Overview

Despite the displacement of countless authors, frequent bans of specific titles, and high-profile book burnings, the German book industry boomed during the Nazi period. Notwithstanding the millions of copies of Mein Kampf that were sold, the era’s most popular books were diverse and often surprising in retrospect, despite an oppressive ideological and cultural climate: Huxley’s Brave New World was widely read in the 1930s, while Saint-Exupéry’s Wind, Sand and Stars was a great success during the war years. Bestsellers of the Third Reich surveys this motley collection of books, along with the circumstances of their publication, to provide an innovative new window into the history of Nazi Germany.

Full Product Details

Author:   Christian Adam ,  Anne Stokes
Publisher:   Berghahn Books
Imprint:   Berghahn Books
ISBN:  

9781800730397

ISBN 10:   180073039
Pages:   310
Publication Date:   01 April 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: ‘Please, God, Keep Me from Writing a Book about Books!’ Part I Chapter 1. Sifting, Destroying, Controlling and Promoting: The Politics of Literature under the Swastika Chapter 2. Bestsellers in a Dark Time: Their History and Readers Chapter 3. Hitler’s and Goebbels’ Bedtime Reading: What Prominent Nazis Liked to Read Part II: The Ten Most Successful Book Types in the Third Reich Chapter 4. On the Foundation of Facts: Popular Non-Fiction Works Chapter 5. The Colour of Money: NS Propaganda Texts Chapter 6. Not So Quiet on the Western Front: The Boom of War Books Chapter 7. Laughing through Life, Jolly Volk: Humour and Comedy Chapter 8. From Medical Romance Novels to Science Fiction: The Themes and Authors of Modern Light Literature Chapter 9. Commodifying Authentic People’s Literature: Karl May, Courths ­Mahler and the Heroes of Pulp Fiction Chapter 10. Foreign Narrative Art: Bestsellers from Abroad Chapter 11. In the Shadow of the Classics: Highbrow Literature Chapter 12. Blood without Soil: The Successes of National (Social)ist Authors Chapter 13. Field Grey Pays Dividends: Reading Fodder for Wartime Conclusion: On the Trail of Bestsellers Appendix: Selected Bestsellers and their Sales Figures Bibliography Index

Reviews

Praise for the German edition: Draws our attention not only to the breaks in National Socialist cultural policy, but also to the more interesting and generally little-researched continuities. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung A study rich in material, but written in a pleasant, reader-friendly style. Vorwarts Depicts a lost reading landscape in vivid detail ... Not only a scholarly study, but an exciting contribution to intellectual history. Der Tagesspiegel

Author Information

Christian Adam is Head of the Publications Department at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr. His previous publications include Der Traum vom Jahre Null: Autoren, Bestseller, Leser (Galiani 2016).

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