Hermann Goering was Hitler's most loyal supporter, his designated successor and the second most powerful man in the Third Reich. One of the main architects of the Nazi regime, he was also instrumental in the creation of the Gestapo and directly ordered the Final Solution. But who was the man behind the carefully-constructed mask? Self-indulgent and ruthless, sybaritic and brutal, egotistical yet capable of self-effacement, weak-willed yet fiercely calculating, Goering was a contradictory, complex and often bufoonish character. He styled himself as the 'Iron Man' but was known to wear togas, fur coats and faux-medieval hunting outfits. A brilliant World War I fighter pilot, military leader and mercurial Luftwaffe commander, he also loved the opera and took a perverse pride in his ill-gotten, infamous art collection. In this classic biography, Richard Overy takes the reader on a chilling journey into the heart of Hitler's inner circle.
He illuminates the many facets of Goering's personality and charts his story from his golden days as Hitler's most trusted commander to his failures and loss of power after the Battle of Britain, his sensational trial at Nuremberg and his ignominious death by suicide on the eve of his execution.
- ISBN10 1848859325
- ISBN13 9781848859326
- Publish Date 30 November 2011
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 11 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Imprint I.B. Tauris
- Format Paperback
- Pages 328
- Language English