The lost life of Eva Braun
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15
Ratings1
Average rating4
The inner lives of the top Nazis and their families, Hitler's famous mistress—ultimately his wife—comes to three-dimensional life in this penetrating and critically acclaimed biography.
She left her convent school at the age of seventeen and met Hitler a few months later. She became his mistress before age twenty. They remained in an exclusive sexual relationship from 1932 until their joint suicides at the end of the war. Hitler's chauffeur called her "the unhappiest woman in Germany." The Führer humiliated her in public while the top Nazis' wives despised her. Yet Albert Speer said: "She has been much maligned. She was very shy, modest. A man's woman: gay, gentle, and kind; incredibly undemanding . . . a restful sort of girl." This authoritative biography, only the second life of Eva Braun written in English, based on detailed new research, opens a new window on life at the cold heart of the Nazi leadership.
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This biography seeks to humanize and understand Eva Braun, not exonerate her. Her life was blisteringly sad and empty, hollowed out by the man who would end the lives of millions. Hers is a very personal tragedy, though I don't think she would have seen it as such.
The author spends a bit too much time talking about her family's history for my taste, but that's up to personal choice. It's definitely interesting that her mother lived a very parallel life to Eva, though.
