Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries [Paperback]

Discovery of Adolf Hitler's secret diaries several years ago caused first a worldwide sensation and then a howling scandal when they proved to be a crude forgery. Harris, a BBC journalist, competently reconstructs this tale of international chicanery, which eventually cost gullible press barons in Germany, Britain, and the United States some $4 million, making it "the most expensive and far-reaching fraud in publishing history." Especially interesting are Harris's colorful profiles of the leading players, including Gerd Heidemann, the German reporter who "found" the diaries, and Hugh Trevor-Roper, the Oxford don who, to his lasting regret, originally authenticated the documents. For popular collections. Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

“… one of the most gripping books I have read in ages.” – William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

“Impossible to stop reading.” – Observer

Written with the pace and verve of a thriller, this is the story of the biggest fraud in publishing history. In 1983, it seemed that one of the most startling discoveries of the century had been made, and that one of the world’s most sought-after documents had finally come to light – the private diaries of Adolf Hitler. What followed was a fiasco of fakery, greed, the duping of experts, and the exchange of enormous sums of money for world-wide publishing rights.

“… one of the most gripping books I have read in ages.” – William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

“Impossible to stop reading.” – Observer

Robert Harris has been a reporter for the BBC, Political Editor of the Observer and a columnist for the Sunday Times.