Douglas Phillips Miller

This book came out during 1941; in fact, the first printings of it came out a few weeks before Hitler invaded the USSR. The book subsequently went through a number of printings, before ending up in this paperback edition in the very early part of 1942. The author was a commercial attache in the American embassy in Berlin for nearly all of the 1930s. The strongest parts of this narrative are when he discusses the financial manipulations and hidden subsidies engaged in by the Hitler regime, all of which are documented in full in many other places (see Wages of Destruction, for example). Miller's forays into "what might happen" considerations, as well as his excursions outside of finance tend to be much weaker, and read more like filler. And, frankly, the brief reference to the Barbarossa situation seems tacked-on as a make weight and desire to keep relevant. By the time this book came out in 1941, business relations with the Third Reich on the part of the US were at a standstill in any event. How influential this book really was, in spite of the blurbs, is an open question. Not particularly recommended, other than being a contemporary account.… (meer)