Riveting subject matter (5-star) but the book is either very poorly written (2-star) in a disjointed journalistic style or poorly translated or both.

See what happens when an entire civilized country goes berserk and the wildest conspiracy theory you could ever come up with turns out to be true.

What could be more interesting than Nazi death squads, storm troopers, death camps, medical experiments, entire Death's Head army divisions not even under the control of the military? How could they avoid creeping themselves out?

So next time you say it can't happen here, host a tea party. ( )

I know there are many who feel uncomfortable when they see this black tunic; we understand that and do not expect to be beloved by many people' HEINRICH HIMMLER
The true story of Hitler's SS is strange and, at times, absurd. It is the story of an organization that was not directed by some devilishly efficient system but was the product of accident, inevitability and the grouping together of criminals, social climbers and romantics. The SS was the terror of Europe. Swearing eternal allegiance to Adolf Hitler, it infiltrated every aspect of German life and murdered millions. In charge of the police and the secret service, the SS also occupied key positions in agriculture and the health service while maintaining a powerful influence over racial policy and scientific affairs. The sentries at the Reich Chancellery and the guards in the death camps were hand-picked from their deadly ranks. The Order of the Death,s Head cuts through the myth of the efficient German machine and exposes the rivalries, infighting and bizarre customs of the most macabre élite in recent history.
Above all this book describes, in fascinating detail, the chaotic politica! conditions following the First World War which allowed the SS to assume and exercise unaccountable power from 1930 to its demise fifteen years later in the rubble of the Third Reich. ( )

An huge and exhaustive look at the bizarre organisation that was at the heart of the Nazi regime. This book exposes almost every detail, including the political infighting, weird rituals and strange personalities that went into the development of this organisation. Not nearly as organised as generally fabled to be, the SS at times survied despite itself.

Not really aimed at a general reader, this book is more a specialist publication, however it would be of use to anyone trying to research the Nazis or specifically the SS. ( )