âSets the record straight on Albert Speerâs assertions of ignorance of the Final Solution and claims to being the âgood Nazi.âââKirkus Reviews  In his bestselling autobiography, Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments and chief architect of Nazi Germany, repeatedly insisted he knew nothing of the genocidal crimes of Hitlerâs Third Reich. In this revealing new biography, author Martin Kitchen disputes Speerâs lifelong assertions of ignorance and innocence, portraying a far darker figure who was deeply implicated in the appalling crimes committed by the regime he served so well.  Kitchen reconstructs Speerâs life with what we now know, including information from valuable new sources that have come to light only in recent years. The result is the first truly serious accounting of the man, his beliefs, and his actions during one of the darkest epochs in modern history, not only countering Speerâs claims of non-culpability but also disputing the commonly held misconception that it was his unique genius alone that kept the German military armed and fighting long after its defeat was inevitable.  âA devastating portrait of an empty, narcissistic and compulsively ambitious personality.ââThe Wall Street Journal  âKitchenâs exhaustively researched, detailed book nails, one by one, the lies of the man who provided a thick coat of whitewash to millions of old Nazis. Its fascinating account of how the moral degradation of the chaotic Nazi regime corrupted an entire nation is a timely warning for today.ââDaily Mail (âBook of the Monthâ)  â[An] excellent new biography . . . Kitchen has taken a wrecking ball to Speerâs mendacious and meticulously created self-image. And about time, too.ââHistory Today
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