Book description
In this compelling book, highly acclaimed author and broadcaster
Laurence Rees tells the definitive history of the most notorious Nazi
institution of them all. We discover how Auschwitz evolved from a
concentration camp for Polish political prisoners into the site of the
largest mass murder in history - part death camp, part concentration
camp, where around a million Jews were killed.
Auschwitz examines the mentality and motivations of the key
Nazi decision makers, and perpetrators of appalling crimes speak here
for the first time about their actions. Fascinating and disturbing
facts have been uncovered - from the operation of a brothel to the
corruption that was rife throughout the camp. The book draws on
intriguing new documentary material from recently opened Russian
archives, which will challenge many previously accepted arguments.
This is the story of murder, brutality, courage, escape and
survival, and a powerful account of how human tragedy of such immense
scale could have happened.
Laurence Rees is the writer and producer of the major BBC
television documentary series World War II: Behind Closed
Doors, War of the Century, Horror in the East and
Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. He won the
British Book Award for History Book of the Year in 2006 for his
international bestseller Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final
Solution'.
Rees' career as a writer and filmmaker, focusing on the Nazis and
World War II, stretches back nearly 20 years. His body of work has won
him several awards, including a BAFTA and a Grierson Award. He was
educated at Solihull School and Oxford University and is the former
Creative Director of BBC TV History programmes.
