Commanders of Evil

This biography examines the life of Paul Joseph Goebbels, the man who perfected the art of mass manipulation in service of history's most genocidal regime. As Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945, Goebbels bears significant responsibility for creating the psychological conditions that made the Holocaust possible.Writing about Goebbels presents unique challenges. How do we study evil without glorifying it? How do we understand the techniques of manipulation without providing a handbook for future demagogues? This book attempts to thread that needle by maintaining rigorous historical accuracy while never losing sight of the monstrous consequences of Goebbels' work.

Adolf Eichmann remains one of history's most chilling examples of how ordinary individuals can become instruments of extraordinary evil. His name has become synonymous with the bureaucratic machinery of the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jews during World War II. Yet Eichmann was neither a senior Nazi leader nor a sadistic camp commandant. He was, by most accounts, a mediocre man who found purpose and advancement in organizing the logistics of genocide.

Hermann Wilhelm Göring remains one of history's most paradoxical figures-a man who combined personal charm with ruthless brutality, artistic sensibility with unbridled greed, and military honor with criminal corruption. As Adolf Hitler's designated successor and the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany, Göring played a pivotal role in establishing the totalitarian state, building the Luftwaffe, orchestrating the Holocaust, and systematically plundering Europe's artistic treasures.

This biography examines the life of Heinrich Himmler, one of the main perpetrators of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany's systematic mass murder of millions. As Reichsführer SS, Himmler built and commanded the SS organization that implemented Hitler's genocidal policies.