Long before Hitler entered the stage, ariosop-ic thought already thrived in Germany en Europe. This boek provides a peak into one of the oldest sources on this theme: the early work of Rudolf von Sebottendorff, a mystical man who prophesied the downfall of the fatherland as a consequence of the stab-in-the-back myth. The grounds for anti-semitism, which became more fertile after the German defeat of November 1918, was formed by, a.o, Sebottendorff, as frontman of the Thule Society; a myterio...

Besides the persecution and annihilation of the Jewish community, the quest for Lebensraum was a pillar of the Nazi’s ideology. The march east, operation ‘Barbarossa’ (1941), was essentially the final part of the geopolitics of the Third Reich. Historian Pierik takes readers into the world of ideas behind these politics, where cold blooded, rational elements go hand in hand with myths and radical beliefs.

An example of solid and, more importantly, understandable historiography

-Jan Je...