Machtan, Lothar 1949-

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MACHTAN, Lothar 1949-

PERSONAL: Born 1949. Education: Received Ph.D., 1978.

ADDRESSES: Office—Institut für Geschichte, Universität Bremen, Postfach 33 04 40, 28334 Bremen, Germany.

CAREER: Bremen University, Bremen, Germany, associate professor of modern and current history.

WRITINGS:

(With Deitrich Milles) Die Klassensymbiose von Junkertum und Bourgeoisie, Ullstein (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), 1980.

Streiks im frühen deutschen Kaiserreich, Campus (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor) Bismarcks Sozialstaat: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sozialpolitik und zur sozialpolitischen Geschichtsschreibung, Campus (New York, NY), 1994.

Bismarck und der deutsche National-Mythos, Temmen (Bremen, Germany), 1994.

(Editor) Mut zur Moral: aus der privaten Korrespondenz des Gesellschaftsreformers Theodor Lohmann, Temmen (Bremen, Germany), 1995.

Der Gesellschaftsreformer Theodor Lohman, in: Festschrift für H. J. Steinberg, 1995.

Bismarcks Tod und Deutschlands Tränen: Reportage einer Tragödie, Goldmann, 1998.

Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators, Alexander Fest (Berlin, Germany), 2001, translation by John Brownjohn published as The Hidden Hitler, Basic Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Peter Weidisch) Bismarck und die politische Kultur in Deutschland, Petersburg, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Lothar Machtan, an associate professor of history at Bremen University, has been well known as an historian in his native Germany for many years, but only recently has his work been translated into English. His first book to be translated is a controversial study of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's alleged homosexuality, titled The Hidden Hitler.

The Hidden Hitler is "an impressively researched and fascinating study that raises provocative questions on a score of subjects," Gabriel Rotello declared in the Advocate. Although the evidence is patchy, since gays were rarely out of the closet during Hitler's lifetime and Hitler himself had many of the records relating to his youth destroyed, Machtan has found evidence of homosexual relationships dating back to Hitler's stay in Vienna, where he moved when he was nineteen, and throughout his time in the German Army during World War I and his early years in politics. Machtan also speculates that the massacre of German leadership that happened on June 30, 1934, may have been motivated in part by Hitler's desire to permanently silence old friends who knew of his homosexuality and wanted to blackmail him with it. Despite the difficulties in finding firm proof about Hitler's past, "Machtan is able to provide evidence for his assertions as well as a nuanced and readable study of Hitler's sexuality," Barbara Walden wrote in Library Journal.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, November 20, 2001, Charles Kaiser, review of The Hidden Hitler, pp. 73-75; December 25, 2001, Gabriel Rotello, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 72.

Booklist, November 1, 2001, Brad Hooper, review of The Hidden Hitler, pp. 442.

Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, January-February, 2002, David Williams, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 41.

History Today, November, 2001, Richard Bessel, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. S4.

Insight on the News, February 25, 2002, Nathaniel S. Lehrman, review of The Hidden Hitler, pp. 44-45.

Library Journal, January, 2002, Barbara Walden, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 116.

New York Review of Books, February 28, 2002, Gordon A. Craig, review of The Hidden Hitler, pp. 24-27.

New York Times Book Review, December 16, 2001, Walter Reich, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 6.

Times Literary Supplement, January 11, 2002, Anson Rabinbach, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 10.

U.S. News & World Report, October 29, 2001, Andrew Curry, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. 8.

Washington Post, November 25, 2001, Geoffrey Giles, review of The Hidden Hitler, p. T04.