Book Review: The House Built on Sand
| Author | Peyton V. Lyon |
| Published date | 01 June 1961 |
| Date | 01 June 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206101600210 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
189
brought
together
so
usefully and
so
brilliantly
anywhere
else
in
any
language.
The
book
has its
weaknesses:
the historical
background
is
pedestrian
and
unknowing;
repetitions
occur
(one
tires
of
meeting inevitably
"the
fat
Reich
Marshal");
the
author's
unfailing astonishment
by
the
mass
of
materials
results
in
what
seems
like
hundreds
of
reassurances
to
the
reader
that
all
this
comes
from
"the
captured
German
documents";
the
discussion
of
domestic
affairs
is
thin
and
unrevealing, perhaps
because
the
reconstruction
of
ordinary
life
in
the Third
Reich
is
a
far
more
difficult,
far
less
exciting
task,
materials
for
which have
hardly
been
collected
as yet;
sometimes
one
feels
that
the
sense
of
proportion fails,
so
that
a
minor
but
gossipy
matter
(the
unhappy
views
of
the
Duke
and
Duchess
of
Windsor,
summer
1940)
may
outshine
a
major
problem
(the
collapse of
France,
which
unleashed
the
full
catastrophe
of
the
era);
for
all
his
diligence
and
skill,
Mr.
Shirer
has
missed
a
good
many
important
studies
and
documents (as
old
as Theodore
Abel's,
as
recent as
Hans-Adolf
Jacobsen's work)
and
interpretations
suffer
here and
there
for
it. But
no
fat
two-volume
study
(and
that
really
is
what
this
is)
could
exhaust
the
subject.
This
one
is
already
crammed
with
information,
wonderfully
put
together.
A
first-rate
portrait
of
the
Third
Reich,
as
seen
largely
from
the
top,
it
leaves
room
for
other
studies
of
the
regime
viewed
from another
level
altogether.
But
while
these
other
books
are
in
the
making,
Mr.
Shirer's
work
will
serve
to combat
the
wave
of
amnesia
which
has
overtaken
the
West.
Perhaps it
is
a
good
thing
that
a
book club
is
putting
this
volume
into more
homes
than
have
been
reached
by
any
other
serious
study
of
Hitler
(unless
it
was
Heiden's
Der
Fuehrer
in
1944,
and
that
stopped
with
the
establishment
in power).
It
is
true,
of
course,
that
the
same
club once
deluged
its
members
with
Mein
Kampf,
"unexpurgated".
How
many read
that
particular
literary
monstrosity?
It
hardly
matters
now.
But
in the
wake
of
the
storm
there
is
no
such
excuse
for
not
reading
Mr.
Shirer's
superb
book.
University
of
Toronto
JOHN
C.
CAIRNS
THE
HousE
BUILT ON
SAND.
The
Conflicts of
German
Policy
in
Russia
1939-1945.
By
Gerald
Reitlinger.
1960.
(London: Weidenfeld
and
Nicolson.
Toronto:
Ambassador
Books.
459pp.
36/-)
Reitlinger
was
not
primarily
concerned
with
military
problems
when
writing
this
lucid
account
of
the
Nazi occupation
of
Russia.
Rather
he
tackled
such
questions
as:
"To
what
purpose
did
Hitler
launch
this
vast
campaign?",
and
"Could
he
have
succeeded
if
his
occupation
policy
had
been
less
brutal?"
Despite
his
evident
mastery
of
the
now
ample
sources,
the
author
could
discover
"no
reasonable
explanation"
for
the
invasion.
Hitler
was
not committed
to
attack
and
Stalin's
posture
was
far
from
threaten-
ing;
indeed
Russia was
delivering
to
Germany
more
materials
than
could
reasonably
have
been
expected
to
be
gained
through
occupation.
Hitler's
lack
of
clear
purpose
was
subsequently
illustrated
by
the
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