Gestapo Author:Edward Crankshaw Edward Crankshaw was attached to the British military mission to Moscow during World War II and afterwards worked as a journalist and researcher. Therefore, this book is not 'war porn' but a serious examination of probably the most vicious agency of state terror and mayhem in history. — The sinister Gestapo planted its evil roots in the 1930s but... more » it was during the horror of World War II that this notorious organization became identified as the Nazis' leading instrument of repression. Edward Crankshaw provides an authoritative overview of the organization, examining the trail of destruction it blazed across Europe, looking at its structures and its rivalries with other police organizations, and revealing the struggle for power within the Gestapo's nefarious bureau. As this brilliant book makes compellingly clear, the Gestapo grew. It sought out resistance brutally suppressing it with torture and execution used repression to deter opposition, filled the concentration camps with political opponents and ethnic 'undesirables,' and actively sought to promote the Nazi state's perverse policies.« less