Robert Gerwarth, Hitlers Hangman: The Life of Heydrich (Yale UP, 2012)
Few history books sell better than biographies of Nazi leaders.\xa0They attract anyone even tangentially interested in World War Two or Nazi Germany.\xa0 It\u2019s not surprising, then, that there are dozens of biographies of Himmler, Goering, and Hitler himself.\n\nOddly, though, Reinhard Heydrich is relatively understudied.\xa0\xa0Robert Gerwarth\u2019s\xa0wonderful new biography of Heydrich, titled\xa0Hitler\u2019s Hangman: The Life of Heydrich\xa0(Yale UP, 2012), fills this gap admirably.\xa0 Gerwarth\u2019s book is part of a new wave of serious biographies that have appeared in the last years.\xa0 All are characterized by a thoughtful engagement with\xa0recent\xa0research on the Holocaust.\xa0 All\xa0devote considerable attention to their subjects\u2019 lives in the period before the Nazi takeover.\xa0 All emphasize the choices made by their subjects and the way these choices were not predetermined. \xa0Hitler\u2019s Hangman\xa0is an outstanding example of this new scholarship.\n\nGerwarth\u2019s work, in particular, is distinguished by its particularly effective writing.\xa0 He synthesizes a great deal of information gracefully, a demanding task in a biography this concise.\xa0 At the same time, he preserves space for anecdotes and details that illuminate his topic and add color to his narrative.\n\nHitler\u2019s Hangman\xa0has been widely praised by reviewers across the spectrum.\xa0 It is praise that is richly deserved.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies