Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-03-21
The book not only features the story told by Donald Woods but has extensive court interviews with Biko showing his true ideas that scared the racist government of South Africa so much that they had him killed.
Excellent book.
'A Beautiful Mind'.......2005-12-23
The number one element stopping Blacks today is the absence of consciousness and the Orisha Biko exudes that. His essays are honest and concise and he gives you a glimpse of what South Africa was like and the resistance by him and a number of other Africans. Blacks have to be leading the league in terms of 'liberation literature' but it doesn't matter because they don't read and when they do it's not material like this. Hence, the situation remains.
A must read - highly recommended.......2004-06-04
Despite the dramatic shift in the political climate of South Africa since his death, Biko's words and beliefs are every bit as relevant today. His Black Consciousness movement was as much a political force against apartheid as it was an indictment of self-inflicted notions of inferiority. This book powerfully tells the story of Biko's life, his beliefs and the circumstances of living in banishment in South Africa. In the absence of any physical memorial for Biko, this book is a powerful rememberance to a man who should not be forgotten, and a tribute to an author who bravely brought us Biko's story.
Touching.......2004-01-17
Woods wrote this book to show the world how desperate the need for change was in south Africa. There is a vast seperation between the black natives and the whites in south africa, up until recently the country lived under a currupt white goverment which did not allow blacks to live in white towns as anything other then slaves, forcd them into awful getto which had awful living conditions, taught them in school only what they needed to know to serve the whites, and constently terrorised their neighborhoods. Steve Biko stood up peicefully, not demanding radical change, but understanding that he must change what has happened to his people. Black Contiousness was his approch. He wanted the natives of south africa to learn their own history at school and not the whites, he wanted them to have pride in themselves and understand their own humanity. Steve Biko was band and very liking killed for saying this. Blacks who stood up in South Africa always seemed to die in police custodity one way or another. After his death Woods was inspired to write this book, he was band in South Africa and risked his life to escape the country with his book. This is a must read for anyone who is not educated about the hardships of South Africa or Africa as a whole.
Start Elsewhere, but Return to Biko.......2003-02-24
This is much more than a simple biography of Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa and one of the seminal figures in the anti-apartheid movement, it is an insider's look and condemnation of the System. Though Biko died young and apartheid has faded into memories for most people who had the misfortune of living in it, his is an excellent example of the horroific prejudices to which people, even in these enlightened times, can be subjected. This book uses incredible detail and many essential sources to tell a lively, powerful, and important story. I watched Cry Freedom several years ago and was inspired tolearn more about the subject, and I would recommend the same path, because the movie really brings the characters and issues to life. I would caution people who only want to learn the basics about the history of apartheid or Biko, that this is a very indepth and detailed book, that can be difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the subjects, so I might recommend a slightly more elementary book for a first experience.
Book Description
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." Like all of Steve Biko's writings, those words testify to the passion, courage, and keen insight that made him one of the most powerful figures in South Africa's struggle against apartheid. They also reflect his conviction that black people in South Africa could not be liberated until they united to break their chains of servitude, a key tenet of the Black Consciousness movement that he helped found.
I Write What I Like contains a selection of Biko's writings from 1969, when he became the president of the South African Students' Organization, to 1972, when he was prohibited from publishing. The collection also includes a preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu; an introduction by Malusi and Thoko Mpumlwana, who were both involved with Biko in the Black Consciousness movement; a memoir of Biko by Father Aelred Stubbs, his longtime pastor and friend; and a new foreword by Professor Lewis Gordon.
Biko's writings will inspire and educate anyone concerned with issues of racism, postcolonialism, and black nationalism.
Customer Reviews:
I Liked What He Wrote.......2006-07-28
I enjoyed the book very much. Really gave me a feel for Steven Biko and his brilliance. Also gained some insight into South Africa and its politics during his time. Many of his thoughts are universal and can be applied to the world today. Two thumbs up.
Powerful "Black Consciousness".......2006-02-07
"I Write What I Like" was set on the backdrop of the thankfully defunct system of apartheid, but the parallels to our modern world remain both pertinent and poignant.
While activists such as Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela fought apartheid on the political and economic front, Steve Biko fought it on the most basic psychological level. He rejected the fundamental premise that made racism and subsequent apartheid possible. The premise he rejected was "that one kind of man was superior to another kind of man". The questions he posed and the answers he gave made him the most dangerous man alive to the white minority government of South Africa.
The movement Steve Biko helped found was called "Black Consciousness". Many decried it as a form of afro-centric racism. That characterization could not have been further from the truth. Black Consciousness differed sharply from other anti-apartheid movements in that it advocated the preservation and advancement of black culture from the individual level. Far from being reveres-apartheid, Biko called for blacks to have their own institutions, their own achievements, and preserve their own languages and cultural heritage - not to the exclusion of whites but with a clear assertion that their culture was valid, valuable and should be allowed to thrive and grow.
Biko asked the questions that were too hard to answer for their simplicity. "How can one prevent the lose of respect between child and parent when the child is taught by his know-all white tutors to disregard his family teachings? Who can resist losing respect for his tradition when in school his whole cultural background is summed up in one word - barbarism?"
Blacks struggling for equality in South Africa were labeled "terrorists" by the white minority government. This fact resonates ominous parallels with America today. As we rush to shred the rights enumerated in our constitution under the euphemistically titled "Patriot Act", we should be wary of this history. Surely people demanding equality for themselves by non-violent means were not terrorists. Yet this is how they were defined. Anti-terrorism laws, without an objective definition of "terrorism", can be turned against anyone the government finds... uncomfortable.
Torture is another concept that is being openly discussed these days. The question "would we torture of this reason or that reason?" assumes on some level that torture is effective. Steve Biko had some very important observations on torture, as he was often the subject of it; "If you want to make any progress, the best thing is for us to talk. Don't try any rough stuff, because it won't work." - "If you guys want to do this your way, you have to handcuff me and bind my feet together, so that I can't respond. If you allow me to respond, I'm certainly going to respond. And I'm afraid that you may have to kill me in the process even if it's not your intention."
Steve Biko died September 12, 1977. Authorities initially claimed that his death was the result of a hunger strike. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, published March 1999 stated that: "On 7 September Biko sustained a head injury during interrogation, after which he acted strangely and was uncooperative. The doctors who examined him (naked, lying on a mat and manacled to a metal grille) initially disregarded overt signs of neurological injury." By 11 September Biko had slipped into a continual, semi-conscious state and the police physician recommended he be sent to hospital. Instead he was transported 1,200 km to Pretoria - a 12-hour journey which he made lying naked in the back of a Land Rover. A few hours later, on 12 September, lying on the floor of a cell in the Pretoria Central Prison, Biko died from brain damage. Yet he and his culture were the ones called barbarians.
Biko said, "The most potent weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." As we look to our world today, we must be leery of those who seek to mold our impression and thus our beliefs. There are forces out there with much to gain by inciting division and reactionary strife. Divided we fall
A fascinating relic.......2004-07-06
It's good to see this book back in print. The apartheid era might seem like the distant past, but it wasn't so long ago that so many people were knee-deep in this issue - and so many South Africans were suffering and dying.
South Africa today could have used a leader like Steve Biko. His writings show him to be a man of great intelligence, and the accompanying essay by Father Stubbs shows Biko to be a leader of great charisma. Read this book and you'll see what the world lost when Biko was slain.
Good primer for a humanitarian revolution.......2004-06-10
Steve Biko's "I Write What I Like" is an excellent look at ta voice who tried to articulate the struggles of his people and to provide workable solutions. The "Frank Talk" articles and his testimony in the court are highlights, but it is also interesting to read the manifesto of the effects of Christianity on African Religion. Very raw stuff of the Malcolm X school. Overall a very moving and inspiring read. Like Ghandhi and his contemporary Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko's writings are those of a revolutionary with a heart.
A compelling writer on enduring struggle for consciousness.......2002-12-18
As a clear formulator of a useful, modern, Black Consciousness for South Africans, Biko is unimpeachable - his criticism of liberal whites is fundamentally sound, that a racist system, in its import, taints the actions of everyone who works within the system as racist. Biko is working out the nuts and bolts of his theory of African advancement and affirmation while working on the front lines of the struggle. The intensity of the struggle is captivating, because the risks are great and violence is imminent - but Biko should also be captivating because of what he represents as a modern, critical African intellectual.
Criticizing Biko is hard because he was clearly interested, above all, in changing his own people's view of themselves, and re-instilling their necessary sense of self worth. How important to Biko is the cynicism of liberal whites in the present political culture that blacks "may not be doing a good job leading" (xxii)? Is his preferred, future "non-racial" South Africa something that other black leaders sympathize with? I think that we can link his popularity among young blacks inthe apartheid state with a new will to participate in the struggle. Because Biko was so courageous, it is perhaps a hard to get a clear idea of what he saw as the possible end games to the struggle.
This book is non-rhetorical and pragmatic, and the fact that Biko's conception of, and motivation of countless blacks in South Africa around, the idea of Black Consciousness make what Biko is talking about here successfully revolutionary. At times blisteringly critical of black church leadrs who he beleive have acquiesced to apartheid, at times bravely courteous, as when he is being tried before a coutroom full of whites and white security officials and he maintains his awesome collectedness and cutting wit as he indites THEM for crimes. Biko is an exciting writer, and his influence on men like Mandela, as well as his model for grassroots political empoerment, make him an important theorist on what can and should happen to make a better future in Arica. His energy and creativity are still highly applicable, even in the new South Africa and beyond in 21st Century Africa.
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Bounds of Possibility: The Legacy of Steve Biko & Black Consciousness
N. Barney Pityana
Manufacturer: Zed Books
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Customer Reviews:
Wonderful View On Apartheid.......2006-01-24
Steve Biko definately showed his views on black conciouseness in this book. This really proved that he was a wonderful and brilliant man. I am definately glad that I read this.
cry freedom.......2001-07-06
i think steve biko was a man of right he is so wonderful and when i read the book and wached the video i was tuched by the words that donnaled woods had used i have his book under my bed and i pray evey night that i can be just like steve biko i wish that the people that did that to him should have died strate away and go toHELL. i would love to have seen him and tell him HE HAS MAKE A DIFFERENT I LOVE STEVE BIKO PEACE OUT TO THE BLACK
A brilliant understanding of oppression.......2000-04-26
This book is an excellent source for seeing the experience of apartheid from which the theory of black consciousness emerged. Biko lucidly articulates both the people and the regime he found himself in conflict with, and parallel's between his appraisal and his idea's are made clear. A must read for anyone who wants to get a full understanding of black consciousness.
Average customer rating:
- Cry Freedom
- Cry Freedom
- Cry Freedom
- Cry Freedom
- exciting south african reality
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Cry Freedom
John Briley
Manufacturer: Berkley
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Binding: Paperback
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Cry Freedom
ASIN: 0425107760 |
Customer Reviews:
Cry Freedom.......2004-01-16
This novel written by John Briley, demonstrates the courage and struggle of Steve Biko, as well as other black citizens.
The story took place in South Africa during the Apartheid period. Black people were treated unfairly, and deserve no rights. This story also gives Biko's idea on equality to the readers.
The author describe vividly about black people's lives in South Africa. In the story' it show black people participating an underground speech made by Steve Biko. All the black people wish that they could be the same as the white people are, that's why they are there, though it's risky.
I am pleased with Biko' spirit. He demonstrates human's basic desire-freedom.
This novel is very easy to understand, and it's the best non-fiction novel I ever read. However, this novel is too predictable, so I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Cry Freedom.......2004-01-16
This novel written by John Briley, demonstrates the courage and struggle of Steve Biko, as well as other black citizens.
The story took place in South Africa during the Apartheid period. Black people were treated unfairly, and deserve no rights. This story also gives Biko's idea on equality to the readers.
The author describe vividly about black people's lives in South Africa. In the story' it show black people participating an underground speech made by Steve Biko. All the black people wish that they could be the same as the white people are, that's why they are there, though it's risky.
I am pleased with Biko' spirit. He demonstrates human's basic desire-freedom.
This novel is very easy to understand, and it's the best non-fiction novel I ever read. However, this novel is too predictable, so I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Cry Freedom.......2004-01-16
This novel written by John Briley, demonstrates the courage and struggle of Steve Biko, as well as other black citizens.
The story took place in South Africa during the Apartheid period. Black people were treated unfairly, and deserve no rights. This story also gives Biko's idea on equality to the readers.
The author describe vividly about black people's lives in South Africa. In the story' it show black people participating an underground speech made by Steve Biko. All the black people wish that they could be the same as the white people are, that's why they are there, though it's risky.
I am pleased with Biko' spirit. He demonstrates human's basic desire-freedom.
This novel is very easy to understand, and it's the best non-fiction novel I ever read. However, this novel is too predictable, so I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Cry Freedom.......2004-01-15
John Briley did a very good job on describing Biko's life, as well as the lives of other black citizens in South Africa during the Apartheid period.
The protagonist of this story is a newspaper editor, Donald Woods. He is the white man who agrees with Biko's idea, which is that, all the black people and white people live together peacefully and deserve equal rights. However, tragically, the police killed Biko. After that, Woods get him into trouble, because he is investigating on Biko's death.
This story is a sad story, but it shows the spirit of those who sacrifice for freedom in South Africa. This story is very predictable, so I give it 4 stars out of 5.
exciting south african reality.......2001-11-10
This is the book which tells us the story of a black banned south african, who thinks black should get free, and insists not using violence, but words. By chance he meets a reporter named Donald Woods and they ge to be friends.
But as their friendship develops so does the south african wihes to catch him. Finally he's caught and the editor banned. But he'll strugle to get freedom and publish a book about these black leader.
Sad but true and exciting story of the late seventies, definetely recommendable.
Average customer rating:
- Bringing practice to theory
- Bringing practice to theory
- Brings a human dimension to profound Theory
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The testimony of Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Manufacturer: M.T. Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0851171753 |
Customer Reviews:
Bringing practice to theory.......2000-04-26
This book is an excellent source for seeing the experience of apartheid from which the theory of black consciousness emerged. Biko lucidly articulates both the people and the regime he found himself in conflict with, and parallel's between his appraisal and his idea's are made clear. A must read for anyone who wants to get a full understanding of black consciousness.
Bringing practice to theory.......2000-04-26
This book is an excellent source for seeing the experience of apartheid from which the theory of black consciousness emerged. Biko lucidly articulates both the people and the regime he found himself in conflict with, and parallel's between his appraisal and his idea's are made clear. A must read for anyone who wants to get a full understanding of black consciousness.
Brings a human dimension to profound Theory.......2000-04-25
Steve Biko's movement, Black Consciousness, is most fully articulated in his book "I Write What I Like," however, the testimony of Biko adds a crucial dimension to any understanding of Black Consciousness. It offers insight into the man behind the idea's, and offers crucial information about Biko's experience as a black man in South Africa. This information is necessary for a true understanding of what Biko writes, as he offers a lucid picture of the black experience during Apartheid. I have yet to find another writer with such tremendous insight into the oppressive nature of the Apartheid regime, and any oppresive regime in general. This book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the oppressed mind.
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Counter-Colonial Criminology: A Critique of Imperialist Reason
Biko Agozino
Manufacturer: Pluto Press
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ASIN: 0745318851 |
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STEVEN BIKO (Changing Our World)
Diane Sansevere-Dreher
Manufacturer: Skylark
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ASIN: 0553159313
Release Date: 1991-08-01 |
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ADAM: Africana Drug-Free Alternative Medicine
Ph.D., Biko Agozino
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
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ASIN: 1411669150 |
Book Description
I was inducted into the ancient African healing arts as a child by my parents who were priests and healers. My subsequent training in scientific research methodology enabled me to observe bio-feedbacks and discover effective drug-free methods for preventing many ailments. This book introduces my discoveries to the world beyond my immeediate family, acquaintances and friends who have already benefited from the effective systematic results.
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Biko
Donald Woods
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
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ASIN: 0140109110 |
Book Description
In this groundbreaking new history, Adam Tooze provides the clearest picture to date of the Nazi war machine and its undoing. There was no aspect of Nazi power untouched by economics—it was HitlerÂ's obsession and the reason the Nazis came to power in the first place. The Second World War was fought, in HitlerÂ's view, to create a European empire strong enough to take on the United States. But as The Wages of Destruction makes clear, HitlerÂ's armies were never powerful enough to beat either Britain or the Soviet Union—and Hitler never had a serious plan as to how he might defeat the United States. The Wages of Destruction is an eye-opening and controversial account that will challenge conventional interpretations of the period and will find an enthusiastic readership among fans of Ian Kershaw and Richard Evans. BACKCOVER:
Advance praise for The Wages of Destruction:
“One of the most important and original books to be published about the Third Reich in the past twenty years. A tour de force.”
—Niall Ferguson, author of Colossus
“Unputdownable epic history . . . Transforms not only our reading of HitlerÂ's sordid regime, but the history of the twentieth century itself. Brilliantly written, its original scholarship is telling and lightly borne on every page.”
—John Cornwell, author of HitlerÂ's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII
Customer Reviews:
An enlightening analysis of economic factors behind the Third Reich.......2007-10-08
Tooze occasionally mentions in passing how companies or individuals benefited from fueling the Third Reich's war effort, but his real topics are far broader and more interesting: showing how economic factors drove Hitler's war goals and timing and how the continual feedback between industrial needs and war goals drove war strategy.
Tooze starts by describing the quandary which faced Germany in the late 1920's. Germany was not self sufficient in either food or raw materials and needed to be able to export in order to finance essential imports. Germany also needed to be able to sell its exports in order to obtain hard currency to pay the reparation demands from the World War I victors. Despite these difficulties, the German finance ministry was managing to navigate Germany through a slow and painful recovery from WWI. Then disaster struck with the Great Depression. First there was an inevitable shrinking in export markets and then, much more seriously, there were conscious protectionist decisions in America, Britain, and France to block German exports in order to protect home employment.
Before reading The Wages of Destruction, I had loosely understood how the Great Depression had been a key factor in Hitler's rise to power, especially due to widespread unemployment. But Tooze clarifies that Germany was facing a much deeper strategic dilemma than a simple economic depression. Germany was dependent on the goodwill of other powers for its export markets and for its essential food and material imports, but those powers were demonstrating that in a crisis they would look entirely to their own interests and would quite cheerfully close their markets and let Germany suffer. Given this behavior, the long-term economic and political future for Germany looked extremely grim. Hitler offered a radical solution to this problem: Germany needed to expand to the East and become self sufficient in resources in the same way as the British Empire or America. Given the depth of Germany's problem, it becomes easier to understand why many thinking Germans either enthusiastically or reluctantly accepted Hitler's solution.
In succeeding chapters, Tooze describes how Hitler rapidly switched the Germany economy to focus on rearmament. He argues that while the Nazi propaganda machine emphasized efforts to increase employment and visionary projects such as the autobahn system, this was really mere window dressing and the regime was massively focused on military preparations for war. More interestingly, he also highlights how the continual shortages of hard currency (and thus of key materials) continually constrained and shaped rearmament. By 1938 lack of currency and other economic constraints were limiting further military expansion. Hitler was thus faced with a situation where Germany could see its own military abilities peaking and simultaneously see other powers starting to accelerate their own rearmament, weakening Germany's relative advantage. Hitler being Hitler, this drove an impatience for war, while Germany had its best relative position. As the war progresses, Tooze revisits this theme from several angles. Hitler was continually faced with situations where enemy military production would quickly eclipse Germany's and he reacted by trying to knock particular opponents out of the war quickly.
Tooze's major focus is on the operations and outputs of the German wartime economy. Overall, he shows us an economy that was reasonably well run and efficient but where production was dominated by shortages of key resources, especially steel and skilled manpower. By making high-level decisions about reallocations of these resources the Reich leadership could cause major leaps (or declines) in production in target sectors such as aircraft or tanks or munitions. Typically these resources shifts would take about six months to work through the system. The lucky Nazi bureaucrat who happened to be in charge of a target sector at the end of the six months would then happily boast of his productivity miracle as his sector suddenly produced startling jumps in output.
Tooze does not shy away from describing and condemning the many darker aspects of the Third Reich's war economy. A major aim of the expansion to the East was to improve Germany's food supplies. But that land was already inhabited and that food was already being consumed. So the Nazi solution was the "Hunger Plan" which quite casually assumed that food would be diverted from Poland and the Western USSR to Germany and that many millions would be deliberately starved. Tooze argues that this appalling plan was widely circulated, understood and accepted among the German political and military leadership in 1941. Thankfully, it proved difficult to execute and while there was widespread suffering, the East avoided the systematic mass starvation called for in the plan. However, in subsequent years the same desire to remove what were seen as "useless mouths" and free up food supplies was one of the many input factors towards the holocaust. In parallel, Germany manpower shortages led to large drafts of forced labor from occupied countries to German factories. Tooze illustrates both the appalling conditions of the laborers and the folly of a regime that for ideological reasons oppressed and starved the very labor it was trying to exploit.
Overall, I found this book a very enlightening read. Tooze's thorough analysis of the details of exports, imports, and production constraints provides a convincing base for his explanation of how the constraints and limits of the German economy drove high level German economic and military planning.
A PROFOUND AND FAR-REACHING STUDY.......2007-09-17
I certainly agree with other reviewers who give "Wages of Destruction" highest praise. The only wonder is why it took so long to get the story out. We've been reading histories of the war for more than sixty years, and yet I cannot recall reading anything that lays out the economic choices and consequences as well as Adam Tooze has done here. My only criticisms in this regard would be that Tooze tends to look through a lens of economic determinism, as though weight of resources would inevitably result in Germany's defeat, no matter who was in charge. What Tooze does not delineate with any degree of specificity is Hitler's confidence in the risk aversiveness, if not downright cowardice, of the Western democracies. That was certainly the case with France, which went to war profoundly divided, and whose failure of leadership echos to this day. Great Britain under Nevelle Chamberlain was hardly better. As late as May, 1940, members of the Cabinet were still debating whether to try to cut a deal with Hitler. As for the Soviet Union, the idea that Germany could defeat the Red Army in the field and expect to hold onto captured territory was wishful thinking at its worst; even if Moscow had been captured, which Napoleon did in 1812, Hitler had to know that in Stalin he faced a man as ruthless as himself. The idea that he could repeat the German Imperial Army's success against Russia in 1917, and then confront the Western Allies, throws all rational calculation to the wind. The only other comment I would make about Wages of Destruction would be that Tooze tends to summarize the events between the Summer of 1943 and May, 1945, as though that 18 month period simply followed on what had been in the pipeline before.
Profound Analysis of Nazi Germany's Economic Situation.......2007-09-11
Recently, there has been a spate of excellent books arguing that Germany was a much weaker state than it has generally been thought to be, and that the tactical brilliance of its military obscured economic inadequacies and strategic incompetence. Isabel Hull's "Absolute Destruction," Ian Kershaw's "Fatal Decisions," and now Adam Tooze's "Wages of Destruction" all make a similar point in their very different ways. They also suggest something very interesting -- that given the insane premises that Germany should be a hegemonic power and that war and conquest were the means to attain that power, Germany's military decisions in World Wars I and II made sense.
Tooze points out in convincing fashion that not only was Germany an economic basket case compared to the United States (capable of produing perhaps 1,000 warplanes at the same time the United States could produce perhaps 50,000), but that even if it were matched against the British Empire alone, its long-run prospects were little better than 50-50.
Tooze goes on to show that after France fell and Britain would not make a separate peace, Hitler faced an economic and strategic dilemma. The United States was not likely to stay out of the war indefinitely; when it inevitably entered the war on the allied side, Germany would be grossly outnumbered and outproduced.
The only possible answer was Russia, either as an ally or as a colony. As an ally, the Soviet Union was unreliable, opportunistic, and probably treacherous. Moreover, Germany would have to bend a great deal to Stalin's wishes to keep the Soviet Union happy. As a prostrate colony, Russia might just provide the material to resist Britain and the United States. So, Tooze suggests, Hitler was not so irrational when he invaded Russia (provided, of course, one does not ask the question "If Hitler faced such a daunting situation even after France was unexpected defeated, how could he ever have figured on winning the war while France was still in the allied camp"?)
If anything, Tooze suggests, Germany got lucky -- it had no business being as successful as it was by June 1941. Even at that, so many things had to go right for Germany to come out of the war in any decent shape that total victory was an impossibility. Could he successfully invade England? Little or no chance. Could he starve England out? Not with the United States on Engalnd's side. Even if he had conquered Russia where would he be -- Facing the United States across a narrow strait with his army streched from the Bering Sea to the English Channel. This was not a winning hand.
Tooze presents plenty of evidence to show that the Nazis ran a miserable war economy; that it had no idea how to put together a coherent economic or military strategy; that its solutions were ad hoc, duplicative, inefficient, and ultimately monstrous. The famous "German efficiency" takes a terrible hit, at least on the strategic level. In sum, Tooze concludes, absent a complete collapse of allied will, Germany never had a chance. But given the fact that it never had a chance and chose to take one anyway, its seemingly irrational moves made a certain kind of mad sense.
Wages is Scholarly Blut Dull.......2007-07-21
Adam Tooze has made a great contribution to the history of Germany under Nazi party rule, breaking into territory trod by few hisorians. His scholarship is superior. Few have found a way to enliven economic history and Toonze has failed to break that barrier. This along keeps the book from a five star rating.
great book.......2007-07-07
Germany lost the Second World War was because the allies out-produced them. I've known that for a long time -- but until I read The Wages of Destruction I never really understood what that statement meant, and all that it entailed. The Wages of Destruction explains, in gripping, readable detail, how the Nazi war machine worked, how it failed, and how it shaped the strategy and some of the worst crimes of the Third Reich.
So let me add to the chorus of five-star reviews. I consider The Wages of Destruction required reading if you want to understand Nazi Germany, particularly if you have an interest in economics or business. Also, if you have read Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich, you'll be interested in this book for the counterpoint it provides.
Book Description
Volume 2 of this acclaimed series of documents with commentary covers the domestic aspects of the regime between 1933 and 1939: the political system, the economy and society, propaganda and indoctrination, policies towards youth and women, the SS system of terror, antisemitism and popular attitudes towards the regime - consent, dissent and resistance.
Book Description
War and Economy in the Third Reich examines the nature of the German economy in the 1930s and the Second World War. Richard Overy's essays, collected here for the first time with a substantial new introduction, explore the tension between Hitler's vision of an armed economy and the reality of German economic and social life. Often thought-provoking, always informed, War and Economy opens a window on an essential aspect of Hitler's Germany.
Customer Reviews:
A tremendous and insightful look into the topic.......1999-07-30
Overy has done an excellent job with this book. I used it as a major source for some research I was doing and do not think it could have been any better of a source. Overy outlines the nature of the Nazi economy, both leading up to and during the war, in very understandable fashion. His linking of foreign policy and economy is very strong and brings to light issues that most people probably have not considered. Chief among these is that Hitler paid close attention to the economy and was thinking of war in economic terms (as in, was the German war economy actually ready for war). In September, 1940, Hitler did not believe it was and did not think it would be for another four or five years. Overy describes these thoughts of Hitler's vividly and you finish the book thankful that Hitler made his vital miscalculation about the resolve of Britain and France in September, 1940.
Average customer rating:
- ARCHITCTURE OF THE REICH
- Will become the standard work
- Will become the standard work
|
The Architecture of Oppression: The SS, Forced Labor and the Nazi Monumental Building Economy (Architext Series)
Paul Jaskot
Manufacturer: Spon Press
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ASIN: 0415173663 |
Book Description
This book re-evaluates the architectural history of Nazi Germany and looks at the development of the forced-labor concentration camp system. Through an analysis of such major Nazi building projects as the Nuremberg Party Rally Grounds and the rebuilding of Berlin, Paul Jaskot ties together the development of the German building economy, state architectural goals and the rise of the SS as a political and economic force. As a result, The Architecture of Opression contributes to our understanding of the conjunction of culture and politics in the Nazi period as well as the agency of architects and SS administrators in enabling this process.
Customer Reviews:
ARCHITCTURE OF THE REICH.......2006-10-02
Really a fascinating book on the architecture of Hilter's so called Third Reich. German engineering and work ethic is legendary and even when used for evil, it is effective. This book give a chilling recount of the era of the Reich and you get a feel for the cold, but elegant architecture of Speer, the Reich's chief architect, it is amazing all that got built in such a short time, but what's really fascinating is what was planned, but never realized. Most of the Reich's building were destroyed during the war, but one that does still exist that gives a real feel for the architecture of the Reich is the Olympic Stadium, it is odd to think that this space that was used as a rallying cry for all German's to conquer the world, is today used for Soccer games and the World Cup, personally I think it should have gone the way of the Chancellery, but alas I was not asked, imagine that.
Will become the standard work.......2001-08-23
The Architecture of Oppression has all the hallmarks of Jaskot's articles: brilliant writing, impecable scholarship and surprising wit. It is likely to become the standard work in the field, and would also make an excellent primer on fascist architecture for the general reader.
Will become the standard work.......2001-08-23
The Architecture of Oppression has all the hallmarks of Jaskot's articles: brilliant writing, impecable scholarship and surprising wit. It is likely to become the standard work in the field, and would also make an excellent primer on fascist architecture for the general reader.
Average customer rating:
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German War Economy: The Motorization Myth
Victor Medej
Manufacturer: Game Book Marketing Co
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0941052206 |
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