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Benjamin Carter Hett

    January 1, 2000

    Benjamin Carter Hett is a historian who delves into the darker aspects of human nature and political instability. His work probes the complexities of the past, revealing unsettling parallels with the present day. Hett's analytical style and his ability to connect historical events with modern concerns make his writing engaging and provocative. His books invite readers to contemplate the enduring challenges of justice and power.

    Crossing Hitler
    Burning the Reichstag
    The Nazi Menace
    Death in the Tiergarten
    The Death of Democracy
    Mastering the Potter's Wheel
    • Mastering the Potter's Wheel

      • 208 pages
      • 8 hours of reading
      4.5(111)Add rating

      Take your skills—and your work—to the next level.Mastering the Potter's Wheel starts with an introduction to wheel-throwing , from centering to creating the basic forms. What pushes this book beyond the competition, however, are the techniques offered in the chapters that follow. From a variety of methods for throwing large objects such as pitchers and platters , to alterations , darting , and paddling , this book offers potters a world of possibilities .With galleries featuring today's top working artists , including Kyle Carpenter, Sam Chung, Chandra DeBuse, Julia Galloway, Martha Grover, Ayumie Horie, Forrest Lesch-Middleton, Kristen Kieffer, Kathy King, Matt Long, Alex Matisse, Lorna Meaden, Doug Peltzman, Mackenzie Smith, Shawn Spangler, and many more, you'll also find page after page of inspiration.The Mastering Ceramics series is for artists who never stop learning. With compelling projects, expert insight, step-by-step photos, and galleries of work from today’s top artists, these books are the perfect studio companions. Also available from the Mastering Hand Building and Mastering Kilns and Firing .

      Mastering the Potter's Wheel
    • The Death of Democracy

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading
      4.3(1996)Add rating

      In the 1930s, Germany was at a turning point, with many looking to the Nazi phenomenon as part of widespread resentment towards cosmopolitan liberal democracy and capitalism. This was a global situation that pushed Germany to embrace authoritarianism, nationalism and economic self-sufficiency, kick-starting a revolution founded on new media technologies, and the formidable political and self-promotional skills of its leader. Based on award-winning research and recently discovered archival material, "The Death of Democracy" is a panoramic new survey of one of the most important periods in modern history, and a book with a resounding message for the world today.

      The Death of Democracy
    • Death in the Tiergarten

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading
      4.1(10)Add rating

      From Alexanderplatz, the bustling Berlin square ringed by bleak slums, to Moabit, site of the city's most feared prison, Death in the Tiergarten illuminates the culture of criminal justice in late imperial Germany. In vivid prose, Benjamin Hett examines daily movement through the Berlin criminal courts and the lawyers, judges, jurors, thieves, pimps, and murderers who inhabited this world. Drawing on previously untapped sources, including court records, pamphlet literature, and pulp novels, Hett examines how the law reflected the broader urban culture and politics of a rapidly changing city. In this book, German criminal law looks very different from conventional narratives of a rigid, static system with authoritarian continuities traceable from Bismarck to Hitler. From the murder trial of Anna and Hermann Heinze in 1891 to the surprising treatment of the notorious Captain of Koepenick in 1906, Hett illuminates a transformation in the criminal justice system that unleashed a culture war fought over issues of permissiveness versus discipline, the boundaries of public discussion of crime and sexuality, and the role of gender in the courts. Trained in both the law and history, Hett offers a uniquely valuable perspective on the dynamic intersections of law and society, and presents an impressive new view of early twentieth-century German history.

      Death in the Tiergarten
    • The Nazi Menace

      • 416 pages
      • 15 hours of reading
      4.1(104)Add rating

      A panoramic narrative of the years leading up to the Second World War - a tale of democratic crisis, racial conflict, and a belated recognition of evil, with profound resonance for our own time.

      The Nazi Menace
    • Burning the Reichstag

      • 413 pages
      • 15 hours of reading
      3.8(25)Add rating

      A dramatic new account of the Reichstag fire and the origins of the Nazi rise to power

      Burning the Reichstag
    • Crossing Hitler

      • 349 pages
      • 13 hours of reading
      3.4(64)Add rating

      During the 1931 Eden Dance Palace trial, Hans Litten conducted a remarkable three-hour cross-examination of Hitler, exposing contradictions and reducing him to a state of rage. At that time, Hitler sought to portray himself as a legitimate political figure, distancing himself from his stormtroopers. Litten's courageous questioning posed a significant threat to Nazi ambitions. After the Nazis rose to power two years later, Litten's friends and family urged him to flee, but he chose to stay and was subsequently imprisoned in concentration camps. There, he translated medieval German poetry, shared resources with fellow inmates, and educated working-class prisoners about art and literature. Litten provided solace to Jewish inmates at Dachau by reciting literary works from memory during their confinement. After enduring five years of brutal treatment and a failed escape attempt, he lost hope for survival. His story, while tragic, is also one of redemption, illustrating human nobility in the face of barbarism. This biography delves into Litten's life and the tumultuous era of the Weimar Republic, as well as the terror that followed under Nazi rule. It won the 2007 Fraenkel Prize for contemporary history and is set for global publication.

      Crossing Hitler
    • Dangerous Traits of Narcissists

      • 88 pages
      • 4 hours of reading

      Do you need to know how to disarm the narcissist in your life?...... What are you waiting for? BUY IT NOW and let your customers get addicted to this amazing book!

      Dangerous Traits of Narcissists
    • Benjamin Carter Hett rollt in diesem Buch einen der größten und rätselhaftesten Kriminalfälle des 20. Jahrhunderts neu auf: den Reichstagsbrand von 1933. Adolf Hitler war noch keine vier Wochen an der Macht, als am Abend des 27. Februar das Reichstagsgebäude in Berlin in Flammen aufging. Kaum war das Feuer gelöscht, erließ die Reichsregierung eine Notverordnung, die einen permanenten Ausnahmezustand schuf und die bis zum Ende des Nazi-Regimes die Grundlage zur Verfolgung politischer Gegner bleiben sollte. Somit markierte der Reichstagsbrand den eigentlichen Beginn des „Dritten Reiches“. Noch am Tatort wurde der mutmaßliche Brandstifter verhaftet, der niederländische Kommunist Marinus van der Lubbe. Die nationalsozialistische Regierung behauptete umgehend, der junge Mann gehöre einer kommunistischen Verschwörung an. Doch handelte van der Lubbe wirklich auf eigene Faust, wie sich die meisten Historiker seit langem einig sind? Oder steckten die Nazis selbst hinter dem Anschlag, um ihn für ihre Zwecke zu instrumentalisieren? Benjamin Carter Hetts Auswertung der Originalquellen wirft neues Licht auf diesen Fall und entlarvt nicht nur die Schwächen der Einzeltäterthese, sondern auch, welche große Deutungsmacht NS-Seilschaften in der Geschichtswissenschaft noch lange nach 1945 hatten.

      Der Reichstagsbrand
    • »Anfang 1939 gab es kaum Zweifel, dass es in Europa Krieg geben würde – und zwar bald. Weniger klar war hingegen, wer gegen wen kämpfen würde.« November 1937: Adolf Hitlers politischen Gegenspielern wird die zunehmende Bedrohung durch das NS-Regime bewusst. In den Hinterzimmern der Macht treffen Staatsmänner in Berlin, London, Washington und Moskau weitreichende Entscheidungen, die letztlich zum Ausbruch des Zweiten Weltkriegs führen und seinen Verlauf maßgeblich vorzeichnen. Benjamin Carter Hett, der bisher unerschlossene Quellen durchforstet hat, zeichnet genau nach, welche Ereignisse, Gespräche und Begegnungen dem Kriegsausbruch vorausgingen und wie die Angst vor dem Konflikt die westlichen Demokratien vor eine Zerreißprobe stellte. Dabei kommt er den handelnden Figuren sehr nahe und erhellt nicht nur die diplomatischen Gefechte und Strategien der Staatschefs, sondern widmet sich auch zahlreichen weniger bekannten politischen Akteuren. Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der Weltpolitik während der größten Krise des 20. Jahrhunderts.

      Eskalationen
    • Otto John

      Patriot oder Verräter: Eine deutsche Biographie

      Am 20. Juli 1954 taucht der Präsident des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz in Ost-Berlin auf. Siebzehn Monate später kehrt Otto John in den Westen zurück und wird sofort als Überläufer verhaftet. Bis heute ist ungeklärt, ob John freiwillig in die DDR gegangen ist und dort Geheimnisverrat begangen hat. Benjamin Hett und Michael Wala schreiben die erste Biographie eines Mannes, der im Nationalsozialismus Teil des Widerstands war und in der Nachkriegszeit in Deutschland Karriere machte. Der Fall, ein spannender Spionagethriller aus dem Kalten Krieg, markiert gleichzeitig eine historische Wegmarke für das Land.

      Otto John