The Reich Marshall: A Biography of Hermann Goering

by Leonard Mosley

Of all the leading figures of Hitler's 3rd Reich, Hermann Goering is one of the more interesting if not the most sympathetic. Mosley, an accomplished journalist & biographer with a long list of books to his credit, offers a readable & entertaining biography of Hitler's onetime deputy. This isn't a scholarly work along the lines of the biographies of other Nazi personalities such as Ian Kershaw has done for Hitler, Peter Padfield for Himmler or Ralf Reuth for Goebbels. Don't look for meticulous endnotes or deep analysis. That isn't because Mosely didn't use sources. He did & lists them at the end. He gives a full-length portrait of Goering the man as he was in real life--bigger than life, that was Goering--& while Mosely is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes judgmental, he's honest & in the end he succeeded in capturing the essence of this intriguing & tragic figure. Mosely has one great advantage over other biographers, however: He actually met Goering before the war, was a guest at his estate in E. Prussia & after the war conducted extensive interviews with people who knew the Reichsmarshal intimately his whole life. That sets him apart from other biographers. While I disagree with Mosely's conclusion that his greatest fault was his lack of moral courage to stand up to Hitler, that certainly was a defect in his makeup. But this book proves that Goering had no control over his relationship with Hitler. He, like many others, couldn't stand up to Hitler because he worshipped him. In Goering's particular case, he was totally under the influence of the Fuhrer's charisma & so dependent upon him for so long that in the end it was impossible for him to contradict the dictator. When his god rejected him & then failed him, & Goering knew in the end that Hitler had failed him, there was nothing he could do but accept his fate. Those who condemn Goering because he didn't have the courage to defy his idol haven't been put to that test themselves. For serious students of the history of the 3rd Reich, this book is valuable.--Daniel J. Cragg (edited)

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Germany, Military History, World War II, War

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Leonard Oswald Mosley OBE OStJ (11 February 1913 – June 1992) was a British journalist, historian, biographer and novelist. His works include five novels and biographies of General George Marshall, Reich Marshall Hermann Göring, Orde Wingate, Walt Disney, Charles Lindbergh, Du Pont family, Eleanor Dulles, Allen Welsh Dulles, John Foster Dulles and Darryl F. Zanuck. He also worked as chief war correspondent for London's The Sunday Times.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

British journalist/historian/biographer Leonard Mosley has done a great job of bringing Goering to life in this fascinating bio; from his early years through to WW1, and then more predominantly focused on his important role within the Third Reich. Just as interesting as learning about his military leadership and the fact he was a much lauded fighter pilot was his personal life; starting with the chance encounter with his first wife, Countess Carin von Kantzow, whom he met through his days in the early 20s flying rich businessmen around Scandinavia. One being her then husband Nils Gustav von Kantzow, whom Goering flew to his home in Sweden and where he stayed for dinner. It was love at first sight. Goering, it would seem, was also the only leading Nazi who went leaps and bounds to avert war, but after becoming increasingly frustrated with the British, really turned against them in the end. Just no way, after learning so much about him, was he ever going to be executed, so no surprises that he chose to end his own life by suicide. A polarising figure certainly; often delusional - which top Nazi wasn't, but there was something altogether respectable and grand about him - that is when compared to detestable vermin like Goebbels. Not that any Nazi is deserving of sympathy, but for me Goering is as close as it gets having read about many of the other Nazi bigwigs already.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read a short biography of Goering which focused on his career in aviation. Added to my general interest in the psychology of war criminals, that book motivated me to purchase this longer, more encompassing biography.

The author, writing in the early seventies, expects some general knowledge of the war in Europe from his readers. The war is but a backdrop for a portion of his subject's life. Substantial attention is paid to Goering's years previous to the Nazi acquisition of power.

What emerges from this study is a plausible representation of an individual whereby the formation of his character is sufficiently described so as to make his subsequent behaviors understandable. Whether or not it is accurate, I am not yet in the position to judge. It is, however, believable.

The author (1913-92) worked as chief war correspondent for the Sunday Times and had actually met Goering before the conflict began. While well-documented and supplemented by post-war interviews, this is not a scholarly book.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that it is possible to mention the name of Goering (and certain others) without having people froth at the mouth, it is of some interest for the generations who took no part in the running or actual unfolding of the war that ended all his fondest hopes, to look at the man he was.

Mosely is a well-known and competent journalist and writer who has done a solid job of bringing the (only very rarely) extraordinary Goering to life. There were many aspects of this life which were unusual certainly, and a number of pointers exist that can give us insight into just how he ended the way he did. At the very end, when finally having to give himself up to the Americans (as he and many other Nazi staffers were suddenly so eager to do, since the Russians were in Berlin), it appeared for a moment that the whole thing (the war) had just been a bad joke that had gone slightly sour. Goering thought, for just a while, that he would be accorded the rights normally associated with high-ranking prisoners in his circumstances; being able to give his parole and so on. The awful truth only dawned on him as he was brought back slowly but certainly for trial, and we know in the end that he (quite cleverly) avoided the worst, by crunching down on a cyanide capsule. Thus ended the career of this First World War ace, a man who had no doubt suffered from some extraordinary delusions in his time, who had probably failed in his duty to his own people (by allowing the Luftwaffe to stagnate) and who had been the staunch supporter of the man later to wear the not so thorny crown of history's worst felon.

It is an easy read, and for students of the period, or for anyone wanting to glean the details without having to go through the transcripts of the Nuremberg trials or other voluminous works, it is to be highly recommended.

[Joelle Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joelle Still Reads Her Bookcase #26

It was weird to read about a Nazi from the perspective of him being human; that's not a quality that first comes to my mind. This isn't a sympathetic biography, and Mosley does not make a single excuse for Goering. But he does "flesh out the man" - so to speak, and in more ways than one! - and shine some light on how a person could have been the Reich Marshal of the Wermacht.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insights into the man behind the Air Marshall ...

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book purports to provide to the reader, "...for the first time... the full portrait of the man who was Hitler's second in command..." Goering was certainly the subject of previous books, in part or in whole, but this volume, written in the mid-1970s benefits (at least in theory) from nearly three decades of interviews, scholarship, and the declassification of documents following the central subject's demise in a Nuremberg prison cell from cyanide. The author certainly paints a vivid and historically complete picture of Goering, although this is hardly what could be described as a scholarly account. (The endnotes, for example, are invariably vague and fail to cite many precise references.) What Mosley attempts to do in painting this portrait is to present Hermann Goering as a formidable bundle of positive potential which, somehow, was stymied by the fundamental moral failure of devoting himself, slavishly, to what began as a hero worship of Adolph Hitler and ended with a deeply reluctant commitment to the vows, both public and private, which left him duty-bound to see the Nazi leader's purposes through to the bitter end. Indeed, it is clear that Goering foresaw the demise of the Third Reich well in advance of Hitler's capitulation (i.e., suicide) in the spring of 1945. Yet due to his sense of duty, even in the face of Hitler's direct hostility towards him in later years, Goering complied with the Nazi leader's will in the worst cases, or turned a blind eye in the best cases. And in any case, he forfeited countless opportunities to change the course of history for the better, dating all the way back to the 1930s and Hitler's initial rise to power. Where Mosley takes a wrong turn, in my opinion, is to paint Hermann Goering's story as the tragedy of a great man whose potential was squandered by, in effect, betting on the losing side and then doubling down over and over again.

As someone who lost family in the Holocaust, Mosley's portrait is far too forgiving. I am, admittedly, incapable of reading the biography of a figure such as Goering without my own subjectivity creeping in, but I think given the scope of the atrocities committed by the Nazis (sadly not unique, as some will claim), I have earned the right, by blood, to criticize the work of Mosley and those like him. All too often when reading this book, the author's admiration for Hermann Goering is clearly evident, and all too infrequently does he condemn the inhuman atrocities of which his subject was guilty. There is an imbalance in this portrait, and it reveals more about the author than it does about Goering. (A brief scan of the author's bibliography also helps to elucidate Mosley's rather transparent predilections.) For example, while Mosley reports that those around Goering were critical of his lavishness, his avarice, his foppish manners, and his pretensions, Mosley himself seems undisturbed by any of it, and the tone which comes through is more one of admiration than ridicule or admonishment.

On the other hand, Mosley personally interviewed many of the principals involved in Goering's life, was an eye witness to many of the events described, and, although lackadaisical about documenting it, certainly did his homework with regard to digging down into the available documentation. Thus, what emerges is a portrait of Goering strewn liberally with lines which it is up to the reader to read between. On the whole, the perceptive reader should be able to tease many essential and enlightening facts about Goering's life from the sticky wad of thinly-veiled hero worship which Mosley presents.

[Tobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography, although not scholarly or in-depth in its approach. I would characterize it more as a portrait of Goering, and I think it is very well executed. The author has a unique perspective as someone who knew Goering and had access to family members who granted him extensive interviews. The Goering that emerges is a cultured man of great talent, ambition, and intelligence that ultimately went into the service of a very evil regime.

[Maryjane Nordgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling to read, but evidently written by someone who knew many facets of the man.

[Weston Hory · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best biography I have personally read. Mosley is well researched and has a good writing style. The story of Hermann Goering is by itself interesting but Mosley's writing stands out aswell.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much written about the number two man in the Third Reich and Commander of the German Air Force. This is an excellent book on the man.