THE 4TH REICH

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2019 After visiting a reunified Germany, I began to wonder how such intelligent, organized, proper people could have fallen for the myth of Hitler. So I decided to read this book. And although the book doesn't specifically address this issue, even sixty years later, it provides insights into the ways a population (and the world) can be hoodwinked. As such, it also provides a stark warning to the 21st century about leadership, charisma, propaganda (the control of the media), courage, and critical thinking. Shirer, unlike so many of today's "journalistic" books, provides a narrative that is probably 90 percent objective. Throughout the book, Shirer bases his reporting on sources captured after the Nazi defeat. These include memoranda, entries from personal diaries, and even some one-on-one interviews with former Nazis. You can see the era's bias such as those against homosexuals (often referred to as "perverts") come into play, but given WHEN the book was written, this is not unexpected nor does it diminish the significance of the report. When Shirer expressed a personal opinion, like those from his diary, he made it blatantly clear that these were his impressions. So what I appreciated most about this book is that Shirer cited almost everything he wrote about (I wish they had used letters or numbers for the chapter endnotes instead of asterisks in the Kindle edition) and often included exact verbiage (translated from German, of course) from the documents he reviewed. While his coverage of the Fuhrer and his growing megalomania is frightening enough, I found that his reporting on Joseph Goebbels' role in creating an atmosphere of belief in the Nazis in Germany the most frightening--and foreboding--of all. Goebbels understood from the getgo that people believe what they want to believe, and he used this understanding effectively. Goebbels controlled ALL media, all messaging, all symbolism for the Reich. As a media professional myself, I was stunned at his ability, as e