Product Description

Acclaimed science writer Heather Pringle uncovers the true story of the scientists and archaeologists Heinrich Himmler deployed to find proof for his theories of a prehistoric Aryan master race. What happens when science falls prey to a political agenda? Pre-history, according to Heinrich Himmler, must be re-written. Himmler, the chief of the SS and architect of the Nazi network of death camps, was obsessed with re-writing history. He was convinced that archaeologists had long ignored the great accomplishments of ancient Germanic peoples. Himmler believed that Germany's ancestors - the tall, blue-eyed, blond-haired Aryans - had evolved not in the savannahs of Africa with the rest of humanity, but in the icy barrens of the Arctic. There, refined and distilled by natural selection in a bitter land, they had become an invincible master race. But, some 12,000 years ago, theorized Himmler, a natural cataclysm shook the earth, decimating the scattered Aryan colonies and now, only in select parts of the world - most notably northern Europe - did some true Aryan blood remain. Himmler's history was pure fiction, but his conviction was unshakable. In 1935, he founded the 'Ahnenerbe' - a research institute to manufacture archaeological evidence for political purposes - appointed himself president, and set about recruiting a bizarre mix of adventurers, mystics, careerists and reputable archaeologists to help write a new chapter in the ancient history of the Aryan race. Expeditions went sent out to Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Greenland and beyond, each backed by the power of the Third Reich to realize this bizarre scientific dream. "The Master Plan" is also an expose of the German scientists and scholars who allowed their research to be used to justify extermination - many of whom resumed their academic positions at war's end. Intensely compelling and comprehensively researched, "The Master Plan" is a story of delusion and excess; of scientific and political abuse on a global scale. It has all the energy of an adventure, but also the chilling truth of a terrifying episode in twentieth century history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139020 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
'Do we really need yet another book on the Nazis? The answer, it turns out, is yes. Heather Pringle's engrossing book, "The Master Plan", explores a little-known corner of Nazi history: the story of the Ahnenerbe. Pringle's eye for detail means that "The Master Plan" is rich in such bizarre characters, ridiculous theories and colourful anecdotes. Massively researched and engagingly written.' Daily Telegraph 'Pringle has delved diligently on her own account into this murky corner of Nazi history. Her conclusions are grim, and her message is deeply disturbing. I closed the book with the nagging feeling that what Churchill called in a famous speech Nazism's "perverted science" may still be with us today.' Nigel Jones, Sunday Times 'The real strength of Pringle's book lies in her close description of the few major overseas expeditions mounted by the Ahnenerbe. This is virgin territory, where she has been able to dig up a good deal of new material. The stories have that Indiana Jones ring to them.' Literary Review 'Heather Pringle's new book explains in detail how antiquarianism, paganism, the collection of folk songs and Fortean wackiness become part of the mix that led to the Holocaust.' Time Out 'Heather Pringle's unpicking of the Ahnenerbe is the fruit of exhaustive research and reads at times like a thriller which, in many ways, it is. She writes vividly and with a passion that underscores the whole book.' Catholic Herald

Mail on Sunday
'[a]fascinating account.'

Nigel Jones, Sunday Times
‘...written in a grippingly readable style...shows, there was no theory too loopy but that Himmler would take it up.'

Customer Reviews

Politics
It is unfortuanbte that the previous poster makes the grave mistake of posting a political diatribe rather than a review of the book. The Nazi's were not Socialist and the number of death's caused by Stalin was nowhere near 65 million. They obviously have a politcal axe to grind.

The book itself does provide a fascinating insite into some of the mad cap theories of the Nazi's but in the end I was left with the impression of here we go again anothe author jumping on the Nazi bandwagon. The whole subject matter is becoming very stale in my opinion.

Master Plan: Scholars & Holocaust. Eye-popping good !
The book "The Master Plan : Himmler's Scholars and the Holocaust" by Heather Pringle contains some rare and scholarly research.

Considering the tons of paper covering every aspect of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, it should be increasingly difficult to say anything new about their horrid era, but the author shows much. There are also some gaping holes about new discoveries.

For example, Master Plan front cover shows instruction regarding the swastika symbol, yet the book's interior seems unaware of recent discoveries regarding the swastika.

Originally, the swastika could point left or right and was usually flat on one side as if drawn within a square. Eventually, new uses tended to point the swastika to the right and also turned it 45 degrees to the horizontal, to highlight the swastika' "S" shapes. Although the swastika was an ancient symbol, Professor Curry discovered that it was also used sometimes by German National Socialists to represent "S" letters for their "socialism." Curry changed the way that people view the symbol of the horrid National Socialist German Workers' Party. The leader of the German National Socialists altered his own signature to use the same stylized "S" letter for "socialist" and similar alphabetic symbolism still shows on Volkswagens. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html There may be a reason for such oversights.

One reason for such oversights is that many authors make the mistake of overuse of the common shorthand term for the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The overuse is so bad that it causes them to overlook more mundane explanations for the behavior of German socialists.

Dr. Curry also showed that many modern myths about swastikas use the false belief that German socialists called their symbol a "swastika." German National Socialists did not call their symbol a "swastika."

Nevertheless, Pringle has produced an awesome book detailing the lunatic theories among German socialists about prehistory and the Indiana Jones-style searches. Pringle examines Heinrich Himmler's think tank, the Ahnenerbe, which sent scholars worldwide uncover evidence of ancient Aryan conquests and the Germans' racial superiority. Some believed their own propaganda. Pringle argues that the institute provided the scholarly justification for the Holocaust.

To be more accurate, socialism provided the so-called scholarly justification for mass slaughter. It is a reminder of the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part): 21 million dead under the National Socialist German Workers' Party; 65 million dead under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; 35 million dead under the Peoples' Republic of China. It is a reminder that the Wholecaust and the Holocaust killed many people of various races and classes.

It was a dogma that endangered the USA too. Government in the United States imposed the results of socialism's racial inequality and hatred of individual differences in the USA. Francis Bellamy, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance, was a self-proclaimed National Socialist who wanted the government to take over all schools, and he wrote the Pledge to promote that goal. When the government granted his wish of socialism for education, the government schools imposed segregation by law and taught racism as official government policy. The author seems to be unaware of those facts. That behavior of socialists in the USA served as a bad example to German Socialists for decades and even outlasted the German Socialists by decades, even into the 1960s.

The author seems unaware of the fact that before, during and after Owens competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Pledge of Allegiance to the US flag used the straight-arm salute and was the origin of the salute of the German National Socialists.

German National Socialists were officially known as the National Socialist German Workers' Party (National Sozialistische of which Nazi is shorthand). The Party was originally called the German Workers' Party, but the words "National" and "Socialist" were added to gain more members and support from other socialists including the Social Democrats, who were known as "Sozi." Even today, the Viennese refer to the "Sozi Party." The "Triumph of the Will" at http://rexcurry.net/filmrev-triumph-of-the-will.html gives other insights to terminology.

Pringle points out that the organization "was in the business of myth-making," distorting the truth and churning out carefully tailored evidence to support the ideas of German socialism. Pringle examined the microfilm collection of captured German documents at the National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland, the original Ahnenerbe files in Berlin, and 27 other German archives, as well as archives in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and Britain, and library collections in Iceland and Russia.

Professor Curry showed that many modern myths use a false belief that German socialists called themselves "Nazi." The myths cause widespread ignorance of the etymology of the word "Nazi." Party members called themselves "National Socialists," not "Nazi."

The myth is still repeated in efforts to hide the socialism of the Party as well as its connections to other socialists and anti capitalists within the USA.

The notorious straight-arm salute of German National Socialists came from the USA's early Pledge of Allegiance (to the flag), as shown by Professor Rex Curry. It was not an ancient Roman salute, and that the "ancient Roman salute" is a myth. http://rexcurry.net/pledgesalute.html The myth is still repeated in modern efforts to cover-up Dr. Curry's discoveries about the Pledge's poisonous pedigree.

The original Pledge began with a military salute that then stretched out toward the flag. Historic photographs are at http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html and at http://rexcurry.net/pledge_military.html In actual use, the second part of the gesture was performed with a straight arm and palm down by children casually performing the forced ritual chanting by merely extending the military salute. Professor Curry showed that, due to the way that both gestures were used sequentially in the pledge, the military salute led to the salute. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-pledge.html The salute is an extended military salute.

Francis Bellamy (author of the "Pledge of Allegiance") and Edward Bellamy (author of the novel "Looking Backward") and Charles Bellamy (author of "A Moment of Madness") and Frederick Bellamy (who introduced Edward to socialistic "Fourierism") were socialists. Edward, Charles and Frederick were brothers, and Francis was their cousin. Francis and Edward were both self-proclaimed National Socialists and they supported the "Nationalism" movement in the USA, the "Nationalist" magazine, the "Nationalist Educational Association," and their dogma of "military socialism" and the "industrial army," and Edward inspired the "Nationalist Party" (in the USA) and their dogma influenced socialists worldwide (including Germany) via "Nationalist Clubs." http://rexcurry.net/bellamy-edward-german-con nections.html It is terrifying information.

The book is full of copious research and is well-written. It was worth the time to review.