Despite the displacement of countless authors, frequent bans of specific titles, and high-profile book burnings, the German book industry boomed during the Nazi period. Notwithstanding the millions of copies of Mein Kampf that were sold, the era’s most popular books were diverse and often surprising in retrospect, despite an oppressive ideological and cultural climate: Huxley’s Brave New World was widely read in the 1930s, while Saint-Exupéry’s Wind, Sand and Stars was a great success during the war years. Bestsellers of the Third Reich surveys this motley collection of books, along with the circumstances of their publication, to provide an innovative new window into the history of Nazi Germany.

Praise for the German edition:
“Draws our attention not only to the breaks in National Socialist cultural policy, but also to the more interesting and generally little-researched continuities.” • Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“A study rich in material, but written in a pleasant, reader-friendly style.” • Vorwärts

“Depicts a lost reading landscape in vivid detail … Not only a scholarly study, but an exciting contribution to intellectual history.” • Der Tagesspiegel

Christian Adam is Head of the Publications Department at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr. His previous publications include Der Traum vom Jahre Null: Autoren, Bestseller, Leser (Galiani 2016).