Hitler’s Death

The Case Against Conspiracy

Hitler’s Death cover

Hitler’s Death

The Case Against Conspiracy

Description

A revealing look at the many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of the twentieth century's most destructive dictator.

Did Hitler shoot himself in the Führerbunker or did he slip past the Soviets and escape to South America? Countless documentaries, newspaper articles and internet pages written by conspiracy theorists have led the ongoing debate surrounding Hitler's last days. Historians have not yet managed to make a serious response. Until now.

This book is the first attempt by an academic to return to the evidence of Hitler's suicide in order to scrutinise the most recent arguments of conspiracy theorists using scientific methods. Through analysis of recently declassified MI5 files, previously unpublished sketches of Hitler's bunker, personal accounts of intelligence officers along with stories of shoot-outs, plunder and secret agents, this scrupulously researched book takes on the doubters to tell the full story of how Hitler died.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Illustrations
Preface

Introduction: Is History Wrong?

1 The Evolution of Facts and Conspiracies
I Hitler Waves
II A New Approach

2 British Intelligence and Rumours of Survival
I 'Sheer Poppycock': The Foreign Office Investigates
II 'Baumgart is Telling Lies': The War Office Files
III Double Trouble: Debunking the Escape Theories

3 American Intelligence and Rumours of Survival
I 'A Dollar to a Doughnut': Hitler in America?
II Hitler in Argentina?
III Recurrent Legends: The CIA Investigations
IV 'Is Hitler Dead?' American Military Intelligence Investigates
V Hitler Everywhere? The Importance of Context

4 Political Motivations? British, American and Soviet Conduct
I Why Trevor-Roper? Investigating the British Investigations
II Preventing a Hitler Myth: Rumours, Motivations and Context
III Triumph of the Wills
IV Anglo-American Solidarity
V Appeasing the Soviets? British Intelligence and Soviet Conduct

5 Helping Hitler Escape? The Hunt for Hitler's Henchmen
I Bormann is the Key?
II The Hunt for Heinrich 'Gestapo' Müller
III The Mass Suicide
IV 'Why Not Hitler?' Real Escapes from the Bunker

6 The Evidence Still Stands
I Positive and Consistent Evidence
II Alternative Versions of Hitler's Death
III The Skull Changes Everything?

Conclusion: 'The Onus is on Hitler'

Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Notes
Index

Product details

Published 21 Mar 2019
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 240
ISBN 9781472834515
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Series General Military
Short code GNM
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Luke Daly-Groves

Luke Daly-Groves is a PhD researcher based at the…

Resources

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