Book Review: Doctor Goebbels
| Date | 01 December 1960 |
| Published date | 01 December 1960 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206001500412 |
| Author | T. H. Qualter |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
360
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
devotion to
enjoyment
was
determined. After
receiving
the
lowest
possible
standing
commensurate
with
taking
a
degree he
dabbled in
law
at
the
Inns
of
Court.
Failing
to
meet
the
standards there,
in
part
because
of
a
distaste
for
law,
he
returned
to
Malaya. Nothing in
his
record
at
Cambridge or
in
the
years
which he
spent
in
his
native
country
before
World
War
Two
gave
evidence of
either
ability
or
dedi-
cation
to
governmental
service.
All
this
changed
with
the
Japanese
invasion
of
1941.
Rahman
now
began
to
display
a
keen
interest
in
his
country and
to
show
considerable
ability in
administrative
work.
When
the
war
ended
he
gradually
moved up
from
one
position
of
authority
to
another until
his
supreme
moment
came
when
he
was
offered
and
accepted
the
Presidency
of
the
U.M.N.O.
The
struggle for
Malayan
independence
was
now
joined.
It
was
one
which
was
bound
to
be
complicated
and
protracted
for Britain
was
justifiably
reluctant
to
turn
over
the
reins
of
government
to
Malaya
until
the
Communist
guerrillas
were
destroyed
and
the
political
rights
of
the
very
large
Chinese
and
Indian
population
safeguarded.
When
these
conditions
were
met
the
British
gracefully
withdrew
and
Rahman
became
Malaya's
first
Prime
Minister.
The
story
of
Rahman's
life
can
hardly
be
dull,
for
this
is
a
man
with
an
exciting
past,
unquestioned
ability
when
his
mind
is
put
to
the
task,
and
a
keen sense
of
dedication
and
devotion
to
duty.
Un-
happily,
the
book
does
not
measure up
to
the
man.
The style
Is
often
irritating,
the
judgment
of
events sometimes
uncertain
and
the
analysis
of
character
often
superficial.
The
book
abounds
in
exchanges
of
con-
versations
which
may
be
accurate
but
are
never
documented.
Further,
the
story
of
the
offering
of
the
presidency
of
the
U.M.N.O.
to
Rahman
lacks
depth
and detail.
Finally,
the
sections
examining
the
grave
racial
problems
Malaya
faces
are
too
thin.
But
one
should
not
judge
Mr. Miller
too
harshly.
He
is
out to
write
a
short
and
popular
account
of
a
fascinating
man,
and
if
you
want
a
brisk
and
lively
story
then
Mr.
Miller's
book
will
fill
your
needs.
University
of
Toronto
PATRICK
C.
T.
Wiirr
DocTroa
GoBmBs.
His
Life
and Death.
By
Roger
Manvell
and
Heinrich
Fraenkel.
1960.
(London:
Win.
Heinemann
Ltd.;
Toronto:
British
Book
Service.
xiii,
329pp.
$7.00.)
Joseph
Goebbels
was
not a
man
one
would
expect
to
find
in
the
Nazi
hierarchy.
Intelligent,
cultured,
in
many
ways
ascetic, and
partly
crippled, he
did
not
fit
the
popular
concept of
the
Aryan superman.
Yet
only
Goebbels
chose
to
remain
and
die
with
his
Fiihrer
in
the
Berlin
Bunker.
In this
new
biography
Roger
Manvell
and
Heinrich
Fraenkel
seek
an
explanation
for
the
dedicated
fanaticism
of
the
Minister
of
Propa-
ganda
and
National Enlightenment,
the
Gauleiter
of
Berlin
who
died
with
his
city and,
for
one
last
day,
Chancellor
of
the
Reich.
It
Is
a
book
that
explodes
many
widely
accepted
myths
about
Goebbels
which
he
was
in
a
unique
position
to establish.
It
draws
testimony
from
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