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10 Works 691 Membros 27 Críticas

About the Author

Born and raised in the United States, Susan Ronald has lived in England for more than twenty-five years. She is the author of The Pirate Queen, The Sancy Blood Diamond, and France: Crossroads of Europe. Ronald owns a film production company and is a screenwriter and film producer. Visit her online mostrar mais at www.susanronald.com. mostrar menos

Obras por Susan Ronald

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome canónico
Ronald, Susan
Outros nomes
Balerdi, Susan
Ronald, Susan Robin
Data de nascimento
1951
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
USA (birth)
Local de nascimento
Los Angeles, California, USA
Locais de residência
Oxfordshire, England, UK
Ocupações
historian
film producer
screenwriter
Organizações
British Shakespeare Association
Prémios e menções honrosas
FRSA
Agente
Alexander C. Hoyt Associates

Membros

Críticas

I hadn't know of Florence Gould prior to this book, but I was quickly fascinated by this high-society woman who managed hotels on the French Riviera and purchased artwork looted by Nazis. Florence Gould is not a heroine, but she was certainly interesting. I particularly found her activities during World War II, when she resided in France and appeared to have contacts with both the Nazi occupiers and the French Resistance. Highly recommended for those seeking a complicated read about a woman during this time.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
wagner.sarah35 | 2 outras críticas | Oct 27, 2023 |
Hitler's Aristocrats by Susan Ronald

This book was sent to me by the publisher St Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you.

The title of this work is slightly misleading. There is so much more than another rehash of the Windsors and the Mitfords disgraceful behavior. Ronald reveals a dizzying array from outright traitors and easily duped diplomats to those turning a blind eye in order to maintain or achieve their status in society. A pathological fear of communism and Goebbel's propaganda machine manipulated both the intelligent and the naive to deny their principles and even the witness of their own eyes.

The playlist is long and varied. Fortunately, Ronald includes a Dramatis Personae which is six pages long. There are certainly aristocrats and socialites. A key member is Princess Stephanie Von Hohenlohe, a Viennese commoner who married a minor member of the Hapsburg dynasty and was happy to spy for Hitler. She was embraced by English society matrons like Sybil Colfax and Emerald Cunard. At their gatherings, she hobnobbed with cabinet members, members of Parliament and industry leaders. Berlin got all of her gossip.

The Press helped. both in Britain and the US. Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail and W. R. Hearst in the States printed articles praising Hitler. Many in the diplomatic corps, chief among them Ambassador Joseph Kennedy believed that Hitler was only interested in restoring Germany's political and economic status and his antisemitism was an unfortunate result, but understandable. Charles Lindbergh was an active supporter of fascism, as was his buddy Henry Ford.

Yes, there are sane voices who saw the truth and reported it. Journalists Dorothy Thompson and William Shirer wrote chilling descriptions of what they saw in Germany. And US Ambassador Dodd sent back scathing reports to FDR about what was really happening to the Jews in Germany.

There are so many people, many right but more wrong, who are in this book. This is a cautionary account about how vulnerable we are to propaganda and how charm and charisma can disguise pure evil.

This study is a cautionary tale. If happened before,,,,
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Liz1564 | 1 outra crítica | Mar 8, 2023 |
Hitler's Aristocrats: The Secret Power Players in Britain and America Who Supported the Nazis, 1933-1941, by Susan Ronald, offers more names and more details to what has become an unsettling and better-known element of our past.

What one needs to understand is that these people include those arguing for appeasement, but not the ones who simply thought not going to war would keep Hitler contained. These people by and large supported Hitler's ideas and often wanted those policies imported into their own countries. In other words, we are only peripherally discussing those who thought it might be politically feasible to make treaties and hope things would get better. This is about antisemites and the worst types of nationalists. And there are a lot of echoes of these sentiments in our current political environment, so while this is history, it also speaks to our current world.

Most of us know about a lot of the people mentioned here, how they spewed vile ideas which included supporting Nazi ideals. What Ronald does so well here is bring in a few names we might not have been aware of as well as offer more details on how these people, secure in their own affluence, actively sought to spread not only the ideology but the policies that created so much death and destruction.

Highly recommended for both history buffs and those who know that history often foreshadows future (or current) events. The writing is engaging, and the information is valuable.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
pomo58 | 1 outra crítica | Nov 18, 2022 |
Hildebrand Gurlitt would, perhaps, wished above all else to be a respected bureaucrat in Germany's art museums. But, it was not to be. As a man "reduced" to being an art dealer, and one who suffered in the Third Reich from having had a Jewish Grandmother, he had to learn how to tap dance in occupations that the Nazis found temporarily useful. If he had shifted his family to the western Democracies, he might have survived as a low level art Gallery operator, or manager, specializing in German Expressionist or surrealiast art. But, he instead became part of the massive art theft that benefited Hitler or Goering by looting Jewish collectors and painters until the end of the war. To survive, he learned to bully and loot, and to prosper, he started using all of the techniques to steal for himself. He was clever, and managed to survive the war, and squirrel away from the former owners a massive amount of the paintings of the 1930's. He died in a traffic accident, still sitting on his hoard. Only when his son failed at quietly disposing of some of the works did the mass of his "Collection" come to the notice of the law enforcement agencies of the turn of the millenium.
The account is clearly written and the tale instructive for anyone placed in a position of trust dealing with other people's wealth.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
DinadansFriend | 4 outras críticas | Oct 3, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
10
Membros
691
Popularidade
#36,611
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Críticas
27
ISBN
52
Línguas
1

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