Bestsellers of the Third Reich

Readers, Writers and the Politics of Literature
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-80073-039-7
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 310 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 585 g

Despite the displacement of countless authors, frequent bans of specific titles, and high-profile book burnings, the German book industry boomed during the Nazi period. Notwithstanding the millions of copies of Mein Kampf that were sold, the era’s most popular books were diverse and often surprising in retrospect, despite an oppressive ideological and cultural climate: Huxley’s Brave New World was widely read in the 1930s, while Saint-Exupéry’s Wind, Sand and Stars was a great success during the war years. Bestsellers of the Third Reich surveys this motley collection of books, along with the circumstances of their publication, to provide an innovative new window into the history of Nazi Germany.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Adam, Christian

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Deutsche Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: ‘Please, God, Keep Me from Writing a Book about Books!’

Part I

Chapter 1. Sifting, Destroying, Controlling and Promoting: The Politics of Literature under the Swastika

Chapter 2. Bestsellers in a Dark Time: Their History and Readers

Chapter 3. Hitler’s and Goebbels’ Bedtime Reading: What Prominent Nazis Liked to Read

Part II: The Ten Most Successful Book Types in the Third Reich

Chapter 4. On the Foundation of Facts: Popular Non-Fiction Works

Chapter 5. The Colour of Money: NS Propaganda Texts

Chapter 6. Not So Quiet on the Western Front: The Boom of War Books

Chapter 7. Laughing through Life, Jolly Volk: Humour and Comedy

Chapter 8. From Medical Romance Novels to Science Fiction: The Themes and Authors of Modern Light Literature

Chapter 9. Commodifying Authentic People’s Literature: Karl May, Courths ­Mahler and the Heroes of Pulp Fiction

Chapter 10. Foreign Narrative Art: Bestsellers from Abroad

Chapter 11. In the Shadow of the Classics: Highbrow Literature

Chapter 12. Blood without Soil: The Successes of National (Social)ist Authors

Chapter 13. Field Grey Pays Dividends: Reading Fodder for Wartime

Conclusion: On the Trail of Bestsellers

Appendix: Selected Bestsellers and their Sales Figures

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Adam, Christian
Christian Adam is Head of the Publications Department at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr. His previous publications include Der Traum vom Jahre Null: Autoren, Bestseller, Leser (Galiani 2016).

Christian Adam is Head of the Publications Department at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr. His previous publications include Der Traum vom Jahre Null: Autoren, Bestseller, Leser (Galiani 2016).