If you've never been exposed to the "Great Books" movement in higher education, you probably don't know who Robert Hutchins was. I only knew him as a dazzling champion of this almost-forgotten ideal of learning, as did his contemporaries. Milton Meyer showed me a man superhuman in his aims and yet tragically flawed. He espoused the Classics without being a true student of them, and yet was he not more Shakespearean than any of the professors he governed? Anyway, the book moved me. If you have any ability to be inspired by the story of an imperfect man, read this book.

Mayer gives us a chilling look at Nazi Germany through conversations and interviews with ten self described 'little men', who were all members of the party. The men tell of their beliefs and experiences during the years of the Third Reich. In some ways the scariest aspect of the book is how normal the men seem to be. Their Nazi beliefs are somehow more frightning as they do not come from high ranking officials like Himmler and Goebbles, but rather from ordinary civilians.

Mayer lived in Germany for several years after the Second World War and learned quite a bit about Germany. His book gives us a fascinating look at the Germans and why they behave as they do. We learn a great deal about why they supported Hitler, their love for law and order, and their general outlook.

The one weakness here is that his material is out of date. His statements may accurately reflect on the Germany of the 40's and 50's, but most likely do not apply to that country in the Twenty-First Century. The Germany of today is largely free of the hatred and fear that existed in earlier times.

Shortly after World War II, Milton Sanford Mayer traveled to Germany to find out the mind set of ordinary Germans who were "little men" in the Nazi Party. They did not know that he was an American Jew, although he did not lie to them. To a man, they declared that their days under Hitler were the best in their lives. I found the parallels with current day America to be much to close for comfort, if you substitute white rural culture for Jews in Germany. This book will open your eyes as to how totalitarianism is welcomed by the mass of people if the media support it, and the economy is good.