Nuremberg Trials: A History from Beginning to End
Hourly History
Review by Jerron Orton
STORY
Nuremberg Trials progressed in a logical and chronological fashion, covering the background events leading to the trials, including various proposals by the Allies on how to handle the Nazis post-war. The content was expressed clearly and simply. There is no thesis per se, since the book is intended to be a summary of historic events, rather than present an original thesis.
STYLE
The prose is clear and concise, and the structure is logically arranged with chapters in chronological order.
EMOTIVE EFFECT
Much like the trials themselves undoubtedly did, the book invokes a sense of outrage for the various crimes committed by the Third Reich under Nazi rule. In particular, the way the author addresses Goering’s continued arrogance and insistence that he did no wrong by his actions invokes strong emotions in the reader. The clear message that the book–and the trials themselves–convey is that the trials were meant to be an act of justice without resorting to uncivilized retribution.
VOICE & PERSPECTIVE
The book is written in a modest, but authoritative tone. Jason Zenobia, who reads the Audiobook version, has a calming yet engaging voice that adds to the solemnity of the topic discussed. Quotations are not excessive, and are used to enhance the historic narrative.
PURE ENTERTAINMENT
Nuremberg Trials was neither exceptionally exciting nor particularly dull. It holds attention, but does not bring you to the edge of the seat. It is, to its credit, not rooted in expositional fact and not sensationalism. It flows well and the typology of the book is not distracting.
INTELLECTUAL VALUE
This book has as much depth and breadth as can be expected in an hour-long rendering. The summaries in this series are not quite to the level of the Oxford Very Short Introduction series or Cambridge Elements collection.
The series doesn’t pack the prestige, but is useful if you have an underlying understanding of what you’re getting—an unattributed summary in about an hour.
Unless purchased as a school resource to get kids interested in various historic topics, I would not recommend the purchase of the hardcover or softcover, since the price cannot be justified given the limitations and length of the book. However, the audiobook and ebook are worth the price for individual use if they are on sale (they usually are).
The lack of citations or bibliography is worrisome, and likely a product of Hourly History’s desire to pump out short works at an industrial rate. Without references, it is difficult for a reader to verify the factual accuracy of the book without prior expertise on the subject matter.
Having read several Hourly History books, it appears that each chapter is independently authored, and then these chapters are plug-and-played into various books where the topics are relevant. Sometimes there are contradictions between the chapters.
For example, in Nuremberg Trials Chapter 1 states “Although British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in favor of shooting the leaders, Soviet leader Josef Stalin said that in the Soviet Union, they preferred public trials for propaganda purposes”—giving the impression that it was the Soviets who convinced the allies to be judicial with the Nazis—and Chapter 2 states “The Soviets and the British, who had directly suffered from the Nazi attacks, were more punitive in their intentions than the Americans. At one point, Stalin proposed trying and executing as many as 100,000 German staff officers. Churchill suggested executing high-ranking Nazis without a trial. But the Americans believed that a criminal trial would document the charges and avoid subsequent accusations that the defendants were condemned without evidence”—giving the impression that it was the Americans who convinced the allies to choose justice over vengeance.
The intellectual value of the book is watered down by not using the technical or official terms. For example, the book states, “Nonetheless, Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, and Josef Stalin of the U.S.S.R. issued their first joint declaration noting the mass murder of the Jews of Europe with a resolution to prosecute the ones responsible.” In this instance, the author fails to name the Joint Declaration of Atrocities, of December 17 1942. If widely-recognized historic events and documents were named, it would widely enhance the scholastic usefulness of the book.
The book also does not give equal weight to all topics. For example, the author devotes two whole chapters to the arguments of the prosecution, but only four paragraphs to the defense.
Yet overall, Nuremberg Trials is an objective, unbiased presentation of the history of that historic event. The author presents the viewpoints of critics of the trials as well as advocates.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Hourly History’s Nuremberg Trials meets expectations. It is exactly what it claims to be, no more no less–a historic summation that can be consumed in about an hour.
Overall Rating: 8.05/10
Ratist Rating: #/10
Review by Jerron Orton
Hourly History. Nuremberg Trials: A History from Beginning to End. Hourly History, 2020.
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