Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany

Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany
ISBN-10
0241256984
ISBN-13
9780241256985
Category
History
Pages
368
Language
English
Published
2016-10-06
Publisher
Penguin UK
Author
Norman Ohler

Description

The sensational German bestseller on the overwhelming role of drug-taking in the Third Reich, from Hitler to housewives. 'Bursting with interesting facts' Vice 'Extremely interesting ... a serious piece of scholarship, very well researched' Ian Kershaw The Nazis presented themselves as warriors against moral degeneracy. Yet, as Norman Ohler's gripping bestseller reveals, the entire Third Reich was permeated with drugs: cocaine, heroin, morphine and, most of all, methamphetamines, or crystal meth, used by everyone from factory workers to housewives, and crucial to troops' resilience - even partly explaining German victory in 1940. The promiscuous use of drugs at the very highest levels also impaired and confused decision-making, with Hitler and his entourage taking refuge in potentially lethal cocktails of stimulants administered by the physician Dr Morell as the war turned against Germany. While drugs cannot on their own explain the events of the Second World War or its outcome, Ohler shows, they change our understanding of it. Blitzed forms a crucial missing piece of the story.

Other editions

Similar books