KORDT, ERICH. Nicht aus den Akten. Pp. 441. Stuttgart: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1950. DM 14

• DOI: 10.1177/0002716251274001105
• Author: Louis L. Snyder
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

267
ment of the Mohammedans and the Jews
KORDT, ERICH. Nicht aus den Akten. Pp.
in the Middle Ages. Nearly every reader
441.
Stuttgart: Union Deutsche Ver-
will welcome this departure from the fash-
lagsgesellschaft, 1950. DM 14.
ionable technique of our well-known text-
Erich Kordt’s first postwar book, Wahn
books.
Another refreshing innovation is
und W_ irklichkeit (Delusion and Reality),
the use of unfamiliar chapter headings,
which analyzed Hitler’s foreign policy from
such as the following: &dquo;The Talmud,&dquo; &dquo;The
the viewpoint of an upper civil servant
Rise of the North,&dquo; &dquo;The Economic Rev-
having access to the, documents, quickly
olution,&dquo; &dquo;The Recovery of Europe,&dquo; and
became a best-seller in Germany.
It has
&dquo;Christian Science.&dquo;
Occasionally, how-
remained a standard work on the subject.
ever, a discerning critic might question the
The present volume, Nicht aus den Akten
wisdom of giving too much or too little
(Not From the Documents), is a more
space to certain topics. Why should Peter
personalized account of the Wilhelmstrasse
Abelard have a whole chapter, for example,
from 1928 to 1945. It gives a remarkable
and Thomas Aquinas only part of a chap-
eyewitness picture of the unstable members
ter ? And why do we need a section on the
of Hitler’s immediate entourage as well
Armenians in the chapter on the recovery
as the fantastic story of Nazi malice in
of Europe, since the country in which they
wonderland. It reads like a novel of in-
lived was not a part of Europe?
trigue.
The present reviewer is pleased to note
Erich Kordt held various posts in the
that the writer has repudiated a view now
German Foreign Office from the 1920’s
widely taught in this country by profes-
on, and later,. as an important official, took
sional historians, namely, that in the period
part in high-level conferences and state
from 1300 to 1500 medieval civilization
visits. He met statesmen and dictators in
was subject...