Blitzed by Norman Ohler featured on the Radio 2 Fact not Fiction Book Club on 3 November 2016.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK. Find out more about the non-fiction strand of the Radio 2 Book Club.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read.
Blitzed
The Nazis presented 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. While drugs cannot on their own explain the events of the Second World War or its outcome, Ohler shows, they change our understanding of it. Blitzed forms a crucial missing piece of the story.
Selection panel review
Our library reading panel found Blitzed fascinating – here are some of their comments:
“Well-written and researched this is a great history book focusing on drug taking (on a massive scale) in the Third Reich. The author’s style is engaging and accessible. There is information on the rise of the pharmaceutical industries in Germany, the part played by Hitler’s personal doctor – Theo Morell, the widespread use of Pervitin (in particular) among the troops and how this stimulant helped the Nazis to invade France in 1940. The author describes his researches at the US National Archives and the Military Archive in Freiburg and his use of Dr. Morrell’s extensive notes and diaries which reveal how he treated Hitler virtually every day between August 1941 and April 1945 administering 800 injections.”
“This book provides quite a unique perspective and insight into the invasions of the Germany Army of Poland and France from 1939 and the use of a highly addictive psychotropic stimulant called Pervitin. I was immediately ‘hooked’ into the narrative, wanting to know more about the author’s findings to add to my knowledge of World War II and the Third Reich. The author’s detailed research from German and American archives whilst never apportioning blame provides a wealth of information about Germany. This book is quite extraordinary. It provides a view that Nazi Germany had a culture of drug abuse at a time of war that clearly would have affected strategic decision making at a high level. It is exceptional.”
About the author
Norman Ohler was born in Zweibrücken in 1970. He is the author of three novels, Die Quotenmaschine (the world’s first hypertext novel), Mitte and Stadt des Goldes as well as two novellas. He was co-writer of the script for Wim Wenders’ film Palermo Shooting. He researched Blitzed in numerous archives across Germany and the United States.
Get involved
Listen to the Radio 2 Arts Show to hear Jonathan Ross discuss the book with author Norman Ohler.
Do you want to read Blitzed? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #FactNotFiction. You can also see what other readers thought, or add the book to your group’s reading list.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.
