Goebbels: A Biography

By: Peter Longerich, Alan Bance - translator, Jeremy Noakes - translator, Lesley Sharpe - translator

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

As a young man, Joseph Goebbels was a budding narcissist with a constant need of approval. Through political involvement he found personal affirmation within the German National Socialist Party. In this comprehensive volume, Peter Longerich documents Goebbels' descent into anti-Semitism and ideology and ascent through the ranks of the Nazi party, where he became an integral member of Hitler's inner circle and where he shaped a brutal campaign of Nazi propaganda.

In life and in his grisly family suicide, Goebbels was one of Hitler's most loyal acolytes. Though powerful in the party and in wartime Germany, Longerich's Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and consumed by his fierce adherence to the Nazi cause. Longerich engages and challenges the careful self-portrait that Goebbels left behind in his diaries, and, as he delves deep into the mind of Hitler's master propagandist, Longerich discovers firsthand how the Nazi message was conceived. This complete portrait of the man behind the message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for years to come.

©2015 Original material by Peter Longerich. Recorded by arrangement with Random House, a division of Random House LLC. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Compare and Contrast

The current events of the United States seem familiar to 1930’s Germany. These books on the Nazi leaders, who they were, how the got into power should be a warning for everyone.

Well written and well performed listen so the word won’t forget.

Great study of a truly sick man

I've read several tomes on Nazi Germany. This is definitely a valuable contribution to the analysis of how a civilized nation could succumb to murderous fanatics. The author probes Goebbels' diaries in parallel with news reports, other historical documents and more to try to understand how Goebbels, head of propaganda, could become what he became and do what he did.

A Fascinating Historical Journey

This book held my attention, for the most part, but since it was almost entirely based on the contents of Goebbel's diary, some sections were just dull. Secondly the book jumped around more than necessary rendering it confusing at times. All in all however, as a devotee of this era, I enjoyed it.

Great Book for WW2 history buffs

Those with a good understanding of Hitler and WW2 history will really enjoy this book. If you are looking for a simple one dimensional story on how Goebbels was the evil genius who employed ingenious government propaganda mass media techniques to brainwash the completely blameless German population into mass genocide and Total War - this is probably not the book for you - it is way too long and nuanced and won't keep your attention.

After reading this book, I feel like I have a good understanding about Goebbels, but there are much more details about his life which I could learn about. The book is focused on describing his life. The author does bring up a few psychological theories of narcissism which while probably correct are not the focus of the book and do not detract from the storyline.

Narration Unprofessional

Narrator repeatedly pronounces core terms incorrectly, including Volk, Zeitung, and Berlin. That's not only irritating but totally unprofessional.

Excellent Biography

And Prebble is among the very best narrators! Learned a great deal from listening to Noakes fascinating account of Goebbels' life.

An intimate account

A thorough analysis of the propaganda minister and his relationships. First, about the narration, it is blissfully free from the common mispronunciations that plague most Third Reich audiobooks. Prebble does a wonderful job. This chronicle explores the actions and literary leavings of Goebbels and is so full of direct references that it threatens to be an autobiography. This is expertly balanced by simultaneous reports from other viewpoints that reveal insights that would be lost were one to only read Goebbels’ documents alone. I believe that this book represents real historical scholarship and would be overwhelming had the author less skill. I feel that even a novice to the period would come away with a clear understanding of the man and his time. Highly recommended.

Will leave you none the wiser

Listening to this (well produced) audio book leaves the reader struggling to explain how Goebbels ever managed to become one of the most successful and influential practitioners of propaganda the world has seen. The author seems more interested in cod-psychology and value judgements which really tell us nothing about the methodology behind the man's work. By the end you can't help feeling Goebbels succeeded in spite of himself. But if any old venal, fawning and corrupt wretch can achieve this much then why are advertising execs paid so much? I can't believe this is an entirely accurate assessment of the man's diaries.

Good book!

The book is pretty good! What I really liked about the book is that thy author doesn’t just throw in his opinion at every turn, for the most part he sticks to the facts as it is in the diary, and shows some minor skepticism at various parts. Unlike other autobiographies where the author feels the need to input their opinion and tried to play it off as fact! This book was really fair as far as that goes, I highly recommend this book!

A dependent narcissist

We know so much about hitler that we often forget the psychology of those who were in his circle. I was aware of Goebbels, of course, as are most people who study history, but he was much more complex and much more psychologically dependent on hitler, and his own mother, than I knew. His own writings are fascinating. It's a fascinating book and I would recommend it to anyone studying WW2, the holocaust or history in general.