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Albert Speer
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Spandau: The Secret Diaries Paperback – February 17, 2010

by Albert Speer (Author), Richard Winston (Translator), Clara Winston (Translator),
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This is one of the most amazing books every written. After being convicted in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, the prisoners were not allowed to have writing paper, were not allowed to write their memoirs and were allowed only limited visits from their relatives. However, they were allowed to have toilet paper. So, on thousands of squares of toilet paper, Albert Speer wrote his diary in tiny letters so small that they could hardly be seen, which he was then able to pass to his relatives when they visited him. By the time Speer was released on September 30, 1966, twenty years later, there were more than twenty thousand pages of secret diaries just waiting to be edited and published, but it took him another ten years before he could bear to look at them. Albert Speer was a brilliant writer and the world should be forever grateful to him for leaving us this work, that addresses and attempts to answer questions the world will always be asking, including: 1. How was Adolph Hitler, an obvious madman, totally insane, able to attain and keep such great power? 2. Why did the German people not recognize what was happening and do something about it long before the destructive end? 3. Most importantly: Can this happen again? Could and will another Hitler arise, perhaps not in Germany again? Perhaps in the United States of America? What assurance do we have that a lunatic madman could not enter the White House and do much worse than Hitler ever did?
Previous page
  1. Print length
    566 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Ishi Press
  4. Publication date
    February 17, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5.98 x 1.26 x 9.02 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    4871878791
  7. ISBN-13
    978-4871878791
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ishi Press (February 17, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 566 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 4871878791
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4871878791
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.81 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 1.26 x 9.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Albert Speer

Albert Speer

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
160 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

forrest c posey
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2012
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This is a MUST read book, so much detail & information. One of my favorite books on a different slant about the Nuremburgh Nazi Trials/ Holocaust / what the " saved " Nazis endured during their stay in Spandau
etc. Very easy reading . My personal feeling is ALL of them should've HANGED, Speer included ! So many escaped JUSTICE because maybe they weren't the " exact " ones to lead the poor men/women/children into the Gas Chambers etc., but they didn't have too, they had others to do their "BLOODY Work" for them & were able to keep their hands "clean ". While SPEER was no doubt " Between a Rock & A Hard Place ", he knew of the MONSTROUS regime he was working for & what it's EVIL Plans were for the Jews & others that didn't " FIT " into Hitlers future ! He just figured as long as he was not "physically " attached, he was " clean " ! He was part of the EVIL CHAIN OF COMMAND & should've hung! There's no doubt thousands that escaped justice should've HUNG, camp guards etc., as i've read several books on the Holocaust & survivor storys. The whole WORLD owes the JEWS an apology ? { more than that ] because of HOW we ignored what was being done to them [not just the Jews ]when we KNEW way beforehand of the catrastophe that was developing !!!Shame on us , may WE [The World ] NEVER allow nothing like this to EVER happen again !!!!
3 people found this helpful
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Franky63
5.0 out of 5 stars We are treated to beautifully written private moments with the chancellor of the third ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2018
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A stunning book, written by a stunning writer who would have become a master of the universe, had he not chosen to bet on the wrongest horse of the 20th century: Adolf Hitler. Speer was the architect but also, and that's what makes his tale so interesting, the fuhrer's protégé. We are treated to beautifully written private moments with the chancellor of the third reich, on picnics near frontlines, visiting theaters the chancellor wants renovated--he was a mise-en-scène addict--while recording his world class awkwardness and world-weariness with extreme gusto. Speer tale is multi-layered: part prison diary, part soul search for his motivations in following so blindly a madman into the destruction of Europe, part spoiled brat who regrets, without saying so, that history has not taken a more favorable turn, as it would have made him, he thinks, the architect of the 20th century. One hell of a tale from a man who "was in the room" where the future of Europe was being decided in blood. It reveals how accommodating one can be with dictatorship without ever seeming to. For history buffs. Beautifully introspective, it is a stark warning on how little arrangements with reality--ie denial--can lead to huge prison sentences.
One person found this helpful
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Capt J. D. Obenberger
4.0 out of 5 stars maybe I should just have known better. Rudolf Hess comes through as a real jerk
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2018
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It must have been a serious challenge to turn twenty years of notes clandestinely written on toilet paper and smuggled out by cooperative guards into something interesting, but Speer pulled it off. This was tough, especially because religion is about nonexistent in Speer's thinking and there really exists no convincing story of introspection/redemption/repentence. Speer, and his co-detainees were materialists and went through only the most superficial moral exercises. Yet, I admit, it is a very interesting book for other reasons. He does go back to cover intimate human details about Hitler that were left out in Inside the Third Reich - for example, Hitler's fascination with the writer of westerns and adventure stories in German, Karl May, who is almost unknown in the English speaking world. When Hitler was overcome by adversity, he'd crawl up in bed with a book by May to recharge his batteries. Who would have guessed? I should not be surprised that most of the guards from each of the 4 occupying powers were corruptible and snuck in cogniac and cigars, and so now I wonder less about how cyanide was smuggled into Goerring at Nuremburg. I was kinda surprised at the corruption, maybe I should just have known better. Rudolf Hess comes through as a real jerk, in technicolor, a malingerer who tried to fake (or maybe exaggerate) his mental disorders for sympathy or a break that never came. All the gory details. And much talk about Speer's lingering interest in architecture, a regret that his Germania was never built You will get something valuable from this book if you read it, for it is a rich source, but exactly what you derive will be more about you than the scattered and often undirected rambles that shape it. But it is as valuable as Inside the Third Reich. It will take you inside Speer's mind and a bit into those of the other prisoners, and more than a little into the thoughts of the guards, directors, and others who ran this tiny prison, even what they thought of how such prisoners should eat. The Russians get a fair measure of criticism, especially for gastronomic monotony (cabbage and stew mainly, statistics in the book) but he really does not tar them very much, and seemed to get along with an like the Russian guards, too, though the officers were tough nuts to crack. Even if you are not a professor of modern European history, you will find much that is interesting amidst the writings about twenty wasted years and you will form a better understanding about the basically amoral, materialist people who led the Third Reich.
21 people found this helpful
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Ballerina
5.0 out of 5 stars Confession of A Most Moving Kind
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2007
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That which was good (Inside the Third Reich) is now even better for "Spandau" is Speer's soul-searching account of and reflection on himself and his life while he was imprisoned for 21 years. The book was written in a day-by-day diary entry form so one almost feels one is there with him sharing his emotions and observations. He made it quite clear from the very outset that writing kept him sane but ".. it must be more than a matter of organizing sheer survival. This must also become a time of reckoning. If at the end, after these twenty years, I do not have an answer to the questions that preoccupy me now, this imprisonment will have been wasted for me. And yet I fully realize that even at best my conclusions can only be tentative..." Upon his release in 1966, he left the mass of papers of his prison diaries lay untouched, unread for over ten years before he finally published them. Apart from the historical importance, readers will enjoy the writing of a fine intellectual mind despite his sad observation that "Diaries are usually the accompaniment of a lived life. This one stands in place of a life." This is an immensely personal and moving book that no one could afford to miss and deserves much more than a running commentary.
14 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

R. Paquette
5.0 out of 5 stars INSIDE VIEW
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2023
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An extremely informative and educative view of what transpired inside the third Reich when coupled with the other book of Albert Speer titled "Inside the Third Reich" . A candid report of the author's personal life experience. Sometimes boring, but what could you expect of 20 years behind bars?
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Steven de Boer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great diary of Albert Speer the Architect, who helped the German Gorvernment during the 2nd. WW.
Reviewed in Germany on December 26, 2022
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A great diary of Albert Speer the Architect who helped the German Gorvernment during the 2nd. World War prosper.

You don't oftenly see such detailed and accurate diaries from important figures
that were part of the German Government during the WW2.

It is realistic and very interesting.
The diaries were written by Albert Speer himself during his captivity and smuggled after he was sentenced for 20 years after the WWII has ended.
The authors probably did not change much of his stories, they are Britons.
Albert Speer was an intellectual who helped during WWII with many great designs and schemes
for the Empire to become rich and prosperous.
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Phil
5.0 out of 5 stars If you are interested in Albert Speer this is unmissable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2012
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I would not necessarily recommend this book for people interested in or in Second World War or the Nazi Party. If you are interested in the life of Albert Speer and his `battle with the truth' you will however find this book hard to put down.

I would definitely recommend reading this book after you have read `Inside the Third Reich' by Speer. Inside the Third Reich is primarily about the governance of Germany under Hitler, as the title suggests. Although Speer looks into aspects of his own morality and the part he played in Hitler's regime this is not the real aim of that book.

The Spandau Diaries, written while Speer was incarcerated in Spandau Prison between 1947 and 1966, are far more unvarnished, due to their nature as journal entries. They delineate the battle of a man with loneliness and someone who I believe struggled to accept his place in history. From my limited architectural understanding if it had not been for his unique relationship with Adolf Hitler his architectural work would have been sound, but would never have made it into any history book.

Throughout his diaries Speer looks back at the past and remincies about moments with Hitler and some of the key decisions that were made in his presence. This is not the strength of this book though. This is a chance to get inside the mind of Albert Speer that the more varnished transcript of Inside the Third Reich does not offer.

The truth is that despite the excellent works like Albert Speer: His Battle with the Truth by the late Gitta Sereny we will never truly know how complicit Speer was in the greatest crimes of the Third Reich. This book however, along with other studies, has helped me to make up my own mind. Speer is truly a fascinating character and this book, if you are interested in his life, you have to read.
16 people found this helpful
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Ger Alt
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written
Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2023
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A heart breaking look in to one man's heart.
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Bulldog Burgess
5.0 out of 5 stars Witnesses and survivors of the biggest crime in history: WWII
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2022
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Albert Speer paints a picture of survival after a fall from power and interlaces it with gems from his other six Neighbours in Spandau and the Hitler inner circle. For those studying the greatest crime in modern history this is a must read. It will soon be on the shelves of the Welsh Spitfire library.
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