The acclaimed author of Hitler’s Art Thief takes listeners into the shadowy world of the aristocrats and business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic who secretly aided Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Adolph Hitler said, “I am convinced that propaganda is an essential means to achieve one’s aims.” Enlisting Europe’s aristocracy, international industrialists, and the political elite in Britain and America, Hitler spun a treacherous tale everyone wanted to believe: that he was a man of peace.
Central to his deception was an international high-society Black Widow, Princess Stephanie Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, whom Hitler called “his dear princess.” She and others conspired for Hitler at the highest levels of the British aristocracy and spread their web to America’s wealthy powerbrokers.
Hitler’s aristocrats became his eyes, listening posts, and mouthpieces in the drawing rooms, at the cocktail parties, and on the weekend retreats of Europe and America. Among these “gentlemen spies” and “ladies of mystery” were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Lady Nancy Astor, Charles Lindbergh, and two of the Mitford sisters. They were the trusted voices disseminating his political and cultural propaganda about the “New Germany,” brushing aside the Nazis’ atrocities.
Distrustful of his own foreign ministry, Hitler used his aristocrats to open the right doors in Great Britain and the United States, creating a formidable fifth column within government and financial circles.
In a tale of drama and intrigue, Hitler’s Aristocrats uncovers the battle between these influencers and those who heroically opposed them.
Download and start listening now!
“Unearths the efforts of dozens…who helped pave the way for getting Hitler’s ‘big lie’ accepted by so many…[A] highly readable drama of highborn traitors who enthusiastically aided the Nazi ascent to power.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“British narrator Hannah Curtis engagingly conveys Ronald’s impeccable research and convincing claims. Listeners will be captivated…An excellent addition to any audio history collection.”
— Library Journal (starred audio review)“An absorbing study of the ubiquitous nature of propaganda and the ‘murky puppeteers’ who actively worked to blind the world to Hitler’s crimes.”
— Shelf Awareness“Profiles fascist sympathizers both well-known and obscure…Her insights into how quickly anti-democratic views can take root in the popular attitudes of the wealthy are relevant today.”
— Publishers Weekly“Meticulously documents Hitler’s rise to power by focusing on the societal and political entourage he cultivated…Recommended.”
— Library Journal“Hitler’s Aristocrats is by turns fascinating and heartbreaking as it sheds light on those who abetted rise to power and also those who courageously opposed him.”
— Dr. Amanda Foreman, author of A World on FireBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Susan Ronald is a British-American biographer and historian. She is the author of several books, including A Dangerous Woman, Hitler’s Art Thief, Heretic Queen, The Pirate Queen, The Sancy Blood Diamond, and France: Crossroads of Europe.
Hannah Curtis is an actress known for her appearances in The Shadow, Hollyoaks, and The Heavy. She graduated from Elmhurst School of Performing Arts and is involved with organizations such as the Actors Center in London and the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles.