Fascinating look at a group of WW2 players I've really never given thought to. Other than the usual Eva Braun, Magda Goebbels, and Goring's wives, I haven't ever read anything about these women. I believe they all got off pretty easy, far easier than they should have. It was a good read about some power hungry, reviling women, their families and friends. This would make a great gift to anyone interested in WW2 and also a good addition to a collection.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a good book detailing the relationships between Hitler, his top commanders and their wives. I've often wondered if the military wives had any idea of the activities their husbands were involved if and if so, how much did they know about what was happening. The answer is, that they were just as responsible for as their husbands were. They were just as power hungry and encouraged the men in their lives to aspire to be as close to Hitler as possible.
Really interesting read that held my interest and disgusted me at the same time.

tw: incest-ish (niece/uncle relationship), suicide (graphically described), death by illness, attempted suicide, assault, sexual harassment and assault, drug abuse, domestic abuse, toxic relationships, cheating, anti semitisim, violence against jews, mentions of the concentration camps, misogyny, severe illness, forced euthanasia, medical experiments done without consent

As you all might know, I am a huge World War II buff. I read just about anything relating to World War II. It’s one of my favorite periods of history to study because there is just so much to it. So when I was surfing Netgalley, instead of reading all the books I own, I saw this book. I don’t hear a lot about the wives of Hitler’s top men so I thought this would be a nice change of pace from my usual World War II books I read. Plus it’s from my all time favorite publisher, St Martin’s Press. So I knew that I would like this book.

One of the things I look for in nonfiction books is readability. Is the book easy to read? Am I understanding the information that is being presented to me? I’m going to say yes but with exceptions. I was able to understand what was happening but that was because of my extensive knowledge in World War two. I’m not bragging but simply stating that I know quite a bit about World War two. If someone who was just starting out with World War two was diving into this book, they would be so lost. While the author does take time to explain what is happening on the warfront, it seemed to me that they expected you to have some sort of understanding of World War two.

But if I am being honest, there were times where I was a bit lost but that was because of the names. All the names were similar sounding or the same. There were about six wives or so that I had to try and keep track of. I think at one point, I just restarted the book and I found that helped a lot.

But I did learn a lot. I learned that the wives got off way too easy. I was absolutely infuriated that they got almost no time in prison. They should have been punished just as severely as their husbands, especially a couple of them. They all had a hand in Hitler’s world and they deserved to be punished.

Overall, this was a good book. I learned a lot about the wives, as they often aren't mentioned in a lot of World War two books. I think it’s a great book to check out if you want to expand your knowledge about World War two.

Nazi Wives:The Women at the Top of Hitler’s Germany by James Wyllie
Genre - Non Fiction
Format - Ebook
5 out of 5 stars

This book is a very thorough look into what the wives of the top German officials went through! The brainwashing is just amazing and how they believed in the Nazi cause themselves is utterly mind blowing.

I love to read books about World War 2 but this one just blew me away. It talks about how the women ended up in the Nazi movement and their early years. It talks about how they each met and married their husbands and stood behind them unwavering without any thought to what their husbands were actually doing.

Hate is shown so clearly in this book even the children were taught to hate. In these times we live in I would strongly recommend this book. It shows how hating a certain type, race, or even political party can erode people and split countries in two pieces!

I will not say more as to not ruin the book but it should be on everyone’s to be read pile.

Wow this book really was amazing! A look into histories most evil time and inside the personal loved of the women who married men who were Nazi soldiers. I will say it's a deep read as it's based on true events and I did enjoy the photos as well as the real history in it. I really did enjoy it as I learned things I didn't know and find that the author really put a lot into it. I highly recommend to those that love historical reads.

James Wyllie's Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany was an interesting read. I am giving it four stars.

A very interesting read .Alook at the women who were married to these followers of Hitler.We follow them from the time they meet their husbands and their lives from then on.A look at people we knew nothing about.#netgalley #st.martins press

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an EARC of this book.
Interesting read that provided well researched information that is not commonly available. Difficult to follow and to keep track of the many characters but worth the read.

3.5 stars

This book was unlike any other book I have read in regards to the Nazi’s. You read often about the high ranking officers and their mistresses. You may get a glimpse of the wives and families left in Germany. But this book brings you deeper into the lives that the wives were leading while their husbands were trying to fall into the Fuhrer’s good favors.
What a separate encounter of the Germans this was. But I am glad I read this book.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

A book about real lives and a fascinating book. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I was so looking forward to reading this book. I have always been interested in WWII and the people making the decisions to prepetrate the atrocities they committed. I also wondered if the wives knew what their husbands were doing, or if they were purposely ignorant. This book answered a lot of those questions for me. I have to admit, it was a little difficult keeping track of the different wives because of the back and forth in the book. I understand it was keeping to the time lines which was great, but last names would have added a bit more to the book.. I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in that period. I also think this would be so informative in today’s world, with the amount of violence happening, maybe explaining what some of the women behind these men are thinking or doing. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Michelle Cashman for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

It took me a while to get through this book, because even though I am very interested in the topic, the writing style was difficult to follow, jumping around between different women and switching back and forth between multiple different narrative threads. Ultimately, the author shares a wealth of great information about the wives and girlfriends of the Nazi elite, but because he does not weave them into a linear story, this book is more of a research source than a compelling standalone read.

I found it interesting how this book brought the Nazi leaders' lives into focus from a domestic perspective, covering their religious beliefs, health issues, and ways of relating to other people in a level of depth that is rare among other historical sources. I also enjoyed learning more about the women themselves, but I had a difficult time keeping some of the characters straight, since the book kept going back and forth between different women, many of whom had similar backgrounds and marital situations.

I would recommend this book to someone who is doing a research project on Nazi Germany, or who is very interested in learning about the women who were close to Hitler and involved in higher-up Nazi circles and events, with varying degrees of complicity. However, I think that this book would be difficult for someone to follow if this topic was new to them, and it was not as compelling as I had hoped it would be.

What a fantastic book! I highly recommend this if you’re into women’s history or WWII history.

This book is well researched and well written. Rather than openly condemning (or supporting) them, Wyllie strives to present their lives in a neutral perspective. These couples are brought to life in a way that a both humanizes them and makes their evil acts more atrocious.

I really enjoyed the fresh and unique perspective of WWII. There is a lot of material about what each husband is doing, but I think that was expected and necessary. To really understand half of a couple, you need to know what the other half is doing. But there is still plenty of information about each woman. Even though I’ve read quite a few books about WWII, before this book I couldn’t have named any top Nazi leader’s wife. So I learned quite a bit in this book. The book even follows each woman until their death, so we really do get a complete look into their adult lives.

One drawback in this type of book is that we are constantly bouncing between the women, which can get confusing. But Wyllie does a good job of trying to group the women together (after all, they weren’t all hanging out together every weekend) and mentioning their husbands enough so that we remember who is part of each couple. It would have been helpful if their last names were used a bit more often though.


Thanks to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and James Wyllie for sending me an ebook version of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Much thanks to James Wylie, St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this most interesting book.
Nazi Wives

Nazi wives was an extremely interesting non-fiction read about the wives of some of the biggest players in the Third Reich. Most are familiar with the monstrous actions and unforgivable mass murders of the Jews and other victims put in place by Hitler, Heydrich, Goering, Hess, Himmler and Boremann, but what were their wives like? Did they know what their husbands were doing? Did they support and encourage their plans and actions? This book gives light to the Nazi wives and the measure of their involvement in the atrocity they referred to as the "Final Solution."
This was not an easy book to read. For someone who is passionate about history, like myself, it is necessary.
Angels they were not.
#jameswyllie. #stmartinspress. #netgalley

Well-researched and interesting. Sure, I know about Himmler, Goering, Hess, and the like, but I'd not read much about their women before. I occasionally confused the women, as there was so much information. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I am grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advanced digital copy of Nazi Wives to review. This book, thoroughly researched and carefully annotated, describes in painstaking details the intricate connections Hitler had with and the power he had over the women married to the men closest to him. Many of these women were steadfastly loyal to him and rabid Nazis themselves; others were fiercely loyal to and in love with their spouses. All of them knew what it was that the Nazis were doing, particularly to the Jews, as most were supportive, and most had concentration camp workers as domestic and other forms of help. This book paints a picture of the private lives of these women and their husbands, as well as Adolf Hitler, that I think is unique among the plethora of other written World War II history.

A unique view into a familiar topic. The books I've read about this period have always fixated on the war crimes of the Nazis and although that perspective is necessary it has a way of making what happened seem alien and puts much distance between the very human motives that led there. Reading about the wives of key Nazi figures expanded the frame of my knowledge and perspective of both the wives and their husbands.

NAZI WIVES

I think we tend to visualize Nazis as “monsters“. It’s even more terrifying when you understand that they are just people. Ilse, Carin, Emmy, Magda, Eva, Margaret, Lina, Gerda.

There’s something about this book that completely transports you back into the Nazi era in Germany during the 1930s and 40s. Maybe it’s the tiny and intimate details of these people’s lives; Nazi leaders and their wives, their families, their homes, estates, and castles. Maybe it’s the descriptions of Hitler’s intimate dinners and large parties at the Eagle’s Nest and the Berghof compound. And all the information about how these women met their husbands, became involved with Hitler, and how they viewed themselves in relation to the Nazi movement. Whatever it is, you feel like you are mingling amongst these people. And it’s really pretty creepy.

The amount of detail in this book is excellent. Idiosyncrasies regarding personal and mental health issues, beliefs in astrology, the occult, herbal remedies, spa retreats, and hospitalizations are plentiful. Relationships between the men and their wives and mistresses are also explored in detail. Who was in the Berghof clique and who wasn’t, and the changes in loyalties throughout the timespan. Although they lived luxurious lives and had a lot of wealth, many dealt with cheating husbands, having to have many babies, and being treated poorly and often left alone for long periods of time. There was a great deal of rivalry, catty behavior, and jealousy.

The book is set up and told chronologically, which is a positive in that you can understand the interactions amongst these people as time progresses. One thing that I found difficult was keeping track of the various people. I think it would’ve been helpful to have their last names used in addition to first names more often throughout the book. I found myself referring back many times to make sure I knew who was who.

Nazi Wives also includes many pictures and an extensive bibliography and notes. I felt that a lot of research went into the making of this book and it encourages me to learn more about these infamous women. Whether it is completely factual, I do not know. But it was enjoyable nonetheless.

I would like to thank NetGalley, James Wyllie, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Having been a history major, I've read plenty of non-fiction and fiction novels surrounding WWII. However, Wyllie's Nazi Wives, is the first book that I've read that actually focused on the women that participated in the Nazi Movement, which shaped the overall outcome and duration of WWII.

It was so interesting to see how these women met their husbands, and that they had complete and absolute faith in what Hitler stood for. Some of the women were so impressed by Hitler's ideology that they unwaveringly signed up to be members, and convinced others (men and women) to sign up for the Movement as well. Some of the wives even went so far as to do anything possible to get them within Hitler's inner circle.

One interesting thing that I read out of this book was I had no idea that Hitler had experienced an assassination attempt on his life prior to his involvement into WWII. If that attempt had been accomplished, who knows how history would've changed itself!

There were other historical tidbits that I learned that you don't read in history class--how the Nazi wives were rewarded on a gold/silver/bronze basis regarding how many children they had. If you achieved gold status, you were essentially a prominent woman in society. Also, the rate of suicide among women, especially towards the end of WWII--no one wanted to be caught for the things that they had done.

The Nazi women certainly lived a lavish lifestyle--they had fancy parties, exquisite homes, and did not feel any economic burdens during the wartime like so many others did.

Wyllie did a fantastic job with the research on the novel, and I did enjoy reading it. My copy has so many highlighted notes! The one thing I will say was towards the end, it did seem to drag. Especially once we read about the denazification portion--I was ready for the novel to be over. But overall, a really interesting historical read, and I've already recommended this to two people who also enjoy learning about this time period.

This was a well written story of the women behind the men we know who were the followers of Hitler. The book covers from the time they each met their husbands to the end of their life. I think it gives an interesting look into Hitler as well as the husband and wife relationships. Well worth the read for anyone curious about that time in history.