"Originally published in Great Britain under the title The devil's disciples: the lives and times of Hitler's inner circle"--T.p. verso

Includes bibliographical references (p. [948]-956) and index

Part 1: Roots 1918-1923 -- "Our time will come again' -- "if only there could be fighting again' -- Fighting the November criminals -- Beer Hall revolution -- Part 2: The years of struggle 1924-1933 -- Regrouping -- A star in the making -- "Chief Bandit of Berlin' -- "We come as enemies' -- "SS-Man, your loyalty is your honour' -- "Now the chess game for power begins' -- The turning point -- Part 3: Power and Revolution 1933-1936 -- Power -- Co-ordination -- The end of the Brown Revolution -- Night of the Long Knives -- "We always approve everything out Führer does' -- The four-year plan -- Part 4: The greater German Reich 1937-1939 -- The Blomberg-Fritsch Affair -- Anschluss -- The Sudetenland Crisis -- Kristallnacht -- 'I'll cook them a stew that they'll choke on' -- 'I have the world in my pocket' -- 'If we lose this war, then God have mercy on us' -- Part 5: War: Germany triumphant -- Blitzkrieg -- 'Yellow' -- Eagles and sea lions -- 'The whole world will hold its breath' -- 'The greatest deception operation in military history' -- Barbarossa -- Part 6: War: defeat -- The final solution -- The beginning of the end -- 'Do you want total war?' -- 'Call me Meier!' -- Last throw of the dice -- Götterdämmerung -- The end of the road

The Nazi Regime was essentially a religious cult relying on the hypnotic personality of Adolf Hitler, and it was fated to die with him. But while it lasted, his closest lieutenants competed ferociously for power and position as his chosen successor. This peculiar leadership dynamic resulted in millions of deaths and some of the worst excesses of World War II. The Devil's Disciples is the first major book for a general readership to examine those lieutenants, not only as individuals but also as a group. It focuses on the three most important Nazi paladins-Goring, Goebbels, and Himmler-with their nearest rivals-Bormann, Speer, and Ribbentrop-in close attendance. Others who were removed in various ways-like Gregor Strasser, Ernst Rohm, Heydrich, and Hess-play supporting roles. Making the fullest use of diaries, documents, and memoirs, The Devil's Disciples offers fresh insights into their characters and their relationships to one another and to Hitler. Perceptive, illuminating, and grandly ambitious, The Devil's Disciples is above all a powerful chronological narrative, showing how the personalities of Hitler's inner circle developed and how their jealousies and constant intrigues affected the regime, the war, and Hitler himself. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Nazi period, or the workings of a dictatorship

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