Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs | 
 enlarge | Author: Albert Speer
Publisher: BBS Publishing Corporation
Category: Book
List Price: $12.99
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Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 562538
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 596
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 2.3
ISBN: 0883659247
Dewey Decimal Number: 943.086092
EAN: 9780883659243
ASIN: 0883659247
Publication Date: October 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: FEW BENT CORNERS Used - Good Default Text
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Amazon.com Review
From 1946 to 1966, while serving the prison sentence handed down from the Nuremburg War Crimes tribunal, Albert Speer penned 1,200 manuscript pages of personal memoirs. Titled Erinnerungen ("Recollections") upon their 1969 publication in German, Speer's critically acclaimed personal history was translated into English and published one year later as Inside the Third Reich. Long after their initial publication, Speer's memoir continues to provide one of the most detailed and fascinating portrayals of life within Hitler's inner circles, the rise and fall of the third German empire, and of Hitler himself. Speer chronicles his entire life, but the majority of Inside the Third Reich focuses on the years between 1933 and 1945, when Speer figured prominently in Hitler's government and the German war effort as Inspector General of Buildings for the Renovation of the Federal Capital and later as Minister of Arms and Munitions. Speer's recollections of both duties foreground the impossibility of reconciling Hitler's idealistic, imperialistic ambitions with both architectural and military reality. Throughout, Inside the Third Reich remains true to its author's intentions. With compelling insight, Speer reveals many of the "premises which almost inevitably led to the disasters" of the Third Reich as well as "what comes from one man's holding unrestricted power in his hands." -- Bertina Loeffler
Product Description
A history of National Socialist Germany is presented from the perspective of Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, and offers insight into how Hitler captured human loyalty in the face of moral destruction.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Great book!! Loved it!! December 25, 2008
Can't say enough good things about this book, very long, but kept my interest throughout! Highly recommended to any WWII researcher, history lover, or anyone who wants to know more about the Third Reich!
Inside the Third Reich According to One of Them! October 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is the product of many documents written by Albert Speer during his incarceration in Spandau Prison which he served from July 18, 1947 through September 30, 1966.
I read this book in 1973, and was taken back by the way Mr. Speer described his vaunted rise as a young man in the Nazi movement. His eloquence as a writer describing his actions and responsibilities in promoting the Third Reich through his architecture and his planning of the Nuremberg Nazi Party rally in 1933 actually read as a fiction novel.
As time rolled on, Speer describes his relationship with Hitler. In fact Hitler considered Speer a kindred spirit for whom Hitler always maintained the warmest human feelings.
The ambitious Speer was thus named the First Architect of the Third Reich. Speer's duties included Hitler's revision of Berlin with Speer drawing up the plans for the new Capital of the Thousand Year Third Reich.
Once the War started Speer used his assets in helping the Wehrmacht. Later, he was appointed the Minister of Armaments. It was in this capacity that Speer was most useful to Hitler. His use of foreign labor and his gift for planning sustained the Nazi effort for more so than can be reasonably estimated in a lost war effort.
Speer admitted his guilt and involvement in the Nazi Party during the Nuremberg Trials. His 20 year sentence was carried out to the last minute at Spandau Prison in Berlin. He describes in his book how he survived the tedium of everyday prison life by reading, writing and walking. His stay at Spandau was described in great detail. Speer told of how each of the Four occupying powers ran the prison during their respective shifts.
Speer's book is an insightful study of Nazi Power as seen by a penitent Nazi leader.
I respect his honesty and his insight of the Nazi government as seen by one of them. In retrospect this version of what Speer had experienced is the complete oxymoron of the Diaries of Victor Klemperer.
It wasn't until now that I can compare and contrast two German individuals on opposite sides of the German spectrum and see the utter madness of it all.
Maybe this is why I write these reviews. I've found a new thesis of this terrifying World event. I know of no one else who has expostulated this theory.
This is a must read if you really want to know about the ultimate World tragedy. In fact make sure to also read Victor Klemperer's complete diaries. After that, you'll see the light!!
Essential History of Hitler's Third Reich October 3, 2008
Albert Speer had a front seat to the machinations of the Third Reich. He was an architect by training, seemingly intelligent and rational - which puts him at odds with the evil eccentrics like Himmler, von Ribbentrop, Goering, etc., While Speer delves into his early life, the book primarily deals with the years between 1933 and 1945 when the Third Reich rose to power. Speer was at first an architect and designer but quickly rose in the ranks due to his organizational skills. Ultimately he became Minister of Arms and Munitions. Supposedly, despite intense Allied bombing of their factories, Speers efforts increased arms production, prolonging the war. Speer wrote this book while in prison for 20 years after the Nuremberg Trials.
 Self-serving yet interesting August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The purpose of all memoirs is to lie. Or, more gently put: the purpose is to portray the past in a light favorable to the author. Even accepting that basic truth, memoirs can be very useful. ItTR is history as portrayed by Albert Speer, who was much more than just "Hitler's Architect." The book is an effort by Speer to portray himself as, alternately, a hapless victim of circumstance or a noble dissident, trying to undermine the Hitler regime from within. I imagine there may be some measure of truth to both of these claims but, as I said, the purpose of a memoir is to lie. Especially unimpressive is his great moral conviction to stand up at Nuremberg and take responsibility for everything. It's easy to do the right thing when you have no other real choice...
That aside, ItTR is still worth reading. The most interesting aspect of the book is its insights into Hitler's personality. For much of the pre-war regime, up until maybe 1942 or so, Speer was probably once of the few people who might arguably be called Hitler's "friend." At times, one is almost tempted to feel sorry for Hitler, given his obvious personality disorder(s).
It's also interesting for what Speer leaves out. There is surprisingly little mention of the Holocaust. The fact that this topic is so consistently avoided undermines the notion that Speer was the moral icon he tries to pretend to be. There is absolutely no way he, in his position, could not have known about the camps and what was happening. After all, he was partially responsible for importing slave-labor to German factories during the war. This omission is very telling, IMO.
In all, ItTR is a valuable book, assuming you can read it with the several grains of salt necessary. Speer the historian is acceptable; Speer the "Good Nazi" is absurd.
Recommended.
The Memoir of an Architect July 30, 2008
Contrary to my preconcieved ideas this memoir offered little insight into a world war II stricken germany. Speer instead focuses mostly on his work as an architect and later his duties as Armaments minister. However, Speer does elaborate throughout the book on his ever changing relationship with the fuhrer. As a first hand account this book offers incredible insights into many of the top nazi officials and i also found his architectural projects intriguing. His portrait of Hitler is worth the read in itself as he turns the image of omnipotent dictator on its head. In the end your likely to find Speer's tragedy a sympathetic and fascinating one.
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