Library Journal Starred Review


Garson, Paul. Album of the Damned: Snapshots from the Third Reich. Academy Chicago. 2008. 410p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-89733-576-8. $50. HIST

The most remarkable thing about this book is the ordinariness of the pictures. Husbands and wives posing, fathers and sons seated together proudly, groups of smiling soldiers, and, lest we forget where we are, dead bodies. Garson, a well-known photographer and magazine writer, has collected over 400 photographs taken mostly by German soldiers and some civilians that reveal in somber black-and-white tones a part of World War II that has often been overlooked by the numerous published collections of battle photographs. Garson's photographs show a quiet side of the war, one far away from the battlefield but still very much a part of the everyday experience of German and non-German citizens engulfed in a world war. Most striking is a picture of young men in bathing suits laughing and sharing a drink. After a full day spent murdering men, women, and children, these men went home to their wives and families, had a good night's sleep, and then went back to killing again the next day. A stunningly chilling collection of photographs recording the daily lives of ordinary people quietly going about their normal business in the midst of horror, this unforgettable work is recommended for all collections.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames