Thursday, January 27, 2005

I ran across an ad for an interesting set of books

while reading The Telegraph: Hitler: Speeches and Proclamations 1932 - 1945 - English Volumes by Max Domarus. I'll have to look at them at a library, there's no way I could afford them. There is a great chronology of the Hitler Era on that page, summarizing the contents.

The blurb:
In 1932, when Hitler became the most important political figure in Germany, Dr. Domarus began to collect his public statements, speeches, interviews, and letters, being conscious of their eventual documentary value. Friends at home and abroad persuaded him to make comments on this unique collection and publish it in its entirety.
This publication's most distinctive feature is to be found in the clear, concise and insightful comments of the author.

I wonder if they've addressed these objections:
2) AFTER HITLER COMES TO POWER: THE FLAWED COLLECTION OF MAX DOMARUS

The most widely used reference source for Hitler's speeches is

Max Domarus, ed. Hitler: Reden und Proklamationen, 1932-1945, 2 Bände. (Würzburg: Schmidt, 1962-63). Library of Congress # DD247.H5 A3758.
Max Domarus, ed. Hitler: Speeches and Proclamations, 1932-1945. 4 Vols. Trans. Mary Fran Gilbert (Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1990). Library of Congress # DD247.H5 A57513 1990.
Unfortunately, however, the Domarus volumes suffer from several significant deficiencies.

Contrary to what most people think this is not a complete collection of complete speeches. Some speeches are mere excerpts. Others are missing altogether. Even worse is the fact the confused editorial structure of the book. It is often hard to see where speeches begin and end, and Domarus insists on inserting his comments in the middle of speeches. The main value of the book is that it is a good list of Hitler's speeches and footnotes for those speech listings.

The English translation is a particular problem being of very poor quality.

That World Future Fund looks to be worthy of attention [he said ominously].