The Perfect Nazi

Reviews / Votes

One of the most unsettling books to have been written about the Third Reich ... It is two stories in one- both riveting - that of the dentist's transformation into unswerving SS officer and of the grandson's appalled discovery. Woven together they make for unforgettable, haunting reading. -- Simon Schama A fascinating and extraordinary journey into the heart of Nazism -- Ben Macintyre, author of Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat Martin Davidson has done a brave thing: he has confronted and revealed his own family's Nazi past. The result is absorbing, highly readable and painstakingly researched -- Niall Ferguson The utterly compelling account of what it's like to discover that your grandfather was a ruthless officer in Hitler's SS -- Philip Kerr The Perfect Nazi is a terrific piece of writing, shedding light on how ordinary Germans abetted the Nazi terror and how in later years all was conveniently "forgotten" -- David Cesarani, author of Eichmann: His Life and Crimes A fascinating and compelling account. This is an important book for anyone interested in the moral climate which led to the Holocaust and the other crimes of the Third Reich. -- Adrian Weale * Evening Standard * A riveting narrative that brings a fresh vividness to a familiar episode -- Valerie Grove * The Times * Davidson's journey into his grandfather's past makes for a compelling and unsettling tale ... A thoughtful and affecting book. * Telegraph * Shocking and compelling ... Hollywood fiction turns out to be not so far from the truth as revealed in Martin Davidson's fascinating account of his maternal grandfather * Sunday Times * Chillingly addictive ... Davidson was right to decide that, whatever the cost, Bruno had "forfeited the right" to post-humous anonymity -- Roger Hutchinson * Scotsman * This highly readable, thought-provoking book highlights the challenges that German families have faced as they seek to put the past behind them ... It offers a window on how the different generations grappled with the Nazi past -- Hester Vaizey * Independent * The Perfect Nazi is an important and engrossing story ... at the same time a brave and repulsive work. It also provides a thorough and morbidly fascinating insight into the circumstances that led ordinary people to descend into Hitlerian madness and become monsters * Herald Scotland * An engaging book, which is part popular history and part Who Do You Think You Are?, and should appeal to fans of both genres. An illuminating story well told -- Roger Moorhouse * BBC History Magazine * It's a remarkable book for a whole host of reasons, but mainly because the author has managed to write that most difficult of non-fiction books - a personal history that is also a general history ... What Martin Davidson has achieved here is the ideal balance between his own shock at discovering his grandfather was a member of the feared SD - the intelligence division of the SS - and the general atmosphere of the times. He treads this path with great skill. And in the process reveals that he is a very fine writer indeed -- Laurence Rees, ww2history.com, and author of The Nazis: A Warning From History A compelling and disturbing account of the legacy of Nazism ... Davidson succeeds in creating an overview not only of his maternal Grandfather's life and career but of his own search for truth * Publishers Weekly * A chilling expose of a dark family secret ... Davidson doesn't blink at the ugly truth of Bruno's actions * Kirkus * A good edition to the Nazi genre ... Davidson not only tells the tale of his grandfather's experience, but also provides insight into how and why young Germans could choose the Nazi way of life * Library Journal *