Rudolf Hess (Hardback)

This biography is a full study of Rudolf Hess. After the First World War Hess studied under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concept of Lebensraum. He joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and was by Hitler’s side on 8 November 1923 for the Beer Hall Putsch. After Hitler became chancellor, Hess was appointed deputy führer and elected to the Reichstag. He was made a Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party in June 1933, and in December, he became minister without portfolio in Hitler's cabinet. Hitler decreed on the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 that Goering was his official successor, and named Hess as next in line. By 1940 Hess was side-lined from most important decisions and his influence was waning. On 10 May 1941, he made a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be a prominent opponent of the British government’s war policy. He was held him in custody until the end of the war, when he was returned to Germany to stand trial at Nuremberg. The tribunal convicted him of crimes against peace and of conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He served a life sentence in Spandau Prison due to the Soviet Union blocking repeated attempts to procure his early release. While still in custody as the only prisoner, he hanged himself in 1987.