RaveThe Financial TimesWith this implausibly rich cast of characters, Larson guides the reader through the dramatic early years of the Third Reich, a time when the true horrors of Nazism were only slowly becoming apparent. Using Dodd’s papers and diaries, he skilfully conveys the complex climate of the time: the unnerving thrill of upheaval and revolution, the all-pervading fear of Nazi violence, and the stubborn hope that decency might once again prevail … Larson tells the story of the Dodds – père et fille – with consummate ease, evoking sympathy for the father and irritation with the daughter in equal measure. Though he naturally brings his journalistic skills to the fore, he never seems to lose his credibility or authority as a historian.
Volker Ullrich
PositiveThe Financial TimesIn truth, there is little new in this ... What Ullrich presents is a thorough and thoroughly readable work of synthesis, which succeeds in combining the personal and the political into a coherent whole ... Recognising Hitler’s humanity is therefore a significant step, not least in the acknowledgment that he, too, was one of us. And, rather than being construed in some way as an apologia, Ullrich contends quite rightly that this approach makes the subject even more horrific. Hitler the dictator, Hitler the mass murderer was not only human, he was all too human.
