DNF @ 15%

The writing style is very stiff, and the book feels far too broadly-written. Everything about Schirach's early life is quickly skimmed over and before one can say "Adolf Hitler", Schirach is a member of the NSDAP. The lack of a more specific understanding of Schirach's circumstances is unforgivable in a biography.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword, Frontline Books for accepting my request to read and review Baldur von Schirach: Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth.

Author: Oliver Rathkolb
Published: 10/30/22
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs | History | Nonfiction (Adult)

The text was so difficult to read. A couple times I skimmed the synopsis thinking this was an academic text. Of note, it does state detailed analysis. The synopsis reads in the fashion I needed in the book. The German names and places, I expected. However, I didn't anticipate how much I would struggle.

For my labor, I received very little.

This book has an audience, I think it is a book you choose for yourself.

“Baldur von Schirach: Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth, by Oliver Rathkolb (ISBN 9781399020954), Published Date: 30 October 2022, earns three stars.

This is quite a scholarly effort documenting the life of Baldur von Schirach, the Reichsführer of the Hitler Youth, and other key Third Reich leadership positions. Notably, this book is also an extremely well detailed book, as is evidenced by its detailed contents and its innumerable end notes. Consequently, it is less a best-seller type of book and more a highly informative secondary source for information on, for many, a lesser known but no less important national leader of the Third Reich. This is one of those books that should be read as one would a textbook or would do while involved in deep research.

One learns much from this book, despite the sometimes-ponderous narrative, e.g., his nationality was both American and German. He was an exceedingly complex individual. As a counterpoint to the views, he expressed before and during the war, and during the Nuremberg Trials, I suggest one listen to David Frost’s interview of von Schirach to gain an “appreciation” of how his sense of guilt evolved from his arrest at the end of WWII until just before his death in 1974.

Sincere thanks to the author, and Pen & Sword | Frontline Books, for granting this reviewer the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.

Loved this book. Lots of interesting information to digest. This is a great read for anyone who loves to read about history. Very well written

I absolutely love this book about this historical figure. I find European history so fascinating and this book is no exception. It’s a thoroughly researched and incredibly interesting.

Baldur von Schirach was the head of the Hitler Youth from 1932 until the end of the War. Thirteen years of truly fascist influence on the youth of Germany. Sad, tragic, and awful.