The Gestapo

A History of Horror

By: Jacques Delarue, Mervyn Savill - translator

Narrated by: Eric Brooks

Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

A history of Nazi Germany's secret police written by one of their victims, with a new introduction by the author.

From 1933 to 1945, the Gestapo was Nazi Germany's chief instrument of counter-espionage, political suppression, and terror. Jacques Delarue, a saboteur arrested by the Nazis in occupied France, chronicles how the land of Beethoven elevated sadism to a fine art. The Gestapo: A History of Horror draws upon Delarue's interviews with ex-Gestapo agents to deliver a multi-layered history of the force whose work included killing student resisters, establishing Aryan eugenic unions, and implementing the Final Solution. This is a probing look at the Gestapo and the fanatics and megalomaniacs who made it such a successful and heinous organization: Barbie, Eichmann, Himmler, Heydrich, Mller. The Gestapo's notorious reign led to the murder of millions. The Gestapo is an important documentation of what they did and how they did it.

©1962 Histoire de la Gestapo by Jacques Delarue, World copyright ibrarie Arthème Fayard, 1962. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great book, awful reader

Would you try another book from Jacques Delarue and Mervyn Savill (translator) and/or Eric Brooks?

I would definitely try another book, as the information was interesting and pretty complete.

What other book might you compare The Gestapo to and why?

It's difficult for any book to live up to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich for history, but this has a lot of good detail.

How could the performance have been better?

He had a very weird cadence--very slow, with overly long pauses and extremely dramatic flourish, as if he were reading a bedtime story to a small child. He also seemed to take longer pauses before names and foreign terms. It was extremely distracting.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately, I didn't get through the whole book due to the performance; I just couldn't listen to him long term. I'd say, get this book in print, and skip the audiobook. Save your monthly credit for something else--I wish I had.

Once read never fogotten!!

Where does The Gestapo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a great book. It reveals the Gestapo as it was, as it became, and what it caused - the uncountable lives that this wickness has consumed!!! Please after reading this book THINK the next time you or someone else calls someone, organization, and Government NAZIS GESTAPO what it really means - after reading this you will be changed.

This book is without peers for it reveals what once was a power for evil that once rule the huge land mass of EUROPE! This must never happen again!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gestapo?

How the people so willing give up their freedom

Have you listened to any of Eric Brooks’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Excellent dictation and tone, he was terrific!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, it makes me realize that todays persons do not want to know, do not care to know as it could not happen again - sad so very sad!

Any additional comments?

Please buy and read

Excellent book

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the the period. But you will need a strong interest and a strong stomach to go through this horrifying history.

Gripping and informative.

This book really opened my eyes as to the enormity and scale of the savagery of the Nazis. Highly recommended.

Great listen

It's so very funny but when I first bought this book all I heard from many reviewers was how great the book is, but how poorly the reader performed. I didn't find that to be the case at all. I thought the entire production was great, including the reader. I'm thinking that the folks who trashed the reader ought to untwist their panties, listen to the book again, and enjoy it this time. It really is a good listen.
Mike

Dated, but still worth consideration

Also, written for a French audience, and there is an obvious focus on France, at the expense of the other regions in which the Gestapo operated.

Detailed History

Such a great in depth depiction of the individual members of the gestapo & associated events. Interesting but disheartening to see what depravity humans are capable of. Extremely important message to acknowledge.

Interesting, but awful to listen to

Would you try another book from Jacques Delarue and Mervyn Savill (translator) and/or Eric Brooks?

Maybe. The content was all well-researched and contained a few tidbits that were new to me (I've read/listened avidly to WWII books). It is an interesting blend of small details and big events that makes the narrative come alive. However (and this is a big one) it seriously lacks in punctuation. I don't know if the original version contained so many run-on sentences, if the translator failed, or if the narrator just inserted pauses whenever he wanted but it felt like 5 minute sentences. These odd pauses made it is really hard to concentrate and I kept losing the train of thought. The narrator would also insert long awkward pauses before almost all German words (and there are quite a few of those). I wanted to like this, I really tried to listen to it, but overall it was just hard to follow the narrative.

Modestly Good

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I would say that I don't regret having listened to this book. There was enough detail and theories regarding how events unfolded that aren't found elsewhere to make this worth the time to consider its perspectives.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending is highly speculative with little more than rumor to back it up, and the real failure is that the book doesn't make clear that it is speculating, but presents it as known fact.

What aspect of Eric Brooks’s performance would you have changed?

Given the material, I don't think I would have changed much beyond learning the proper pronunciations of names and places.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably. I like movies based on history even when they radically depart from it. This book isn't a radical departure. So the movie would be tempting.

Any additional comments?

It's a little breathless and certain of things that are well-known to be uncertainties. It also sometimes falls into editorializing which is a mistake for this kind of history, which speaks for itself.

A must read about genuine evil.

This is an excellent description of one of the darkest chapters of human history. The only reason I didn't give it a 4 rating was because (in my opinion) the author got too much into the detail weeds in the last several chapters when describing the administrative changes that occurred in Germany during the last 6 months of WW2. Everyone, especially ultra liberal Americans who are wont to compare President Trump to Hitler, should read this book. Unless, and until, one reads an account such as this, one really has little comprehension of the pure evil and insanity of the Third Reich.