Author Description

In this hard-hitting biography - the first to be written free of Speer's personal influence - Dan van der Vat reveals Speer to have been a "good Nazi": a dedicated servant of the party who, as Adolf Hitler's brilliant minister of wartime production, was also its most resourceful problem solver. He was above all an opportunist, a charmer and persuader who worked the machinery of the Reich for his own gain. And, far from being a kind of German national penitent, he was, at Nuremberg, a masterly actor deceiving the world in the role of a lifetime. This book tells the story of Speer's rise to power, from his appointment by Hitler in 1933 as architect of a new Berlin to his capture by the Allies in 1945. It demonstrates how his organizational skills helped keep Germany fully armed, prolonging the war by at least a year - an achievement made possible by ruthless exploitation of slave labor. And, in the fullest and most incriminating account ever, we learn how Speer personally ordered the eviction of 75,000 Jews from Berlin - a crime he later covered up with lies, forged documents, and even legal action against biographical researchers.