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Start giftingThey Thought They Were Free
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Learn moreFirst published in 1955, They Thought They Were Free is an eloquent and provocative examination of the development of fascism in Germany. Milton Mayer's book is a study of ten Germans and their lives from 1933โ45, based on interviews he conducted after the war when he lived in Germany. Mayer had a position as a research professor at the University of Frankfurt and lived in a nearby small Hessian town which he disguised with the name "Kronenberg." "These ten men were not men of distinction," Mayer noted, but they had been members of the Nazi Party; Mayer wanted to discover what had made them Nazis.
Milton Mayer (1908-1986) was a journalist, educator, and author. A conscientious objector during World War II, he traveled to Germany and lived with German families after the war. Those experiences informed his most influential book, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45.
Michael Page has been recording audiobooks since the mid-1980s and now has nearly 500 titles to his credit. He has won two Audie Awards and several AudioFile Earphones Awards. A PhD and a professional actor, Michael is also a retired professor of theater.