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A review by theshaggyshepherd
Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany by James Wyllie
3.0
Nazi Wives // by James Wyllie
I've always found it important to learn about your country's history, especially the dark parts, rather than living in denial about it, so I try to read books about Germany, and especially the 2nd World War, regularly. Nazi Wives stood out to me when I first saw it because it looked at the events from a different angle that I hadn't previously learned from. It was interesting to read about, though rather dry in some places. This seemed to be a well-researched book (an extensive list of sources is available at the back of the book) and I liked that we were able to see what happened to the women after the end of the war as well. The pictures and many quotes from diaries as well as the descriptions of how women like Hitler and Himmler interacted with the leading Nazis' children was in stark contrast to the depictions we usually see of them. It made them more human and real than you sometimes think of historical figures, which made me very uncomfortable at times.
I was impressed with how nonjudgmental Wyllie was able to talk about the women and their actions, though - as another reviewer pointed out - he gives us plenty of reasons for us to be judgmental ourselves. I was blown away at how convinced of their righteousness several of these women still were post war! But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised after reading that one of them still believed they were on the side of Good and that Jews were Absolute Evil when she literally just said she was "stricken" after seeing the book Mein Kampf bound in human skin. I read this book much more slowly than I usually would one of its size because of its heavy subject. As a regular reader of books about this time period, you tend to think that you've read about the most disturbing parts of that war already but every book continues to surprise me (negatively) with the disgusting acts that were done to people.
I do have to say that I kept this book at 3 stars because it did not feel like its true focus was on the women. There was a lot of focus on the men, which of course is hard to avoid, but I feel that this book would have been better off named and marketed differently. Something alluding to the leading Nazi marriages or families would have been more fitting in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I've always found it important to learn about your country's history, especially the dark parts, rather than living in denial about it, so I try to read books about Germany, and especially the 2nd World War, regularly. Nazi Wives stood out to me when I first saw it because it looked at the events from a different angle that I hadn't previously learned from. It was interesting to read about, though rather dry in some places. This seemed to be a well-researched book (an extensive list of sources is available at the back of the book) and I liked that we were able to see what happened to the women after the end of the war as well. The pictures and many quotes from diaries as well as the descriptions of how women like Hitler and Himmler interacted with the leading Nazis' children was in stark contrast to the depictions we usually see of them. It made them more human and real than you sometimes think of historical figures, which made me very uncomfortable at times.
I was impressed with how nonjudgmental Wyllie was able to talk about the women and their actions, though - as another reviewer pointed out - he gives us plenty of reasons for us to be judgmental ourselves. I was blown away at how convinced of their righteousness several of these women still were post war! But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised after reading that one of them still believed they were on the side of Good and that Jews were Absolute Evil when she literally just said she was "stricken" after seeing the book Mein Kampf bound in human skin. I read this book much more slowly than I usually would one of its size because of its heavy subject. As a regular reader of books about this time period, you tend to think that you've read about the most disturbing parts of that war already but every book continues to surprise me (negatively) with the disgusting acts that were done to people.
I do have to say that I kept this book at 3 stars because it did not feel like its true focus was on the women. There was a lot of focus on the men, which of course is hard to avoid, but I feel that this book would have been better off named and marketed differently. Something alluding to the leading Nazi marriages or families would have been more fitting in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.