Reviews for Parry and Kerridge: The Law of Succession

The average rating for Parry and Kerridge: The Law of Succession based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-13 00:00:00 Joel Tomaszewski I recently read a short biography of Goering which focused on his career in aviation. Added to my general interest in the psychology of war criminals, that book motivated me to purchase this longer, more encompassing biography. The author, writing in the early seventies, expects some general knowledge of the war in Europe from his readers. The war is but a backdrop for a portion of his subject's life. Substantial attention is paid to Goering's years previous to the Nazi acquisition of power. What emerges from this study is a plausible representation of an individual whereby the formation of his character is sufficiently described so as to make his subsequent behaviors understandable. Whether or not it is accurate, I am not yet in the position to judge. It is, however, believable. The author (1913-92) worked as chief war correspondent for the Sunday Times and had actually met Goering before the conflict began. While well-documented and supplemented by post-war interviews, this is not a scholarly book.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-03-17 00:00:00 Mike Bauer Now that it is possible to mention the name of Goering (and certain others) without having people froth at the mouth, it is of some interest for the generations who took no part in the running or actual unfolding of the war that ended all his fondest hopes, to look at the man he was. Mosely is a well-known and competent journalist and writer who has done a solid job of bringing the (only very rarely) extraordinary Goering to life. There were many aspects of this life which were unusual certainly, and a number of pointers exist that can give us insight into just how he ended the way he did. At the very end, when finally having to give himself up to the Americans (as he and many other Nazi staffers were suddenly so eager to do, since the Russians were in Berlin), it appeared for a moment that the whole thing (the war) had just been a bad joke that had gone slightly sour. Goering thought, for just a while, that he would be accorded the rights normally associated with high-ranking prisoners in his circumstances; being able to give his parole and so on. The awful truth only dawned on him as he was brought back slowly but certainly for trial, and we know in the end that he (quite cleverly) avoided the worst, by crunching down on a cyanide capsule. Thus ended the career of this First World War ace, a man who had no doubt suffered from some extraordinary delusions in his time, who had probably failed in his duty to his own people (by allowing the Luftwaffe to stagnate) and who had been the staunch supporter of the man later to wear the not so thorny crown of history's worst felon. It is an easy read, and for students of the period, or for anyone wanting to glean the details without having to go through the transcripts of the Nuremberg trials or other voluminous works, it is to be highly recommended.