Hitler's War: World War II as Portrayed by Signal, the International Nazi Propaganda Magazine

Someone says that other complete books of Signal is better than this. However I think this book is appropiate for beginners like me.

Jeremy Harwood has written another fine book and one which is quite unusual as well as one which saves a significant aspect of history -- how World War II Germany tried to influence world opinion in its march for conquest of Europe.Harwood has brought readers a requiem of the defunct photo-essay magazine, Signal. Back in the day when magazines of this genre were king, publications such as Life, the German Army (Wermacht) published Signal in multiple languages and distributed millions upon millions of issues throughout neutral countries as well as countries occupied by Germany during the near entirety of World War II.Harwood states that Signal was "Nazi Propaganda Magazine" but this may be an overgeneralization. This is because it was published and controlled by the Wermachtand not the Nazi propaganda machine (Reichs Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) run by the infamous (also, and unfortunately, incredibly succesful Joseph Goebbels). That it certainly spun the news cannot be rationally argued but it may not be propaganda, per se.Or maybe it is?Harwood takes the reader through the years of distribution which fueled the ravenous appetites of its readership which searched for news and understanding during a time when Europe was either aflame or at least under threat. The magazine is well written but it is the photos which made it popular. News quality images brought to readers in graphic and expressive black and white images as well as center spreads done in color which were rare for the day. Victories were enthusiastically portrayed (the early Blitzkrieg for example) and defeats were spun (such as those in Russia as well as the Allied bombing campaign). What could not be spun simply went unreported (there is no mention of the "Final Solution" or slave labor or other atrocities). The book has 200 images which are evenly divided between color as well as black and white.Signal's journalism is not objective but neither do the well captioned photos unequivocally lie as we generally think of with the practice of propaganda. The photos are most often emotive, showing people suffering hardship and overcoming privation -- as well as martial photos of aircraft, artillery and soldiers. Many images are not commonly seen as is the practice of not showing the defeated in any light other than being defeated. Many of them are absolutely and unexpectedly jarring. One example is of three Luftwaffe Dornier Do 17 bombers flying past the Acropolis. Another is of soldiers taking advantage of an underground structure in the hot North African desert with an infantryman climbing a ladder with rays of sunlight streaming through the access hole.More can be learned of the time by the photographs of various entertainers as well as the advertisements pertinent to the time. The type is small, like the magazine, but makes for incredibly rich reading in this book which is published in Signal's original large format.This book is important to read for the reasons given above but also for today's world. Being able to recognize when the news has the appearance of being objectively reported when it is in fact not is a necessary skill for the 21st Century. This may be Harwood's greatest gift with the writing of Hitler's War: World War II as portrayed by Signal the international Nazi propaganda magazine.As is the publishing business custom, Zenith Press and On-line Bookstore provided a copy of this book for an objective review.

While the Chapter headings and text were large enough to read easily, I found the type under the pictures in each chapter too small to read comfortably. The black and white pictures as well as the colored ones were good. Juergen Goldhagen

Book Review: Hitler's War: World War II as Portrayed by Signal, the International Nazi Propaganda MagazineJeremy Harwood’s Hitler's War: World War II as Portrayed by Signal, the International Nazi Propaganda Magazine is an exceptional look into the Wehrmacht’s efforts at propaganda during the Second World War.Harwood’s new book differs from other contributions to the literature on propaganda that permeated Germany’s culture during the Third Reich. Largely based on excerpts from Signal, Harwood offers a unique glimpse into the magazine’s propagandist writings during the Third Reich’s war.Published from April 1940 to March 1945, Signal’s writings changed spirit and tone as early victories in Poland and Western Europe from 1939 through 1940 gave way to defeats in North Africa, Italy, the Eastern Front and finally at Normandy and beyond. The bias and coloration of language used by the magazine is fascinating given the context of Hitler’s European conquest. One such example: “Roosevelt – Emperor of the World,” heads one of Signal’s in-depth articles.In Signal’s final issue, before its termination in March 1945, the writing seems apologetic, although deluded. In this last pictorial essay titled “Things That Make Life worth Living for Us,” they list: “For man’s right to culture;” and “… [The] question regarding the worker’s standing.” It’s interesting to note that there is no mention from Signal of Hitler’s extermination of European Jews.Harwood’s Hitler’s War will appeal to those interested in Nazi Germany’s worldwide propaganda efforts, and the Wehrmacht’s own view of the war.The bottom line: This is a very good book. A worthy addition to one’s collection of World War II history.

DVD came in required time and was in excellent packaging. The book represents news printing of the Third Reich from the Third Reich Press. I am using it along with The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - with concerned understanding of how Hitler did it.

It's OK. The book provides an interesting view of the war from the German/Nazi propaganda perspective. The text provides a reasonable summary of the course of the war. Most of the photos are black and white but there are quite a few color photos.One frustrating aspect of the book is that many of the pages are unnumbered. Consequently, it can be difficult to go back and find something you had seen earlier and now want to view a second time.There are also occasional oddities in the book. For example, in a section devoted to the Eastern Front, there is a page with one photo of a 15cm field howitzer in action and another photo just below it of a 21 cm gun. OK-- so far, so good. But on the opposite page there is a full-page color photo of the 21 cm L156 railroad gun firing across the English Channel, with no caption!Many of the color photos are quite famous and have appeared in countless books on WW II in Europe.If you are already knowledgeable of WW II you won't find much new information here. The photos (both black and white and color) might be entertaining, though.

Interesting collection of WW2 era German propaganda pictures and information.

A word of warning. There is nothing here that is not covered in S L Mayer's three Signal compilations of 1976-79. In fact there are no reproductions of Signal in its English language editions in Harwood's book that do not feature in Mayer's. The accompanying text offers a summary of the war in Europe and there is little if any forensic examination of Signal's coverage. Any matter relating to it seems to come from websites set up by Signal collectors. If you have the Mayer books (which can be obtained cheaply on bookselling websites) don't bother with this.