Blitzed

By: Norman Ohler, Shaun Whiteside - translator, Claire Bloom - director

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Nazi regime preached an ideology of physical, mental, and moral purity. But as Norman Ohler reveals in this gripping new history, the Third Reich was saturated with drugs. On the eve of World War II, Germany was a pharmaceutical powerhouse, and companies such as Merck and Bayer cooked up cocaine, opiates, and, most of all, methamphetamines, to be consumed by everyone from factory workers to housewives to millions of German soldiers. In fact, troops regularly took rations of a form of crystal meth - the elevated energy and feelings of invincibility associated with the high even help to explain certain German military victories.

Drugs seeped all the way up to the Nazi high command and, especially, to Hitler himself. Over the course of the war, Hitler became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drugs - including a form of heroin - administered by his personal doctor. While drugs alone cannot explain the Nazis' toxic racial theories or the events of World War II, Ohler's investigation makes an overwhelming case that, if drugs are not taken into account, our understanding of the Third Reich is fundamentally incomplete. Carefully researched and rivetingly listenable, Blitzed throws surprising light on a history that, until now, has remained in the shadows.

©2017 Norman Ohler (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Another side of WWII history

Would you consider the audio edition of Blitzed to be better than the print version?

This narrator is great, and he did a really good job with pronunciation of names and terms from several languages (German, French, Russian, etc.). I did not read the print version, but my sister read the print version while I was listening and I think we got a different experience from the book. While I find it difficult to keep "characters" straight with audiobooks versus print, I think the listening brings the story a different quality.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I wouldn't call him my favorite character, but Hitler was very entertaining. He was such a horrible hypocrite and this book paints that hypocrisy in a new light. It's also very relatable to today's issues surrounding opiod use.

What about Stefan Rudnicki’s performance did you like?

He has a very deep voice that matches the menacing and down right despicable actions of the Nazis.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The alternate view of Hitler's psychosis and the Nazi actions in WWII

Any additional comments?

This is a fascinating story of not only big pharma mass producing extremely harmful products, but it gives another perspective of the level of manipulation by Nazi leaders in Germany during WWII.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

The best "Gotterdammerung" book I have ever read.

I am a 70 year-old physician, specializing in addiction medicine, and still practicing. SUPERB BOOK.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

A bus driver in Knoxville, TN recommended this

If you read "The Butchering Art" you know about the "cadaver hill" at the University of Tennessee. I asked the bus driver where it was and a discussion ensued. He read "The Butchering Art" (he does Kindle), so told me about "Blitzed" thinking I'd like it. Puts the European Theater of WWII in a new perspective.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Well written, Well narrated

Everyone , including historians have opinions and biases, once you get past that, you can get a lot out of a book. The author clearly has a bias. Once you accept that, then you can listen and enjoy this very different look at Hitler and the third reich. And the narration is perfect for this type of book. If you are history buff, you'll enjoy this book..

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

If you ever find yourself in need of yet another reason to think that world war 2 was bonkers, look no further.

Stefan Rudnicki is excellent here as usual and the translation is very good.
The story itself is crazy and interesting.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I gave it a real try, returned it

because I couldn't get past the narrator's very level voice, no inflection what so ever.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Eyeopening book

Anyone who is interested in war history or even medicine would find this book enlightening and captivating. Dr. Morell as a civilian physician served a significant role in affecting world history!! It was interesting to learn of the significant part the pharmaceutical giants Bayer and Merck,etc. played in the world war.
Having read this book, we experienced a little known part of history that most people are not aware of.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

super interesting

I would suggest everyone listen to this book. I never thought I could ever feel bad for Hitler, but I do by the end of the book. he did very terrible, atrocious things that are unforgivable, but I feel bad for him at the end of his life.

Was very excited to learn more but was bored with the reader

I was so excited to listen to this book and learn more. But was instantly turned off by the narrator. I found myself not being able to focus because he was so dull. I somehow finished this book and found myself googling more for the information that getting from the book. I think this may be a book you have to physically read yourself.

Essential to an understanding of Hitler’s war

Brilliantly researched, ‘Blitzed’ completes an understanding of the German war effort that was ultimately nothing without its drugs- the endurance of the army, the fanaticism and charisma of the leadership, and the illusory altered states that stubbornly prolonged the doomed war are all explained in this book. Essential!