Shocking and addictive to read, I am stunned by how terrible the women of powerful Nazi men were. Their lifestyles were lavish and in full support of the government and its horrors. This book mentions several women who are not well known as their husbands. Honestly, as a woman myself, it made me disgusted.
Thank you to the publisher and author for this arc.

Nazi Wives is a heavy yet very interesting read. Everyone knows the men that comprised Hitler's Third Reich and you can easily find books and information dedicated to them. Their wives on the other hand are harder to learn about. I quite enjoyed learning about the wives of the Third Reich.

<blockquote>When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.</blockquote>
–Rudyard Kipling, "The Female of the Species"

We're not supposed to notice things like this in the time of "Believe Women"...yes, of course, if they're telling the truth, but always, always <B><I>LISTEN</i></b> to women with open minds...but the women in this book were not exemplars of twenty-first century womanhood's new (!) course. They were awful, racist, anti-semitic, and deeply spoiled people, as one would expect.

Ilse, Carin, Emmy, Gerda, Eva, Margaret, Lina, and Magda married men who ran the worst, most heinous government of the twentieth century. They knew, either from direct evidence or from the unavoidable lessons of sheer propinquity, the kind of men they were married to, and they acquiesced at the minimum and ably assisted in other cases (thinking of Magda Goebbels most especially) in forming and maintaining the ethos of the Reich.

Not one of the women who survived WWII ever expressed regret or remorse for her, or her husband's, actions. These women were prototypical, stereotypical Mean Girls. They reveled in their luxurious lifestyle, they shut down whatever empathy they possessed when confronted with anything that challenged their world, and most especially in the case of Magda Goebbels (who went so far as to murder her children when defeat was inevitable) showed no obvious signs of possessing a conscience.

That made the read kind of revolting on some levels and deeply upsetting on others. I wasn't aware of the facts presented by Author Wyllie. In many ways I wish I still wasn't! But the truth is, the authorial choice to refer to the men by their surnames and the women only by their first names made teasing apart which horrible woman was attached to what vile man more complicated than it needed to be. This is also a function of the organizational principle used, that of dealing with the entire pack of wolves as a whole. I found myself flipping around, looking to connect (eg, Gerda Bormann's, the most often) strands. Gerda was far and away the woman I found least interesting, coming across to me as a Stepford wife without much to recommend her in either positive or negative ways.

All that said, the organizational longueurs are the source of the rating but the informational content earns the author and the book my recommendation. I'm glad someone has, at long last, foregrounded the role that women played in the Third Reich, at the highest levels, in setting, supporting, and even exemplifying the worst of an awful regime.

This biography was a very hard read for me. It made me very uncomfortable. These women did horrible things that really disturbed me. I really did not enjoy this book.

This is a great historical fiction read! I love books with a WWII setting and loved that this story focused on the wives of the Nazi Leaders and their role in this difficult part of our history. I haven't read a book on this subject in the past. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! I've always been intrigued by WW2 history, but this book in particular was interesting. It humanized the wives of Nazi leaders, while also unveiling the role they played in many of the horrors of the Nazi regime. Wyllie was well written, well researched & presented a deep picture - showing both the deep flaws & humanity of these women.

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction books about WWII since it is my favorite genre. The amount of research invested in the book is admirable. This book was a different take from what I normally read. The author does an amazing job of being fair and unbiased as he presents the lives of the women married to the men who played a part in Hitler's evil empire. However, the reader will find it hard not to make personal judgments. I continue to be astonished at how they viewed themselves as righteous and without fault. While the title leads you to believe the book is about the wives, it really focuses more on the men. It is still an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Great historical nonfiction read! Highly recommend it to fans of the genre and those looking to expand their reading circle. Learn more about the wives of those in power in Nazi Germany. Purchasing for library.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book.very well researched and easy to read I can't wait to do mire research on Nazi wives.

I found this book really interesting. It's not very often that you get an inside perspective from members of the Nazi party. It was very fascinating.

This is a Non-Fiction book about Nazi Wives some of it is about before WWII, some of it is during WWII, and of course some of it takes place after WWII ended. I found this book very interesting, and I really love that there was some pictures of them. I read a ton of WWII books (Non-fiction and Historical Fiction) and this is not like any one I have read before. It is a heavy read, but I have to say it was so worth the read. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) or author (James Wyllie) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

This book was fascinating. I've read a lot about Hitler and his inner circle and aside from Eva Braun most history books rarely if ever mention other women and if they do it is only to say that so-so Nazi official was married to so-so. This book does the opposite. Here it's all about the women who were married or were lovers of high Nazi officers. This read as a glossy society gossip magazine, with all the drama and jealousy one can imagine. It was interesting to read about the philanthropic and charitable actions of the women, while their husbands were killing millions of people either on the front lines or in the camps. Don't be confused, however, these women were no angels - their devotion to Hitler and Nazi ideas knew no limits even after the war ended and the world found out about the horrors committed in concentration camps. Almost all of them remained devoted followers until their deaths many decades later.

I knew very little of these Nazi women. Their stories are horrifying and brutal and very difficult to digest. The was a well-researched and well-written account of a very difficult subject matter.

Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler’s Germany
James Wyllie
St. Martin’s Press, Nov 2020, 320 pages
Provided by Pub via Netgalley
Historical Novel
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love the cover. The way the black and white photos of the women are arranged creates the appearance somewhat of a swastika without actually using one. It encloses the women and makes them complicit just as the men in Hitler’s group were, their husbands. They were just as bad as their husbands in the way they treated the people under their control.

Parts of this read like a novel and great parts of this read like history, so I’m calling it a historical novel, though I don’t think that’s how the author intended it. It appears to be well researched. Mr. Wylie was talking about the senior military wives and the young women socially in Hitler’s circle; well, he certainly went in circles. So much so that at times I wasn’t sure who he was talking about. Ilsa, Magda, Gerda, Hedwig, and the list goes on and on. So many for a man who was said to not feel comfortable around women. Well, Mr. Wylie rounds them all up and shines a light on many things that were never meant to see the light of day. And it wasn’t just the anti-semitism, but the total lack of caring for their fellow man. While others were living like animals, starving, they were demanding and getting French couture and perfumes, make-up and beauty supplies, wines and alcoholic beverages, and all their usual foods. They also had fully staffed houses, chauffeur driver cars, and bodyguards. Of course, their houses were staffed from the work camps and they could treat them any way they wished. When they wore out staff, they simply replaced them from the camp. No questions asked. No one cared. They not only betrayed their fellow man, but they also betrayed each other at times, their husbands. In the end, many of them ate cyanide capsules rather than face punishment. Others went through the process and wanted sympathy because they weren’t allowed to see their husbands while they were in prison. They were a strange group all told. The book was interesting if at times confusing as to who was who. It’s not a group I want to know any more about. Recommended.

My husband is a West Point Graduate, we were stationed in Germany during Reagan's determination to bring down the Berlin Wall. My husband had a Command of a Nuclear Detachment that had missiles pointed at Russia twenty - four hours a day. We lived in a small German village about an hour from the Alps, the reason for telling this is, I am not surprised by these Nazi wives! The people we lived beside are still pro Nazi, pro Hitler! They don't want anyone to believe six million Jews were murdered. I don't believe those women would have ever criticized Hitler, if he had kept winning! It is scary to realize how superior many Germans think they are! Josef Mengele's name, and family are splattered all over that part of the world, to this day! They are not ashamed in the least! I think Netflix should make a documentary on this book, show the absolute truth of these women who loved their privileges more than the murdering of innocent people!
I highly recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee. com

Author James Wyllie published the book “Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany” in 2020. This is Mr. Wyllie's this publication.

I categorize this novel as ‘G’. The book tells the story of the wives of key Nazi leaders. This includes Hess, Goering, Himmler, Bormann, Goebbels, Heydrich, and Ribbentrop. It also touches on Hitler's women, Eva Braun and Geli Raubal.

The book gives a more 'human' look to the Nazi leaders and their families. It covers the mistresses/girlfriends of the leaders in addition to their wives.

I enjoyed the 9 hours I spent reading this 281-page WWII history. I was not surprised to find that all of the women were believers in the Nazi cause. I think that the chosen cover art is appropriate. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. First of all, if you are interested in World War II or Nazi history, this is a must read. I have always been interested in the atrocities of the Nazi regime and consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the topic. BUT this book had tons of information I had never heard. In fact, I finished it in one sitting! The author was very detailed and researched the information very well, and the story of the Nazi wives has not been adequately told.

This is a look at the women behind the scenes during a pivotal time in the Holocaust. I found this book raw, heartbreaking and brave. The way the story is told was very interesting and different from many of the books I’ve previously read... How much did these women know? I did enjoy that you found out the after part of the women’s lives..It is told in a different voice and it provided pictures ans quotes from various diaries... This book was very different from my previous Holocaust reads and I definitely recommend giving it a chance! Although it was representing women and their role I still felt this book was told from a man’s POV and for that I gave it ⭐️⭐️👍 stars.

3.5-4 stars.

I received this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favourite genres to read are books about WWII, so when I stumbled across this book I was instantly intrigued,This book focuses on the wives of the top Nazi/Hitler supporters. Which is an angle I haven't read before.

It was very interesting to see how much influence they inevitably had over their husbands and more so Hitler. The general disregard to the entire holocaust that they showed is downright scary. Only a few of the wives actually spoke up or perhaps thought that Hmm, this isn't right. But the majority didn't. And why would they? They were getting money. They were living luxurious lives while the rest of the country were in shambles. Only when the war was getting out of Hitlers control, did they finally question (publicly).

I also, cannot believe how many people committed suicide/or attempted it. It seemed like every person at least thought about it, even carrying out infanticide as well. That shocked me.

I thought that the punishment for the wives were not severe enough. There were some women who were HItler's right side woman, and they got off a little to easy, also always trying to redeem their husbands names. Claiming that they were only following out of love and obedience. And I guess that is part of the scariness of it, This book was very well researched and had some great details about certain dinner parties- which makes these men and wives- very very human.

This book sparked an interest for me as well; I wonder how many of the children of these prominent figures denounced Nazism , or if they are still part of the Neo-Nazi movements.

James Wyllie did a great and very thorough job at researching the wives behind the men. If you are looking for a different viewpoint, definitely check out this book.

Fascinating look at a group of WW2 players I've really never given thought to. Other than the usual Eva Braun, Magda Goebbels, and Goring's wives, I haven't ever read anything about these women. I believe they all got off pretty easy, far easier than they should have. It was a good read about some power hungry, reviling women, their families and friends. This would make a great gift to anyone interested in WW2 and also a good addition to a collection.