Learn More about the Book
An insightful new biography of Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister of the 'Third Reich' and one of the most important and troubling figures of the twentieth century. The first account to use all of Goebbels' surviving diaries, it sheds new light on his personality, private life and political convictions, as well as his relationship with Hitler.
About the Book
Joseph Goebbels was the most notorious demagogue of the twentieth century, and Hitler's closest confidant. This book uses his complete diary from 1923-1945, only recently released from the Soviet Union, to present a challenging new interpretation of his life. It charts Goebbels' rise from provincial obscurity in the Rhineland, through his emergence as the most dynamic speaker of the Nazi Party and the Gauleiter of Berlin in the 1920s, to his appointment as Hitler's Propaganda Minister in 1933. Combining analysis of Goebbels' relationships with women and of his political career, it argues that there were clear threads running through his life, from a turbulent adolescence through to his death. Goebbels' love of German culture, his obsession with 'sacrifice', his fascination for Hitler, and his hatred of the Jews led him into a fatal involvement with German politics which culminated in his suicide, together his wife and six children, in Hitler's bunker in 1945.
Review Quotes
1. '...a welcome addition to the burgeoning library of 'perpetrator studies'.' - Literary Review ' a detailed and well-written insight into the man at the heart of the Nazi propaganda machine .In his examination of Goebbels, Toby Thacker has produced a valuable addition to the printed history of the 1930s and 1940s.' - Britain at War Magazine 'Thacker's reassessment is convincing and welcome. Crucially, his new biography is the first to be written since the entire set of Goebbels' diaries has been published. He writes well, and offers the reader a number of important new contentions and insights.' -BBC History Magazine 'Judicious, insightful and the first biography based on the entire available diary record. This book is a must for anybody interested in Hitler's Germany and the origins of the Holocaust'. - Brendan Simms, Peterhouse, Cambridge University, UK '[Thacker's] biography really is the first step towards a reassessment of the role and significance of Joseph Goebbels in National Socialism.' - Daniel Muhlenfeld, Bulletin, German Historical Institute London. ..".the author seeks to dispel at least some of the myths and legends surrounding Goebbels, which he discussed and considered at the beggining as a sort of stock-taking of the image of Goebbels still prevalant today." German Historical Institute London
2.
'...a welcome addition to the burgeoning library of 'perpetrator studies'.' - Literary Review
' a detailed and well-written insight into the man at the heart of the Nazi propaganda machine .In his examination of Goebbels, Toby Thacker has produced a valuable addition to the printed history of the 1930s and 1940s.' - Britain at War Magazine
'Thacker's reassessment is convincing and welcome. Crucially, his new biography is the first to be written since the entire set of Goebbels' diaries has been published. He writes well, and offers the reader a number of important new contentions and insights.' -BBC History Magazine
'Judicious, insightful and the first biography based on the entire available diary record. This book is a must for anybody interested in Hitler's Germany and the origins of the Holocaust'.
- Brendan Simms, Peterhouse, Cambridge University, UK
'[Thacker's] biography really is the first step towards a reassessment of the role and significance of Joseph Goebbels in National Socialism.' - Daniel Muhlenfeld, Bulletin, German Historical Institute London.
..".the author seeks to dispel at least some of the myths and legends surrounding Goebbels, which he discussed and considered at the beggining as a sort of stock-taking of the image of Goebbels still prevalant today." German Historical Institute London
3.
'...a welcome addition to the burgeoning library of 'perpetrator studies'.' - Literary Review
' a detailed and well-written insight into the man at the heart of the Nazi propaganda machine .In his examination of Goebbels, Toby Thacker has produced a valuable addition to the printed history of the 1930s and 1940s.' - Britain at War Magazine
'Thacker's reassessment is convincing and welcome. Crucially, his new biography is the first to be written since the entire set of Goebbels' diaries has been published. He writes well, and offers the reader a number of important new contentions and insights.' -BBC History Magazine
'Judicious, insightful and the first biography based on the entire available diary record. This book is a must for anybody interested in Hitler's Germany and the origins of the Holocaust'.
- Brendan Simms, Peterhouse, Cambridge University, UK
'[Thacker's] biography really is the first step towards a reassessment of the role and significance of Joseph Goebbels in National Socialism.' - Daniel Muhlenfeld, Bulletin, German Historical Institute London.
..".the author seeks to dispel at least some of the myths and legends surrounding Goebbels, which he discussed and considered at the beggining as a sort of stock-taking of the image of Goebbels still prevalant today." German Historical Institute London
