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Inside the Third Reich

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 4,078 ratings · 134 reviews

Written by Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, the man who kept Germany armed and the war machine running even after Hitler's mystique had faded, this memoir gives us as complete a view as we will ever get of the inside of the Nazi state. B&W photos.

Paperback, 672 pages

Published April 1st 1997 by Simon & Schuster (first published 1969)

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Jun 05, 2007 Siria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobiography, german-history, history, nonfiction

This book is definitely essential reading if you have any kind of interest at all in either WWII, or the agency which individual people can have within a totalitarian system. Inside the Third Reich is a lengthy - in my edition, seven hundred pages, not including notes, bibliography or index - memoir written by Albert Speer, focusing on the years between 1933 and 1945 when he was Hitler's architect, his Minister of Arms and Munitions, and probably one of the closest things Hitler had to a friend....more This book is definitely essential reading if you have any kind of interest at all in either WWII, or the agency which individual people can have within a totalitarian system. Inside the Third Reich is a lengthy - in my edition, seven hundred pages, not including notes, bibliography or index - memoir written by Albert Speer, focusing on the years between 1933 and 1945 when he was Hitler's architect, his Minister of Arms and Munitions, and probably one of the closest things Hitler had to a friend.

At many points it's not an easy book to read - not because Speer goes into any detail about the mass killings or the conditions in the concentration camps, but because of the detail which he goes into about the construction and requisition projects which formed so much of his work at the time, the repetitive ways in which he documents tea-time with Hitler. In some ways I think this is one of the most important features of the book. You get to see the sheer banality of the regime, the statistics and demographics which make up such a large chunk of the book showing off the bureaucracy of the Third Reich which was not so very different from many other western countries at the time, or since.

His observations on Hitler's personality, his initial hero-worship for him, and his gradual later disillusionment, are truly fascinating to read about. Hitler is shown, not as a madman or as an evil mastermind, but as an actual person; the descent into delusion and denial in later life is made all the more dramatic by how almost-normal he seemed in the earlier part of the book.

Speer does express regret in the book for the crimes which the Nazi regime committed, and for his part in them. This is not something which he came to realise over the course of writing his memoirs - from the Nuremberg trials, we do have footage of him striking his breast and saying mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Something, perhaps, of a realisation of the wrongs of the regime had already occurred to him from 1944 on, as shown by his attempts to block some or all of the scorched earth policy which Hitler tried to adopt in the last few desperate months of the war.

However, I find it really and truly hard to believe that Speer was ever truly as naive and unaware as he was presented as being in the book, or that he was devoted to all the aims of Nazism with the exception of its racist ideologies. He certainly wasn't involved directly in any of the mass murder, but he did make use of slave labour in his construction projects and in the munition factories which he ran. He may have been described by others as the 'respectable Nazi'; but respectable or not, he was still a Nazi, who either found the racial policies of the regime acceptable, or capable of being ignored. Perhaps he didn't know; perhaps he didn't want to know, consciously or unconsciously. With an auto-biographical memoir of this nature and on this topic, it is hard to be certain. I think the only thing one can do is to read the book oneself, and make up one's own mind.(less)

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Mar 07, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: biography

When I was a boy most of us admired the Nazis for their aesthetic: the rallys, the marches, the uniforms, the insignia. My own admiration was somewhat qualified by the fact that Mom grew up under German occupation in Norway and Dad served in North Africa and Sicily. In any case, they were fascinating. The first grownup book I ever read was probably The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Albert Speer, along with Hitler himself, a closet decorator, was substantially responsible for the much-admired...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Johanna rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in learning more about the holocaust, genocide scholars

Shelves: readandfinished

Amazing book! Goes into almost mindnumbing detail of the bureaucracy of Nazi Germany, so may not be for those with only a casual interest in Hitler, Nazism, or the Holocaust. However, the book provides an intriguing portrait of Hitler and, surprisingly enough, just as intriguing a portrait of Speer, a shiftshaping chameleon who, much like I and my friends, left college with no idea what to do with himself, had no real connections, and was having trouble finding a career, who seemingly stumbles i...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Mofoty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ww2, nazis, memoir

I want to keep my distance from a work like this because although I feel Speer is mostly an honest narrator, his clear, somewhat banal account of the Third Reich, Hitler, and his own activities read like a generic memoir, somehow perverting the madness of the time—the destruction, inhuman cruelty, and the quest for absolute power. By giving us this account, Speer affirms that for the most part the atrocities of the the Third Reich were carried out by otherwise normal, almost boring men, like him...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Anton Klink rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although Albert Speer wasn't among the absolute innermost circle of Hitler trustees (maybe only Bormann, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, Doenitz and a few others could be counted among those), he was nevertheless the highest ranking Third Reich official to open up so extensively in a book after the war.

Starting out as Hitler's favourite architect and the official architect of the Third Reich, he then moved on to become the Armaments and Munitions Reich Minister and thus enjoyed Hitler's full support...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Brian T rated it 4 of 5 stars

I acquired this book from my Father-In-Law's bookshelf after he died. "Pim" was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1928 and lived in Germany throughout the course of the war. He was conscripted at the end of the war, when Germany drafted all able-bodied males between 16 and 60 years of age. "Pim" died in 2012 so I was privileged to take a few of his books home with me. This was the first one that I read.

I don't know if I truly "buy" Speer's insistence that he didn't know what was going on at the exterm...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Max rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: european-history

The history of the Third Reich is replete with unanswerable questions in addition to its unimaginable cruelty. However I found one question particularly perplexing after reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and Inside the Third Reich.

How could Hitler’s inner circle of top generals, aids and civilian administrators see Germany collapse about them and still continue to follow Hitler in his madness to the very end to their country’s and their own demise. Yes there was at least one attempt...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Debra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I have read this book so many times the pages are literally falling out. One of my favourite books of all time.

A must ready for anyone who has every wondered, "How cld they have let that happen?" A unflinching, fascinating look inside the world of a intelligent, loving man who found himself caught up in the Nazi war machine. It requires that you ask yourself if you cld have acted any differently under the same circunstances...and if you take nothing else away from the book - that is enough.

The...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Nick Tramdack rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, so Speer probably did know about the Holocaust. Still, this is an invaluable book for its details about the inner workings of the Third Reich. People interested in aesthetics and how they can be perverted for fascist causes should probably read it as well. And so should anyone who still believes that Nazis resembled the super-efficient super-rationalistic super-anal coming-down-on-the-stopwatch enlightenment-out-of-control-mwa-ha-ha Nazis so often stereotyped in Hollywood movies. Because t...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Dick Edwards rated it 4 of 5 stars

Speer gives us insight into the thinking of two people: (1) himself, and (2) Adolf Hitler.
(1) He is somewhat ashamed of not knowing more about what was going on. However, he doesn’t beat himself up much about it either. He merely says he should have known more about politics. He was enthralled by the magnetic personality of AH, but he was most interested in his own opportunity to build, based on AH’s confidence in him, and AH’s access to money to do the building. This desire and opportunity led...more Speer gives us insight into the thinking of two people: (1) himself, and (2) Adolf Hitler.
(1) He is somewhat ashamed of not knowing more about what was going on. However, he doesn’t beat himself up much about it either. He merely says he should have known more about politics. He was enthralled by the magnetic personality of AH, but he was most interested in his own opportunity to build, based on AH’s confidence in him, and AH’s access to money to do the building. This desire and opportunity led him to essentially look the other way whenever unpleasant facts surfaced. I come away with a picture of basically a decent man, but one who had too much personal ambition to do the right thing. On the other hand, doing the right thing would probably have brought him instant death. Up until early 1942, Speer had been the head of civilian building construction in the 3rd Reich. He was sent to Russia, where the harsh winter was causing malfunctions of German vehicles, and the Russians had destroyed facilities which could be used to repair these vehicles, as well as the Russian railroad, which they also had destroyed. Speer was set to return on a plane also occupied by Dr. Todt, head of Armaments. Speer took himself off the flight due to extreme exhaustion, and the flight crashed and Dr. Todt was killed. Thus, Speer became head of armaments. After he took over, he instigated reforms that increased production by more than 3 times from Feb1942 to mid1944. Speer modestly states that this was all due to the backing of AH, not to any “genius” involved.
(2) Some of the revelations about AH are a bit surprising. One imagines AH to have been a raving maniac, given to ranting and screaming at all around him. Speer portrays him as one who has self-control, and who seems calm and capable in most situations. The ranting came later, after the war was going badly. His old buddies from the old Munich days treated him with casual familiarity, and dispense with the “Heil Hitler” greeting. Sometimes his orders were disregarded, until he got insistent and threatened. By the time the war began (Sep 39), Speer describes a “cruel” aspect to the architecture that AH was espousing, and describes AH as engaging in “self idolatry.” After 1Sep39, when GB and France declared war, AH was not surprised, but doubted that GB was serious. When Churchill was called in, AH had to change his mind and decided that GB was deadly serious. Rudolph Hess flew to England on 10May1941, trying to tell England that Germany would guarantee the British Empire if she would give Germany a free hand in Europe. AH wrongly interpreted this as a hostile act and declared Hess a “traitor.” AH spent to excess, and continued the building of buildings in Berlin and the autobahn, even after the invasion of Russia. Speer himself was responsible for halting work on the atom bomb. But there was also the aspect that AH considered nuclear research and relativity to be “Jewish physics.” AH could remember details of shell sizes, tank speeds and armament, etc.. But in Speer’s opinion, he didn’t grasp the fundamentals of production and resupply, and hence demanded too much. He did not understand the limits of production. By July 1943, Speer persuaded AH to funnel all prisoners into armaments production.
(3) The post-war USSBS put the effect of Allied bombing on German production at 9%. Speer thinks that maybe the greatest effect was the fact that the Germans had to use many guns for AAA that could have been used against Russia. Speer pinpoints 12 May 1944 as the date when a new era in the air war began: it meant the end of German armaments production. That date, a raid by 935 8th AF bombers concentrated on several fuel plants in central and eastern Germany. On 28-29 May, 400 more bombers hit the same targets and did even more damage. At the same time, 15th AF hit the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania. Production was now reduced by half. Speer praises the American Economic Warfare Division report that it is better to seriously damage a small number of industries than it is to lightly damage a large number of industries. Up until that time, he was criticizing the Allies for hitting one type of target for a while, and then changing to another type before the job on the first type was really done. Speer tried to get AH to see that the early jets would be much more effective as AA weapons than as bombers. AH couldn’t see this. Speer feels personally responsible for Aushwitz because he was told by a colleague not to ever go there. The colleague, without describing exactly what he saw, said he had seen something there which he was not permitted to describe, nor could he describe. Speer never went, and thus says he “closed my eyes.” Speer speaks of Operation Valkyrie, a plan to mobilize the home army, utilizing troops on leave, etc.. This was headed by Col. Stautfenberg (whom Speer said had a very fat briefcase), and was initiated by the famous attempt on the life of AH. As the war was being lost in the later stages, Speer was the one that argued with AH and told him it would be counterproductive to implement a scorched earth policy (destroy all industry) as the Germans retreated. Toward the end, Speer toyed briefly with the idea of assassinating AH, including introducing poison gas in the ventilating system. Speer worked to see that industries were not destroyed. Near the end, the Berlin Philharmonic gave its last concert in Dec1944 under Furtwangler. After the concert, the conductor asked Speer if there was any hope. Furtwangler had defended the blacklisted composer Hindemith, and so was in danger. Speer recommended that he not return from Switzerland, where the orchestra was going on a tour. Furtwangler worried about his players, and Speer promised to look after them. Goebbels ordered that the orchestra members be conscripted and fight with everyone else. Speer went to the draft board and had the members’ papers destroyed, thus saving them from the war. He arranged some concerts so that they could make money. Speer dictated that program in the final concert 12Apr1945, including Bruckner’s 4th, the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and the finale from Gotterdammerung. It was the last music that Speer would hear for a long time. Doenitz became the new head of government after the death of AH. He and Jodl and Speer were arrested together in the British sector. The sentences at Nuremburg were handed out on 30Sep1946. The main charge against Speer was forced labor. Speer is amazed that not one of the guards at Spandau bore him a grudge for his part in the world-wide tragedy. Ironically, Speer died on the anniversary of the beginning of WW2, 1Sep1981.
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May 07, 2010 Irving Koppel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sixty-five years after World War II, we still find ourselves fascinated by the monsters who began it all. Hitler,Goering,Goebbels,Hess
and Bormann: these names have become symbolic of the greatest evil ever
perpetrated by mankind. Through the eyes of Hitler's chief architect and
minister of armaments,Albert Speer,we are presented with a tableau of the
leadership of these nefarious forces.

Speer,who almost singularly came to realize the wrongs wrought by
these purveyors of dark deeds,presents us wi...more

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May 07, 2012 Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Albert Speer's autobiography covers his life prior to and during the Nazi regime and provides extensive information on Hermann Goering, Martin Borman, Karl Doenitz, Joseph Goebbels, Rudolf Hess, and Heinrich Himmler. Speer is often presented in the media as "the Nazi who said sorry" due to his acknowledgement during the Nuremberg Trials of the atrocities committed by the Third Reich.

The book provides many accounts of idle "tea-time" moments with Hitler discussing buildings and plans for the futu...more

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Jun 05, 2011 KOMET rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: europe-1900-to-1989, biographies-diaries-and-memoirs, history-germany

In 1989, during my Peace Corps service, I came across the book "INSIDE THE THIRD REICH" quite by surprise and could not put it down. I read it for hours nonstop.

The story that Speer relates here of his life and career in the Third Reich, first as Hitler's architect, and later as the Minister for Armaments and War Production (1942-1945) is gripping and compelling. You get a real, tangible sense of what the people (e.g. Goering, Hess, Himmler, Goebbels, Bormann, etc.) were like who played key role...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Sicofonia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is and absolutely compelling and fascinating work. This book relates, in first person, the role Albert Speer played within the Nazi regime and also the way the regime worked from inside. Every relevant person who was involved in the German government during that period is depicted under Speer point of view.
The book is correctly entitled Inside the Third Reich, because it entirely focuses on what Speer did and watched after he developed a close relationship with Adolf Hitler. Accordingly, th...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Owen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ww2, military-history, non-fiction, memoir

Albert Speer spent exactly 20 years in Spandau prison after the fall of Germany and his subsequent trial at Nuremberg. He was alone amongst those high-ranking Nazis who were closest to Hitler, to escape execution. To say that for a certain amount of time, his life hung very much in the balance would be putting it mildly. Yet thanks to the failure of the Russians, who wanted him dead, Speer lived on and produced this remarkable memoir of a world gone mad. One hardly thinks that any other single N...more

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Oct 12, 2007 Emily Peery rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history buffs

Shelves: non-fiction

A fascinating look into the workings of Hitler's regime--so frustrating to see how disorganized and easy to paralyze, if only one had the right information at the right time. It took a long time to get through, but worth it!

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Nov 05, 2011 Leonard Houx rated it 3 of 5 stars

As the title explains, the book offers an inside view of the Nazi government. Probably the most self-critical person in Hitler's inner circle, the book is touted as an authentic reflection on this horrific episode in history. Speer fills the books with lots of detail--exact recollections of industrial and architectural facts, verbatim letters and conversations, and subtle insights into personalities. Peppered with declarations of guilt and a recognition of his own thoughtlessness, the book itsel...more

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May 12, 2009 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographical-autobiographical, history

A fascinating glimpse into the mind of Hitler's architect, who would eventually be responsible for prolonging the war far beyond what anyone predicted. Written while spending most of the rest of his life in prison for war crimes, he describes how he was drawn in, what it was like working with the leaders of the Nazi regime, and their downfall. It's not surprising that he tends to paint himself as more moral than most--yet at the same time he was the only one on trial who ever admited guilt or sh...more

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Nov 24, 2008 Richard Fulgham rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fascinating book but I found myself wondering if Herr Speer was really the hero he made himself out to be. Did he really single-handledly prevent the scorched-earth decree from Hitler from being carried out? Did he really face up to Hitler and say "the war is lost" and "you have no right to ask the German people to suffer because YOU lost the war"? We'll never know. But this much is sure, Herr Speer gave us a detailed look at the top level of Nazi government in both victory and in defeat. His ch...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Colin Heaton rated it 4 of 5 stars

In my many years of interviewing some very high ranking members within the Third Reich, and having read this book many years ago, I know that Speer was not only aware of the Holocaust, he was quite instrumental in directing a large portion of the slave labor program. I have verification from such luminaries as Gen. Adolf Galland, SS-Lt.Gen. Karl Wolff, SS Brig.Gen. Otto Kumm, and Hitler Youth Leader Artur Axmann, etc.

What I do know was that Speer, while not a very willing participant, did try a...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Smuel Mackereth rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating view into the psychology of one of Hitler's ministers and friends. Whilst Speer's self apologetic style runs throughout this only adds to the value of the text as we see through a personal testimony not only how an ordinary individual could not only vote for but help to lead one of the most abhorrent regimes in History. The power of the book is not its truthful portrayal of the facts but in its accurate portrayal of human nature. Speers thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears, pleasures,...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Jimbo55 rated it 4 of 5 stars

As an avid reader of many books regarding World War 2, I really enjoyed this. It is a fascinating glimpse into the
day to day workings of the Nazi machine . Albert Speers perspective is refreshing as he was not strictly (in his own words) a nazi ideaologist,
whether this Is to be believed or not is up to the reader. But it is the juxtaposition of his apparent detachment from the regimes ideaology with a unique
access to the people involved that makes this book really interesting in comparison to...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Bookworm1858 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2010, history-or-general-nf, school

Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer
The MacMillan Company, 1970
Translated by Richard and Clara Winston
526 pages
Memoirs; History
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: The memoirs of Hitler's chief architect, later Reich Armaments Minister, and the last Foreign Minister of the Reich.

Thoughts: I read this for class (we actually only had about 100 pages assigned but I ended up reading the whole thing so that I could count it as read). It moves fairly quickly and yet it does take a while to get through.

T...more Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer
The MacMillan Company, 1970
Translated by Richard and Clara Winston
526 pages
Memoirs; History
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: The memoirs of Hitler's chief architect, later Reich Armaments Minister, and the last Foreign Minister of the Reich.

Thoughts: I read this for class (we actually only had about 100 pages assigned but I ended up reading the whole thing so that I could count it as read). It moves fairly quickly and yet it does take a while to get through.

There are many interesting passages that talk about life as an important Nazi, that give insights in to Nazi decisions, that reflect Speer's shaping of history, but then there are the passages about architecture. If you have no interest in architecture, I highly recommend skimming!

It shows some of the reasons for becoming a Nazi: Hitler's charisma especially when he gave speeches (this is baffling to me but apparently that's how it happened; I just can't imagine him as charismatic. He's short, he doesn't smile, he has that ugly mustache, and he seems very petulant) and self-interest. Speer's career as architect really launched in his late twenties under the Nazis. The depression did not really allow for him to do anything and anyway he would have been too young and not established; but the Nazis gave him a chance.

The most important part is probably his description of the Reich and how it was run. First Hitler as a leader is indecisive and his refusal to listen to people who know what they're talking about in favor of those he's known longest frustrates Speer. At some points, I empathized too much with Speer so that I was thinking "this boss sucks; if he'd only listen to Speer, he might be able to win." Then I would catch myself and remember that Hitler is the boss and if he was more effective, who knows how many more people would have died? I'm not sure if the Nazis could have won or if the Allies definitely would have prevailed but it's not exactly something I want to contemplate.

He also places the blame on the leaders, including himself, and away from the German people; thus the atrocities of the Third Reich do not fall on the Germans but on a small section.

That includes knowledge of the Holocaust: he claims that the Nazi leaders were so isolated in their sectors that he did not really know although he could have found out. He closed his mind. Of course, the knowledge of the Holocaust was definitely available to the German people: in Hamburg, shipments of Jewish property arrived consistently even throughout the war. Where were the people going if they didn't need ANY of their possessions? [That was discussed in Frank Bajohr's Aryanization' in Hamburg]

Overall: Very illuminating for people interested in WWII history. Recommended.(less)

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Apr 11, 2010 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book is an autobiography. Speer joined the National Socialist Party in 1931. After college he became Hitler's architect and then became the Minister of Armaments. This book is his story on what drew him to Hitler, his dealings with Hitler and other high officials, and his role in the Third Reich I first read this book when I was in my early 20s and now again in my late 50s. I had a better understanding the second time around. I really like this book. It's a must-read if you like and want to...more

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Feb 02, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, politics, fascism

This was one of the first books I read on the subject, and the very first memoir. Speer was close to Hitler; after the death of Roehm, he was probably the closest thing Hitler had to a friend. During the prewar period he was the Nazi Party architect, which, given Hitler's special attention to architecture, made him one of the most important artists in the country. During the war, he was suddenly elevated to Minister for War Production, which moved him from his previous "protected" status into th...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Priya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Am euphoric at completing this mammoth book, and my first memoir read. The book does exactly what it claims to do, although one would still be skeptical about Speer's knowledge of the Holocaust. One explanation I can think of in his favor, is that he was simply too bogged down with his own responsibilities and the extreme irrational attitude of the Reich, that when Hanke told him what he had seen at a concentration camp, he simply couldn't get himself befuddled more! Apart from this, there is no...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Danielle Freriks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

Usually, autobiographies are tough reads, and I stay away from them. Unless they're fictionalized, like The Kindly Ones. It is because the writer does not have enough professional distance, and most of the times autobiographies are selfapologetic or selflauding. Or both.
Not this book though! This book is a remarkable insight into the inner workings of the Third Reich. The people involved really come to life, and although the main character, Speer himself, comes off as the most reasonable and ple...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Inside the Third Reich is a fascinating book about the leadership of the Nazi regime, written by Albert Speer, one of those self-same leaders. Speer seriously tries to look at himself with a jaded eye, and to not excuse himself for the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis. In fact, at Nuremberg, he was one of the few of the leadership who did take responsibility.

However, he does not completely overcome his own fairly sizable ego. When he talks about how he had no interest in power, it...more Inside the Third Reich is a fascinating book about the leadership of the Nazi regime, written by Albert Speer, one of those self-same leaders. Speer seriously tries to look at himself with a jaded eye, and to not excuse himself for the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis. In fact, at Nuremberg, he was one of the few of the leadership who did take responsibility.

However, he does not completely overcome his own fairly sizable ego. When he talks about how he had no interest in power, it rings false. He did want power, and would probably loved to lead the government, feeling he could do it better than anyone else---and he may have been correct.

Where he is best though, is talking about the leadership of the Nazis. Contrary to popular notions, that leadership was not unified---Hitler, Goering, Himmler, and Goebbels did not sit around a table together scheming. In fact, all the factions were set against each other by Hitler, each one not knowing what the other was doing, and not knowing the whole of anything. Each area was deliberately told to not look at the whole picture, but concentrate only on their one specific topic. And so, in effect, the whole regime was in one man---a man who had few true skills, and relied only on his intuition, and not his experts. Had Speer run the whole thing---well, the outcome of WW II may have been different.

The last third of the book which talks about the crumbling of the Reich is especially fascinating reading---how the jackals fed upon each other to get more power as the country fell apart around them. And this is also where Speer stands out, and probably why he did not receive the death penalty at Nuremberg---because he tried to keep the country from being destroyed, at Hitler's orders. He would not implement the scorched earth policy that Hitler demanded, and in fact, disobeyed Hitler's direct orders to totally destroy Germany.

At the first half of the book, Speer sometimes gets bogged down in his technical details, but his details about Hitler and the whole leadership are insightful and frightening at the same time.

A tremendous book that allows some understanding of how so many came under the spell of one terrible man, and how the world was set at war because of it.
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Apr 09, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very detailed behind the scenes look at Nazi Germany from the perspective of one of the most influential voices in Hitler's inner circle. Speer served as Hitler's beloved architect during Germany's rise from the ashes of World War I through his role of chief of armaments during the final years of World War II. He provides intimate details of Hitler's personality, decision making, and leadership style. You read the evolution of the total fear of angering Hitler during his peak of power during t...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Noah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Of course the author's main interrest is self justification and most of the horrors of the Nazi era are simply omitted. However what can you expect of a man who deemed himself to be Hitler's closest friend, who praised the honor of men like Arthur Seyß-Inquart and who lauded the excellent conditions forced laborers had to experience in his defense industry. (The slaves agreed when he asked them whether they would prefer returning to a concentration camp instead)

Never the less, Speer gives a ver...more

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About Albert Speer

Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office. As "the Nazi who said sorry", he accepted responsibility at the Nuremberg trials and in his memoirs for crimes of the Nazi regime. His level of...more

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“...being in a position to know and nevertheless shunning knowledge creates direct responsibility for the consequences...” — 5 people liked it

“By no means would I describe Adolph Hitler as sexually normal in his relationships with women. In the case of Eva Braun in particular, it seems clear to me that aside from occasional passionate episodes there was no sexual activity at all for long periods of time. The effect of this on Hitler I do not know, but Eva Braun's misery was well-known at headquarters. During the long dry spells she was irritable, impatient and quick to anger. She smoked much more and was incessantly lighting one cigarette after another. By contrast, when once in a great while Hitler's more human feelings expressed themselves in a sudden cloudburst, her manner changed completely. Eva at such times was radiant, flushed with happiness. Her natural warmth and high spirits returned, and she seemed to sparkle again like the cheerful and spontaneous girl she once was.

Though it seems obscene to pity one individual human being with so many millions dead, I do believe that Eva Braun was the loneliest woman I ever knew.” — 4 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/853201.Inside_the_Third_Reich?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344664347l/853201.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/853201.Inside_the_Third_Reich?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer[/url]

Inside the Third Reich

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