The Gestapo: The Myth and Reality of Hitler's Secret Police

Description

The Gestapo was Hitler's secret police force. Popularly depicted as a central part of an all-powerful 'Big Brother' Nazi totalitarian police state, its primary aim was to hunt down 'the enemies of the people'. Drawing on a detailed examination of previously unpublished Gestapo case files this book relates the fascinating, vivid and disturbing stories of a cross-section of ordinary and extraordinary people who opposed the Nazi regime. It also tells the equally disturbing stories of their friends, neighbours and sometimes even relatives, people drawn into the Gestapo's web of intrigue, either as informers as staff. The book reveals, too, the cold-blooded and efficient methods of the Gestapo officers. This book will reveal that the Gestapo lacked the manpower and resources to spy on everyone, that it was reliant on tip offs from the general public. Yet this did not mean the Gestapo was a weak or inefficient instrument of Nazi terror. On the contrary, it ruthlessly and efficiently targeted its officers against clearly defined political and racial 'enemies of the people'. The book: - Provides a chilling new doorway into the everyday life of the Third Reich. - Gives powerful testimony from the victims of Nazi terror. - Offers a range of fascinating and poignant life stories of those who opposed Hitler's regime. - Unearths new evidence from Gestapo case files. Challenges popular myths on the Gestapo. - It explains the controversies surrounding the Gestapo.

Frank McDonough is Professor of International History at Liverpool John Moores University. He was born in Liverpool. He studied history at Balliol College, Oxford and gained a PhD from Lancaster University. He has written many books on the Third Reich, including: Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party (2012), Sophie Scholl: The Woman Who Defied Hitler (2009), The Holocaust (2008), Opposition and Resistance in NaziGermany (2001), Hitler, Chamberlain and Appeasement (2002), and Hitler and NaziGermany (1999). He has also published many other books, most notably, The Origins of the Second World War: An International Perspective (2011), The Conservative Party and Anglo-German Relations (2007), Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) and The Origins of the First and Second World Wars (1997). Frank has appeared on TV and radio numerous times discussing the Third Reich. He featured in a six part series 'Nazi Secrets' for National Geographic in 2012 and a 10 part series 'The Rise of the Nazis' for the Discovery Channel. He has appeared in Third Reich documentaries for BBC 1, Channel 5, and Russia Today. He acted as 'Historical Consultant' for the BBC 'History of the World Project' and the 'BBC World War One at Home' series of programmes. The US History Network placed Frank's popular Twitter account: @FXMC1957 in the Top 30 most popular historical Twitter accounts in the World.

This fascinating and absorbing new book, drawing on original Gestapo files, provides a wide range of vivid and fascinating stories that explore the tragic human plight of victims of Nazi terror, and the motives of the German citizens who denounced them. By examining in depth how the Gestapo dealt with Jews, Communists, religious dissidents and those on the margins of society, McDonough has produced a brilliant, readable and deeply significant examination of Hitler's notorious secret police. - Andrew Roberts