false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166761879m/16891.jpg 16891 5 <I>Masters of Death</I> is Richard Rhodes's chronological account of the Third Reich's <I>Einsatzgruppen</I> (a hand-picked task force) and its death work--the executions of 1.5 million people, Jews and non-Jews--in Russia and Eastern Europe from 1941 through 1943. Rhodes sees these operations (the victims were, almost exclusively, shot) as a ghastly prelude to the subsequent (and much more written-about) horrors of the death camps. In chilling--and occasionally excessive--detail, Rhodes describes the killings and the reasons behind the Reich's cautious, rather than precipitous, escalation of the same: the military's "concern for German and world opinion"; the need to improve methodology; and finally, the need to "condition" the troops, thereby avoiding "disabling trauma." Rhodes makes good use of firsthand accounts and outlines the effects the larger war (Pearl Harbor; the failure to defeat Britain) had on Hitler's attempted obliteration of European Jewry. His chapters on the nature of evil seem hurried and not particularly fresh. <I>--H. O'Billovich</I> 449814 2002 Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust total:65|5:14|4:31|3:16|2:3|1:1| 65 249 116 13 4 2 false false Thu Sep 25 15:28:09 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 18:16:19 -0700 2008
After reading this book, I once told someone, "If a movie were made about this book, without being edited for content, it would be very difficult to watch. It is that graphic and horri...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 27 07:56:36 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 27 08:16:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun May 17 18:00:18 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 18:00:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 20 03:13:27 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 03:17:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Jul 15 15:14:22 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 15:14:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 21:32:01 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 13:11:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 12 00:51:21 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 12 00:54:41 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Feb 04 23:14:20 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 23:20:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Jul 13 17:58:57 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 17:58:57 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 13:41:42 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 08:27:25 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed Mar 28 14:55:46 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 28 14:56:53 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 07:55:26 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 07:56:16 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 14:38:57 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 14:39:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Dec 04 01:23:19 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 05 03:57:28 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 29 14:48:28 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 14:48:49 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Nov 13 16:04:06 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 16:04:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 08:27:46 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 08:27:47 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 21:14:28 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 21:17:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 12:00:41 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 08:29:21 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 08:31:53 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 08:31:53 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=16891