Seize the White House" Jules Archer

Richard EDward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"America on Strike" American Labor - History

Must read! Know your history pertinent to today's happenings! Fascism is rampant today and this helps identify why. Look up Prescott Bush, the Business Plot to overthrow FDR, etc.

As an author who is currently researching American individualism, I commend this book for its important -- and permanently relevant -- reminder of how readily an individualistic society like America's can be penetrated by a hostile foreign government. The book's main shortcoming is that it has not drawn sharp enough lines between the various chronological stages of the American establishment's involvement with the Nazis. While it was known from the start that Hitler was malevolent, the full horror of his agenda became clear only gradually and those Americans who persisted in their collaboration into the 1940s, and particularly after Pearl Harbor, had much more to answer for than those who had ceased collaborating by the late 1930s.

Truly insightful as to the machinations of international corporations during times of world conflict...food for thought!!

I generally avoid books like "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949," because I do not like economics or political science/propaganda, except as they relate to larger sociological and cultural issues. However, after ordering this book for a friend, my interest in WWII was piqued, and at first blush I thought the book may be interesting to read. As I read the "Preface," I had to constantly remind myself it was just that, a preface. But after the first paragraph, I was screaming out for the lack of citations. I continually read through the Appendices, hoping to make connections on my own, but it soon proved pointless. The only reason I continued reading was because my friend wanted my assessment of the book. Given that I did so, I figured I might as well write a review, and hopefully help other potential buyers.

UPDATE: December 29, 2008

If you do not like long, detailed reviews, this review is not for you!

Since writing this review, I have written a number of other reviews and have been actively trying to get Amazon.com to broaden customer feedback processes. One issue is that reviews for a title are all lumped together, regardless of the edition or printing. Ironically, that is not the case for "Trading With The Enemy." So, you may want to look at other versions if you are looking for more reviews (I have not written reviews of these other editions as I have not seen or read those editions, which in fact may be more academic editions of the book).

I also want to reiterate that this review of "Trading With The Enemy" is based upon the fact that the book is classified as an academically and professionally written political science book, and not a general reading non-fiction book. As such, my criticisms are NOT about the authenticity or factuality of the topic, but rather the utter absence of academic rigor, the questionable need for yet another book on the subject, the fallacy that "This perennial classic of political literature remains the only book to document the trading of the American financial establishment with Hitler's Germany in World War II, from Pearl Harbor to V-E Day" and the questionable credentials of the author to write on the topic. As one comment to this review noted, the book's bibliography is 15 pages long; almost all of which deals with the very topic of this "seminal" book.

Lastly, I want to make it clear that if you are unfamiliar with the subject matter--American Financing of Hitler's Germany--and interested in learning about this chapter of American history, "Trading With The Enemy" is a (poorly written and dull) non-academic, non-professional popular reading book that may interest you.

UPDATE: February 3, 2009

I have continued to get requests for alternative books/resources on this subject, and would like to state that I learned about this when I was in High School back in the late 1960s, so I have long forgotten any titles specific to this topic. Nonetheless, I have done considerable research since first posting this review. As a result, I have posted several web pages that would make good starting points for doing your own research, which I have listed in my latest comment. In addition to those web site references, I have now listed the government documents cited in "Trading With The Enemy," along with a couple of other books books that I can't fit in this review; nor do I think they may be any better than this book.

Hence, I would like to suggest several books that I enjoyed reading when I was young, that are resources you might find helpful in understanding the circumstances of the era; (again, it has been years since I have read these books). While they may not provide valid or reliable history, Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf, Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich (as well as his other books), Joseph Goebbel's The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943 (which I actually read in Jr HS) and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich, Hermann Göring's Germany Reborn, and if you can find Rudolf Hess' "Speeches," his wife's (Ilse Hess) book, "Prisoner of Peace," or his son's (Wolf Ruidger Hess) book, "My Father Rudolf Hess" are all excellent reading and provide personal insight about the Third Reich. There are two other books that I have glanced at, but cannot personally comment on, that are more recently published on the subject of "Trading With The Enemy," which you might want to consider: IBM and IBM and the Holocaust : The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most PowerfulCorporation and German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler. Both books have excellent reviews; for a professional review of "German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler" go to http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v08/v08p369_Ries.html.

For more generalized sociological understanding of power, oppression, and strange bedfellows, I would highly recommend Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (Penguin Classics), C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite, and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, all of which I have read several times and used in classes.


Analytical/Academic Review of "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949":

While I have no way of documenting this, it is my belief that "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949" is little more than a very boring synthesis of several of the books the author read and listed in his bibliography. I read nothing that I had not read before (primarily in high school), including the author's "conclusions." In the Preface, Mr. Higham states in his final paragraph:
"I have tried to write this book as dispassionately as possible, without attempting a moral commentary, and without, of course, intending implications of present corporations and their executive boards." (p.xx)

I can emphatically state that the author, Charles Higman, fails to live up to this claim. The text is riddled with inflammatory words (e.g., "muckraking," "duplicitous") and phrases (e.g., "...ruthlessly ambitious," "...a high-pitched, intense voice, small, probing eyes..." (p.3)). While there are even more colorful terms used, my citing such would take more time than I care to spend.

The commentary essentially uses a dichotomy system of categorizing people and groups: anti-Nazi and anyone else (by implication or comment) is pro-Nazi. As such, the author implies that nearly everyone is a Nazi--including the predecessors and successors of those people and organizations he "discusses." Through this dichotomy, then, "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949," is also implying that the actions of various (if not all) multi-national organizations, directly or through their representatives, placed and continue to place the international market ahead of all other things. (A theme that my friend is seeking; that is, a "smoking gun" to prove "why" the USA is involved in two "wars.")

In addition to using this style of writing that leads to over generalizations, the author provides absolutely no support for what he has written. Hence, beyond the author's claims, there is absolutely no supporting evidence (i.e., citations to (multiple) PRIMARY sources). Without citations, the author was unable to provide expanded discussions in footnotes/endnotes, that are used in good books, to counterpoint arguments, draw unsubstantiated conclusions, add supplemental information and commentary, or make points that are evaluative or opinionated. Instead, Mr Higham does all of this, without stating that he is doing so, in the body of the book. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS DOES NOT MEAN the reader should think that the claims and information presented in "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949" are inaccurate; that is not what I am saying. I am saying that the "facts" are not appropriately cited; historically, or otherwise, presented; and, as such, one cannot take any conclusions as scientifically/historically valid or reliable.

In my opinion, the author relies upon an old method of "impressing" the reader: endless numbers of specific names of individuals and organizations; and repetitive, back and forth, usage of dates. This technique--one that I commonly saw as a former college professor in "research" and "term" papers, that were, in fact, not researched; but rather "re-written" from a book or set of books--gives the illusion of being factual and well researched. This, then, is what the Mr Higham is doing in his book, "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949": he is re-writing what is already out there in other books, GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS, and articles, while appearing to be a "new" treatise on an old subject.

As such, I must completely disagree with the description provided by Amazon (and presumably whomever they got it from): "This perennial classic of political literature remains the only book to document the trading of the American financial establishment with Hitler's Germany in World War II, from Pearl Harbor to V-E Day." The falsehood of this statement--THAT IT IS THE ONLY BOOK TO DOCUMENT AMERICAN FINANCIAL INVOLVEMENT WITH HITLER'S GERMANY--is most easily found in the author's own bibliography, which lists dozens of books and a number of Congressional reports dealing with American's financial involvement with Germany (and other non-sanctioned countries), from prior to Pearl Harbor to after the end of the war.

I also have questions concerning Mr Charles Higham's credentials for writing this book, and with the books unusual printing history. After spending two days of research (on-line and in the local library) trying to learn more about the author's credentials, I found that Wikipedia's write up on Mr Higham along with the description provided by Amazon, are about as informative as it gets concerning his credentials. To sum it up, Mr Higham graduated in English poetry, acquired a position at University of California, Santa Cruz, and started reviewing and studying movie history. The only other publication by Mr Higham remotely related to this book is a "biography" of Erroll Flynn (a book not even mentioned in Amazon's description), whom the author was attempting to prove was a Nazi when he decided to write "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949." Mr Higham's book on Flynn has been nearly universally panned as misleading, inaccurate, and making false conclusions. Thus, the author's credentials are simply this: Mr Higham is a "movie historian/critic" who has won a French award for "creative" writing! As to the printing history of "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949," I believe that Dell Publishing may have published the book first; but I have not been able to verify that point. [NOTE: On Jul 5, 2008, M. Cooper, in a comment on this review, stated: "FYI, the 1983 hardcover edition was published by Delacorte Press." Given this information, I have backtracked my research and found that the first edition, Trading With the Enemy: An exposé of the Nazi-American money plot, 1933-1949, also had at least five printings!] The current edition, by Backinprint.com, is essentially an "on demand" printing. That is, the book is on a computer with the "publisher" and they print out copies as needed/requested.

In conclusion, "Trading with the Enemy: the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949" is a book I really wish I had never read. For someone who did not receive a complete education in US history, the issues and events re-hashed in the book may be "revealing" and, to a degree, may provide insight into today's international economy; but not in any valid or reliable format.

If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.

I can only agree with K.O.Edwards; a quick glance through this book reveals several glaring errors and the whole shrill tone concentrates only on the emotive (usually at the expense of the factual). Read it if you must, but file it next to your Dan Brown books.

The book makes radical claims but does not have a single source referenced throughout 220+ pages of its text to substantiate its allegations.

It does include an appendix with the list of books and documents that the author allegedly used, however there are no references to these sources from the main text to support author's statements, and the document list is not accompanied by archival case numbers. Some of the documents, for example, are listed as "FBI Reports, Various, 1942".

Overall, the book appears to be of the genre generally described as "folk history".

Tellingly, search in JSTOR database does not find a single academic review of the book. As a matter of fact, there are only two references to the book at all -- one in a theoretical article unconcerned with particulars of real history, another in an article published by Canadian labor history magazine.