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Now in paperback, the groundbreaking history of the Nazi research institute whose work helped lead to the extermination of millions
For those who thought the zealous Nazi archaeologists in Raiders of the Lost Ark were a screenwriter’s fabrication, journalist Heather Pringle has the chilling, real story. In 1935, Heinrich Himmler -- chief of the SS and architect of the death camps -- founded the Ahnenerbe, a research institute that manufactured archaeological evidence to support the notion of Aryan superiority. His team of adventurers, mystics, and reputable scholars was charged with traveling the globe to compile “proof” that a race of blondhaired, blue-eyed conquerors had dominated the world in prehistoric times. The identification of their descendants and the eradication of all others became the cornerstone of the Nazi agenda.
Drawing on Pringle’s extensive original research, including interviews with surviving members of the Ahnenerbe, The Master Plan is a page-turning story of delusion and excess, of scientific and political abuse on a global scale.
Reviews
". . .an authoritative account of how the Third Reich tried to turn the scientific study of ancient peoples and cultures into another propaganda
tool." --Wall Street Journal
"A highly readable study full of extraordinary characters and events . . . a fascinating and disturbing story that raises serious questions about the
relationship of science and genocide in the 20th century." --Globe and Mail
"Phenomenal . . . Just when we thought we had learned all we could about these monsters along comes another tale as sinister as any yet uncovered. Heather Pringle belongs in the company of Barbara Tuchman and Hannah Arendt." --Larry Kramer
"A fascinating volume detailing the Nazis’ crackpot theories about prehistory and the Indiana Jones--style lengths they went to prove them . . . This is first-rate popular history." --Publishers Weekly
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