The Nazis styled themselves as warriors against moral degeneracy. Yet, as Norman Ohler's gripping bestseller reveals, the entire Third Reich was permeated with drugs- cocaine, heroin, morphine and, most of all, methamphetamines, or crystal meth, used by everyone from factory workers to housewives, and crucial to troops' resilience - even partly explaining German victory in 1940. The promiscuous use of drugs at the very highest levels also impaired and confused decision-making, with Hitler and his entourage taking refuge in potentially lethal cocktails of stimulants administered by the physician Dr Morell as the war turned against Germany. Blitzedforms a crucial missing piece of the story of WW2.
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Blitzed, the most interesting non-fiction book I've read this year, describes the role of pharmaceutical companies and pill-pushing doctors in the Nazi war machine - from the methamphetamines issued to soldiers that enabled them to conquer much of France in a few days, to the cocktail of injected drugs intended to keep the ailing and delusional Hitler appear healthy enough to function as Fuehrer (think 'Dunkirk' to 'Downfall'). Painstakingly researched, very readable and highly recommended. - Stephen (QBD)
Guest, 07/10/2017
