Defying Hitler, Sebastian Haffner
Defying Hitler, Sebastian Haffner
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Defying Hitler
A Memoir

Author: Sebastian Haffner, Oliver Pretzel

Narrator: Simon Vance

Unabridged: 8 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/25/2005

Synopsis

When the famous German author Sebastian Haffner died at age ninety-one in 1999, a manuscript was discovered among his unpublished papers that offers a compelling eyewitness account of the rise of Hitler and Nazism. He describes the country's inflation and the political climate that contributed to Hitler's rise to power and also examines the pervasive influence of such groups as the Free Corps and the Hitler Youth movement that swept the nation. He elucidates how the average educated German grappled with a rapidly changing society, while chronicling day-to-day changes in attitudes, beliefs, politics, and prejudices. A major bestseller in Germany, Defying Hitler is an illuminating portrait of a time, a place, and a people.

About Sebastian Haffner

Sebastian Haffner (1938–1999) was born in Berlin. In 1938 he emigrated to England where he began writing for the Observer. He returned to Germany in 1954 and became the bestselling author of, among other works, The Rise and Fall of Prussia, From Bismarck to Hitler, and The Meaning of Hitler.

About Oliver Pretzel

Oliver Pretzel, the translator, is the son of Sebastian Haffner. He was born in 1938 shortly after his parents’ arrival in England and was educated in England and Germany. He is a mathematics professor at Imperial College, London, and is married with three children.

About Simon Vance

Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Colin on November 08, 2023

3.5 stars rounded up My mum found this for me in her local street library box, knowing I often enjoy memoirs and reading about history. This account of pre-WWII and rise of Hitler was interesting, but it did get bogged down a few times. Just over halfway through I began to switch off a little and thin......more

Goodreads review by merixien on April 21, 2022

Birinci Dünya Savaşı’ndaki yenilginin ardından Almanya’daki çalkantılı durumundan başlayarak yakın tarihi “sıradan bir vatandaş” gözünden bütün gerçekçiliği ile okuyorsunuz. Örneğin hiperenflasyonun gün gün ülkeyi fakirleştirmesini, bu fakirleşme ve uluslararası arenada kaybedilmiş bir savaşın ardın......more

Goodreads review by Lewis on June 19, 2017

Haffner provides a real sense of what it was like to experience the Hitler takeover of Germany. From the eyes of a child before Hitler was ever heard of through 1938 when Hitler had squashed all opposition, Haffner reports in often electric prose how he felt. A few examples ... ... Göring ordered th......more

Goodreads review by Banu on April 15, 2019

sebastian haffner'in daha ikinci dünya savaşı patlak vermeden almanya'nın adım adım nasıl nazizme ilerlediğini otobiyografik bir biçimde anlattığı bu müthiş kitap, yazarın 99'daki ölümünden sonra çocukları tarafından bulunup yayımlanmış. haffner 1939'a kadar bu kitabı kaçmış olduğu ingiltere'de yayım......more

Quotes

“A short, stabbing, brilliant book…It is important, first, as evidence of what one intelligent German knew in the 1930s about the unspeakable nature of Nazism, at a time when the overwhelming majority of his countrymen claim to have known nothing at all.  And, second, for its rare capacity to reawaken anger about those who made the Nazis possible.” Sunday Telegraph (London)

“An electrifying discovery.” Die Zeit (Hamburg)

“Sebastian Haffner was Germany’s political conscience…this is a memoir of frightening relevance today.” Stern (Germany)

“The most important book of the year.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“Unsurpassable…Wonderfully written…There is an exceptional literary power in what he writes…Haffner’s brief autobiography is replete with historical insights, expressed with a lightness of touch and a literary verve.” Literary Review (UK)

 “A remarkable account…Deserves a wide readership elsewhere in the world.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A small masterpiece.” Booklist

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