Nigel Cawthorne provides a concise yet detailed look at one of the most chilling organizations ever conceived by the human imagination, making for a chilling and engrossing read. This is popular history about the legitimization of mass murder for political purposes, and the men and women who brought this about. 

Features chapters on Heinrich Himmler, The Knight of the Long Knives, The Waffen SS, The Holocaust, The SS in Retreat, Nuremberg and ODESSA, the organization of former SS members.