Why read The Politics of Literature in Nazi Germany?

Book cover of The Politics of Literature in Nazi Germany: Books in the Media Dictatorship

Book description

This is the most comprehensive account to date of literary politics in Nazi Germany and of the institutions, organizations and people who controlled German literature during the Third Reich. Barbian details a media dictatorship-involving the persecution and control of writers, publishers and libraries, but also voluntary assimilation and pre-emptive self-censorship-that…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Politics of Literature in Nazi Germany as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Andrew Pettegree

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It is striking that the multitude of studies of propaganda in the Second World War deal with newspapers, cinema, radio, and poster campaigns and largely ignore books. The Nazi regime certainly did not, as this fascinating and authoritative book makes clear. From the first months after their takeover of power, Nazi authorities moved swiftly to establish control over libraries and the publishing industry, as well as authors and booksellers. This is the definitive study of how the German book world was reordered to serve the totalitarian state.

From Andrew's list on The best books on the history of communication.