The Countess and the Nazis
An American Family's Private War
by Richard Jay Hutto
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Pub Date Feb 18 2025 | Archive Date Feb 25 2025
The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc. | Lyons Press
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Description
From American heiress to Nazi resistance fighter, Muriel White's extraordinary journey reveals how one woman's privilege became her weapon against tyranny.
Drawing from never-before-published memoirs and declassified CIA documents, "The Countess & the Nazis" unveils the remarkable true story of a woman who traded America's Gilded Age society for a title in Prussia's aristocracy—only to find herself making the ultimate sacrifice to protect her children from Hitler's regime.
As the daughter of one of America's most respected diplomats and the wife of a Prussian count, Muriel White Seherr-Thoss moved effortlessly through Europe's royal courts until the Nazi shadow fell across her adopted homeland. When faced with evil, she chose resistance over privilege:
- Leveraged her aristocratic connections to secure escape routes for Jewish families
- Witnessed the Italian Fascist invasion of Albania while mentoring the future Queen Geraldine
- Sacrificed everything to keep her sons from being conscripted into Hitler's army
- Defied the Gestapo even as they held her virtually prisoner in her own country
From internationally recognized historian Richard Jay Hutto comes an exhilarating account of principled anti-fascism that Publishers Weekly calls "a fascinating story brought to light...an exhilarating account of principled antifascism". This narrative reveals how one woman's courage stood against the rising tide of evil and how she paid the ultimate price for her convictions.
Advance Praise
“Hutto brings to light the fascinating story of Muriel White... an exhilarating account of principled antifascism.” —Publishers Weekly
"This compelling tale traces the intricately intertwined history of American high society with European nobility in the face of rising Nazism. A haunting saga of family in the turmoil and tragedy of the twentieth century." —Dina Gold, author of Stolen Legacy: Nazi Theft and the Quest for Justice at Krausenstrasse 17/18, Berlin
"With extensive knowledge and prodigious research, Richard Jay Hutto has unearthed an extraordinary saga, ultimately tragic, proving once again that rich American girls should have nothing to do with unworthy European aristocrats. The book has an important subplot: the poignant story of Queen Geraldine of the Albanians. A most enjoyable read." —Hugo Vickers, award-winning royal biographer and broadcaster; author of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece, and others
"In Richard Jay Hutto’s The Countess and the Nazis, the only biography of Muriel White, a heroine relegated to a forgotten footnote of history, the author resurrects her remarkable story."—Marlene Wagman-Geller, author of Women of Means and The Secret Lives of Royal Women
"A Gilded Age American heiress with an impeccable social pedigree marries nobleman Count Hermann Seherr-Thoss of Prussian Silesia on the eve of World War I—and then all hell breaks loose. Richard Jay Hutto’s The Countess and the Nazis has glamour to spare, brand names from Queen Victoria to Ian Fleming, and international intrigue of the highest order—all played out in one family’s story." —Donna M. Lucey, author of Sargent’s Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas and the New York Times best-selling Archie and Amélie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age
"Richard Jay Hutto’s The Countess and the Nazis is a vividly detailed account of rich Americans and European aristocrats, from the glamour of the Gilded Age to the deadly dangers of the Third Reich. At the heart of the story is the complex and courageous American heiress Muriel White, Countess Seherr-Thoss, who engages the reader from the dramatic first page through the rest of her turbulent life. Hutto describes her world and its famous and infamous characters as though he knew them all." —Patricia Beard, author of After the Ball: Gilded Age Secrets, Boardroom Betrayals & the Party That Ignited the Great Wall Street Scandal of 1905
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781493086566 |
| PRICE | $29.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
