Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Wednesday, June 7

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, June 6. Order within 3 hrs 14 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

[{"displayPrice":"$29.95","priceAmount":29.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"29","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MXbuVIGMN7QS0wZ6wXyicAj%2FYtv2wsWupZ9M1JeLOZRAgAz1id0nxUEbLaciAO%2B%2FPwlyu%2FqWlVUXIigOSEPztIoq6w2%2FUMt7PaeP1CcsHd94R3SuP61%2B8IorcL5urABB62Ss7JEBGxp1uBhnatxzDw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$21.10","priceAmount":21.10,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"10","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"MXbuVIGMN7QS0wZ6wXyicAj%2FYtv2wsWuMGgoqNVfFptdd2yAHyOqz%2BOOxFROeHXWrbJm2l7eaZQrSDclD671vwFhxkMwjgsz5BcLXnmK58Pa926t603g%2FWky5QNGFiv53AVFce%2BDIIXXwT3bGF8OAa09txd0RLKyBa7nIKsgAfcn%2FCnWRYua2AhnUfWgqLIz","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$29.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery June 26 - 29 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25

Or fastest delivery June 24 - 28

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Papalazius Mercantile Inc.

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$29.26
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: premium-books-usa

Added

Not added

$26.77
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Grand Canyon Book Shoppe

Added

Not added

$32.30
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: Publisher Direct

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 5 images

Follow the Author

Peter Longerich

Heinrich Himmler Reprint Edition

by Peter Longerich (Author)

4.3 334 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$44.44

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$29.95

$24.38

$9.46

Audio CD, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$44.19

—

Kindle
$9.99 Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
$44.44

5 New from $44.44
Paperback
$21.10 - $29.95

38 Used from $9.46 22 New from $24.38
Audio CD
$44.19

1 New from $44.19

Purchase options and add-ons

Heinrich Himmler was an unremarkable looking man. Yet he was Hitler's top enforcer, in charge of the Gestapo, the SS, and the so-called Final Solution. We can only wonder, as biographer Peter Longerich asks, how could such a banal personality attain such a historically unique position of power? How could the son of a prosperous Bavarian Catholic public servant become the organizer of a system of mass murder spanning the whole of Europe?

In the first comprehensive biography of this murderous enigma, Longerich answers those questions with a superb account of Himmler's inner self and outward acts. Masterfully interweaving the story of Himmler's personal life and political career with the wider history of the Nazi dictatorship, Longerich shows how skillfully he exploited and manipulated his disparate roles in the pursuit of his far-reaching and grandiose objectives. Himmler's actual strength, he writes, consisted in redrawing every two or three years the master plans for his sphere of power. Himmler expanded that sphere with ruthless efficiency. In 1929, he took the SS-a small bodyguard unit-and swelled it into a paramilitary organization with elite pretensions. By the end of 1934 he had become Reich Chief of the Political Police, and began to consolidate all police power in his own hands. As Germany grabbed neighboring territory, he expanded the Waffen SS and organized the "Germanization" of conquered lands, which
culminated in systematic mass murder. When the regime went on the defensive in 1942, Himmler changed his emphasis again, repressing any opposition or unrest. The author emphasizes the centrality of Himmler's personality to the Nazi murder machine-his surveillance of the private lives of his men, his deep resentments, his fierce prejudices-showing that man and position were inseparable.

Carefully researchedand lucidly written, Heinrich Himmler is the essential account of the man who embodied Hitler's apparatus of evil.

ISBN-10

0199651744
ISBN-13

978-0199651740
Edition

Reprint
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

February 7, 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

9.1 x 2.1 x 6 inches
Print length

1031 pages
See all details

Frequently bought together

$29.95

Get it as soon as Wednesday, Jun 7

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$18.00

Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jun 6

Only 18 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$22.51

Get it as soon as Tuesday, Jun 6

Only 15 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Lowest Pricein this set of products
Roger Manvell
537
Paperback
$11.71
Most purchased | Highest ratedin this set of products
William L. Shirer
9,359
Paperback
$29.99
This item:
Peter Longerich
334
Paperback
$29.95
Roger Manvell
824
Paperback
$16.48
Robert Gerwarth
772
Hardcover
26 offers from $4.76
Peter Longerich
455
Hardcover
$51.23
Roger Manvell
369
Paperback
$14.95
Peter Longerich
152
Hardcover
$39.95
Peter Longerich
30
Paperback
$24.95
Peter Longerich
76
Hardcover
$39.99
Peter Longerich
145
Hardcover
$15.90

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[S]upremely enlightening." --Jacob Heilbrunn, The New York Times Book Review

"Splendid" - The Sunday Telegraph

"Longerich's study of Himmler's banal evil promises to bear the standard." --The Village Voice

"A masterpiece." --Richard J. Evans, author of The Coming of the Third Reich

"Peter Longerich, already the author of a distinguihed history of the Holocaust, has written a biography that tells us everything that the world could ever need to know about this most terrible, yet dreery, of Hitler's creatures....an authoritative record."--Max Hastings, NYORB

"A remarkable and wholly fascinating new book by Peter Longerich, a German historian who is among the world's leading scholars of the Holocaust and the Third Reich." --Jewish Journal

About the Author

Peter Longerich is Professor of Modern German History at Royal Holloway University of London and founder of the College's Holocaust Research Centre. He has published widely on the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, including Holocaust: The Nazi Murder and Persecution of the Jews, also published by Oxford University Press, which is widely recognized as the standard account of the Nazi machinery of mass murder and the steps by which it unfolded.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (February 7, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1031 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199651744
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199651740
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.36 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.1 x 2.1 x 6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #194,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #319 in German History (Books)
- #350 in Jewish Holocaust History
- #1,537 in World War II History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 334 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Peter Longerich

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Peter Longerich is Professor of Modern German History at Royal Holloway University of London, and founder of Royal Holloway's Holocaust Research Centre. He has published extensively on Nazi Germany, including the acclaimed Holocaust: The Nazi Murder and the Persecution of the Jews, The Unwritten Order: Hitler's Role in the Final Solution, and The Systematic Character of the National Socialist Policy for the Extermination of the Jews.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

334 global ratings

5 star		57%
4 star		24%
3 star		10%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

An Exhausting but Good Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 2, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is an exhausting read but not for the obvious reasons. This book has to be the main source for the SS and for Himmler. The book is written well. It is easy to pick up on what the author has to say. It isn't encased in academic language like a lot of these books. That academic view tends to lose the story. You won't get that feel from this book. The story is alive from page one to the last page. However after you read this you will feel exhausted. It will be like Heinrich moved in with you. The exhausting piece comes from the "evil" that was Heinrich and the SS.

This book does cover Heinrich from day one to his last day. When I say day one I mean his growing up years. However once the Nazis come to power the story grows to be a history of the SS. The personal side of Heinrich tends to get lost. However as the author says Heinrich's life becomes the professional piece. There isn't any margin between the two. Himmler really was the backbone for Hitler. He was the one that brought his evil rhetoric to life. His skills in a way helped the movement come to life.

This story of the SS is very enlightening. No matter what level of WWII knowledge you have I think you will learn new things in this book. He lies out things in minute detail. You can see how the Nazi movement was bad from the start. It did not grow that way. They all had anti-Jewish motive from the 20s. I learned a great deal about the program. Their Jewish genocide program really trumped the war movement in priorities. The SS grew to be more than just the Jew killers in the camp. They had their own Army for example. The SS grew to capture businessmen into their cause. The SS by the end of the war was running everything, to include the Army.

Heinrich Himmler is an interesting figure to study. He is the ultimate power politician. He was great at seeing opportunities and making the most of them. He was at Hitler's right hand guy who jumped at anything that came up. Heinrich grew up catholic but later became a big anti-christian. You learn from the book how much Himmler was into the occult. He even went so far as to try to create his own religion that had elements of the occult in it. That was a major part of his world view. One has to think all of that had some sort of influence on his actions. You will also see how the final solution did not come over night. The author takes you through the growth of the program page by page. It seemed once the Nazis got away with one thing they doubled down, and so on and so on. I also found it interesting in how the SS wasn't all brutes. They had a large number of people from the educated occupations. A large number of the officers in their Eitzengroppen squads, the killers in the field were lawyers. I wonder how people drift into such movements?

The bad side of the book is there isn't much analysis. That is only in the last chapter. Most of what you get comes from the actions themselves. If you are a WWII buff you should read this.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

A Detailed, Insightful and Comprehensive Cautionary Tale

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 24, 2012

Verified Purchase

With an intense lifelong interest in the history, events, technology and personalities of World War II, I always look forward to new books on the subject. In years past, scholarly biographies of Nazi Germany's leaders have been relatively few and far between, at least in English. My library contains exactly one biography each of Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Göbbels. All of them are quite old, and they may not even be accurate any longer, given the rate at which historians unearth new information that changes what we thought we knew. Thus I was very excited when the 2012 English translation of Peter Longerich's 2008 "Heinrich Himmler" appeared on Amazon.

It's a comprehensive portrait of the Reichsführer-SS, head of the dreaded SS, SD and Gestapo, architect of "the Final Solution to the Jewish question" and perhaps the most feared person in Germany from the time Hitler came to power until the end of the War. Broad in scope and detailed in treatment, Mr. Longerich's book is in large part organized by subject, similar to an encyclopedia, rather than strictly chronologically. He covers Himmler's life in great depth and breadth (with an occasional clumsy translation and errant "und" instead of "and"). The portrait that emerges reveals how the ambitious but obsequious Himmler methodically assumed control of the entire German police system. Once firmly in command, he applied his unbounded powers of life and death, driven by his single-minded Germanic "Volk" ideology and bizarre obsessions with racial purity, to wage a brutal war on Jews, Freemasons, communists, gypsies, enemies of the Reich and others that he considered "subhumans."

Mr. Longerich makes extensive use of primary materials, including Himmler's diaries, letters, appointment calendars, speech transcripts and so on, and documents his sources in almost 250 pages of endnotes and bibliography. By the time I finished "Heinrich Himmler," I felt I had gained a great deal of insight into the personality, motivations and actions of the Reichsführer-SS--and an appalling picture it is. Today we would surely say Himmler was certifiably insane. But his story is an important cautionary tale that every thoughtful, civilized person should study to learn the horrible consequences of fanaticism.

One more thing--and I know I'll take some flak for this, but so be it--I had a strong sense of déjà vu as I read about Himmler's views on birth control, abortion and homosexuality. As Mr. Longerich states: "[D]uring the years 1936-9, [Himmler] was preoccupied above all with the regulation of sexual activity, that is to say, the fight against abortion and homosexuality." My déjà vu arose because I heard virtually the same views propounded by several ultra-religious, right-wing candidates in the recent U.S. election. I won't mention any names, but suffice it to say that the same arrogant, ignorant, superstitious ideological obsessions that drove Heinrich Himmler to orchestrate the murder of millions of innocent people during the Nazi's reign of terror are alive and well in 21st century America. The Third Reich showed what happens when fanatics gain political power and wield it against those who are "different." We can never let that happen here.

Buy "Heinrich Himmler." Read it. Learn from it. Remember it.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Ludder

Heinrich Himmler: A Life

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 6, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a book for the scholar of the Third Reich; it is not a book for the casual reader. It tries to explain the development of the career of one of the most influential figures of the Nazi Party - a man whose notion of the superiority of the Teutonic race and demonic influence of the Jew, brought the creation of the SS and justified ethnic cleansing on an unimaginable scale. The details of this brutal cleansing and the deportation of millions of Europeans to bring about the Greater Germanic Reich are recounted at great length. The writing is at times ponderous with some sentences awkwardly constructed, perhaps because of translation. Disappointingly, Himmler's first contacts with the embryonic Nazi Party and Hitler are poorly recounted. presumably because of lack of sources. A monumental reading task but worth the effort, especially the last chapter..

10 people found this helpful

Mr. J. Gibson

it's good but somehow lacking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 9, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is one of those bio's that seems to start off well, nicely written, has a flowing narrative then all of a sudden it twists and turns on tangents of boredom... Yes, perhaps it was just me but there seemed to be so much left out and an opportunity lost to get onto what the real man may have been thinking without telling us what we already know what was happening around him during Hitler's reign... It does shine in places, but unfortunately not the most important of ones. 3/5

10 people found this helpful

rachael horwitz

Very good but leaves some questions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

I thought overall this was an excellent book but would have liked a bit more insight into the relationships between Himmler and Heydrich and where the fear of Hitler talked about in the final chapters would have come from. I would have also liked a bit more detail about the Vaada organisation and how it operated in occupied Hungary for so long, and more about his hate of Jews and where it originated.

2 people found this helpful

GRAHAME HALEY

Not bedtime reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent educational document, but too much associated detail to make skipping sections unavoidable if your just interested in Himmlers part in the rise of the Nazi party and his role in the war.

3 people found this helpful

OldSchoolie

Masterly

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

A significant addition to the canon of work on the monstrous cabal at the head of the Third Reich. Probably the best analysis of Himmler's strange personality yet produced. It is always remarkable to see this unprepossessing physical specimen becoming RFSS, at the head of that most "Aryan" of forces. His genius for re-invention and organisation are clearly dissected.

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $29.95$29.95 FREE delivery: Wednesday, June 7 Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used: $21.10

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Heinrich Himmler Reprint Edition

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Peter Longerich

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$29.95

FREE delivery: Wednesday, June 7

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$21.10