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xxstefaniereadsxx's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This was a good book. Eva Braun is an interesting person. What she saw in Adolf Hitler is a mystery to me, even though I have read about her and her motivations. This was really enlightening, and I would suggest it for everyone who is interested in her as a person and not just Hitler's lady love.
smbla's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting biography of Eva Braun particularly as the biographer wove some of her mother's history in the narrative. Since her mother would have been a contemporary of Braun's it lent some more depth since so little is known of her life. I also thought it was interesting from the standpoint of how could she have influenced Hitler. It is very clear that she was sheltered and would have had very little impact on Hitler's decisions. What is immensely sad is that it shows a side of Hitler that loved his mistress and loved his dog Blondi and it is tough to reconcile that with the monster of the 20th century.
lewoollett's review against another edition
4.0
This is the fourth book I've read about Eva Braun this year (yes, I'm a bit obsessed!) and by far the best. At 600 pages, it's pretty comprehensive but rarely feels like it's been padded out (in contrast, Heike B. Gortemaker's 300-page-long 'Eva Braun: Life with Hitler' seemed to be about 50% padding). It was also well-written, with a feminine touch that made it easy to picture the details of EB's life and feel sympathy for her. While I can't attest to its absolute historical accuracy, 'The Lost Life of Eva Braun' was probably more well-researched than Nerin Gunn's book about EB and definitely more so than Thomas Lundmark's (I swear that guy was just making things up). It also has footnotes to show where information is coming from, which means you don't have to flip back and forth constantly. There are lots of photos (some of which I hadn't seen before), which are fun to look at and interestingly captioned. Really, if you're only going to read one book about EB (and how many people out there are reading more than one?), this is definitely your best bet.
I do have a couple of criticisms, however. The first one is about Lambert's attempts to weave her German mother's life story in with EB's, which a few reviewers have already commented on. While these sections weren't boring or badly written, they also weren't that relevant to EB, so I ended up skipping most of them (it is a 600-page book, after all). The second last chapter was also kind of weird toward the end, becoming quasi-fictional as Lambert speculated on EB's final impressions before her suicide. Though these passages were quite nice to read, I don't know if they belonged in a nonfiction book, and their tone jarred a bit with everything that came before.
Anyway...Eva Braun. Angela Lambert. I liked it.
I do have a couple of criticisms, however. The first one is about Lambert's attempts to weave her German mother's life story in with EB's, which a few reviewers have already commented on. While these sections weren't boring or badly written, they also weren't that relevant to EB, so I ended up skipping most of them (it is a 600-page book, after all). The second last chapter was also kind of weird toward the end, becoming quasi-fictional as Lambert speculated on EB's final impressions before her suicide. Though these passages were quite nice to read, I don't know if they belonged in a nonfiction book, and their tone jarred a bit with everything that came before.
Anyway...Eva Braun. Angela Lambert. I liked it.
trejondunkley's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
This biography seeks to humanize and understand Eva Braun, not exonerate her. Her life was blisteringly sad and empty, hollowed out by the man who would end the lives of millions. Hers is a very personal tragedy, though I don’t think she would have seen it as such.
The author spends a bit too much time talking about her family’s history for my taste, but that’s up to personal choice. It’s definitely interesting that her mother lived a very parallel life to Eva, though.
The author spends a bit too much time talking about her family’s history for my taste, but that’s up to personal choice. It’s definitely interesting that her mother lived a very parallel life to Eva, though.
amandamay83's review
1.0
Ugh. So disappointing. In fairness, I only lasted about 50 pages, but I couldn't take anymore. When I first started it, I loved the chatty tone of the book. The further I read, though, I became increasingly annoyed.
1) The author repeats herself SO MUCH. I think this is my biggest issue. I read three footnotes that were nearly word-for-word identical. Then she would restate the same information in the main portion of the book.
2) I'm not sure the author understands how footnotes are supposed to work. It was largely her own personal commentary.
3) She references one man (sorry, the book is not in front of me and the name escapes me) who was found by a Judge to be an incredible liar and a Holocaust denier. Only a short while later, she uses his statements/research to back up her own beliefs. Say what?
4) The author desperately needed an editor. There were TYPOS! Not just one, but many. It was distracting and made me doubt the author's credibility.
Had the book been much shorter, I might have continued to give it a go. But at 500+ pages? Not happening.
1) The author repeats herself SO MUCH. I think this is my biggest issue. I read three footnotes that were nearly word-for-word identical. Then she would restate the same information in the main portion of the book.
2) I'm not sure the author understands how footnotes are supposed to work. It was largely her own personal commentary.
3) She references one man (sorry, the book is not in front of me and the name escapes me) who was found by a Judge to be an incredible liar and a Holocaust denier. Only a short while later, she uses his statements/research to back up her own beliefs. Say what?
4) The author desperately needed an editor. There were TYPOS! Not just one, but many. It was distracting and made me doubt the author's credibility.
Had the book been much shorter, I might have continued to give it a go. But at 500+ pages? Not happening.
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