Listen to a sample
The Third Reich of Dreams
- Author
- Charlotte Beradt
- Narrator
- Olivia Vinall
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Publish Date
- 29 April 2025
- Run Time
- 3 hours 10 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- History, The Holocaust
What to expect
This audiobook narrated by Olivia Vinall exposes the hidden history of a nation sleepwalking its way into evil
Charlotte Beradt began having unsettling dreams after Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. She envisioned herself being shot at, tortured and scalped, surrounded by Nazis in disguise, and breathlessly fleeing across fields with storm troopers at her heels. Shaken by these nightmares and banned as a Jew from working, she began secretly collecting dreams from her friends and neighbors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Disguising these "diaries of the night" in code and concealing them in the spines of books from her extensive library, she smuggled them out of the country one by one.
Available again for the first time since its publication in the 1960s, this sensational book brings together this uniquely powerful dream record, offering a visceral understanding of how terror is internalized and how propaganda colonizes the imagination. After Beradt herself fled Germany for New York, she collected these dream accounts and began to trace the common symbols and themes that appeared in the collective unconscious of a traumatized nation. The fear of dictatorship was ever-present. Dreams of thought control, even the prohibition of dreaming itself, bore witness to the collapse of outer and inner worlds.
Now in a haunting new translation by Damion Searls,
The Third Reich of Dreams provides a raw, unfiltered, and prophetic look inside the experience of living through Hitler's terror.
Critics Review
-
"Longlisted for the Freudenheim Translation Prize, Jewish Literary Foundation"
Jewish Literary Foundation
-
An Economist Bet Book of the Year
Economist
-
A Catholic World Report Favorite Reads of the Year
Catholic World Report
-
A History Today Book of the Year
History Today
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
"Haunting. . . . An astonishing historical analysis, The Third Reich of Dreams speaks to the dreams of those who lived under Hitler to capture the twisted realities of Nazi rule."—Willem Marx, Foreword Reviews
Foreword Reviews
-
"Beradt created a unique document that illustrates, profoundly, how people gird themselves, consciously and unconsciously, for the great moral tests they know are coming, even as they absorb and interpret the shocking curtailments of freedom to their daily lives. . . . I must return to Bettelheim, who raises the essential question at the end of his essay: 'If all of us abhorred the Third Reich, why did it exist? […] Even among those who lived in fear and trembling of the Nazis, might there not have been in them somewhere, deep down, a layer of soul closely kin to that regime of terrible domination?' The answer is being written as we reread, with fear and trembling, the work of Charlotte Beradt."—Laurie Winer, Los Angeles Review of Books
Los Angeles Review of Books
-
"Beradt shows us why we should pay more heed to our inklings and sixth senses, gut feelings and nocturnal terrors."—Olivia Ward-Jackson, The Telegraph
The Telegraph
-
"Haunting. . . . a concise but powerful exploration of well-trod history that feels remarkably new."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Publishers Weekly
-
"Beradt's study casts an eerie, mesmeric spell. Reading it feels like scanning the dial of a shortwave radio late at night, picking up spooky transmissions from the collective unconscious of those who knew the Nazi horror firsthand."—Mark Dery, Washington Post
Washington Post
-
"Something of a cult classic. . . . [now] reissued in a crisp new translation from Damion Searls. . . . Dreams are perfect for registering nascent authoritarianism and the ways its repressions actually unfold: not as a single announcement or explosive act but as a steady, growing rumble while the ground beneath your feet begins to shift."—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic
The Atlantic
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Charlotte Beradt
- Narrator
- Olivia Vinall
- Duration
- 3 hours 10 minutes
- Release Date
- 29 April 2025
- ISBN
- 9780691274645
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Genre
- History, The Holocaust
Synopsis
This audiobook narrated by Olivia Vinall exposes the hidden history of a nation sleepwalking its way into evil Charlotte Beradt began having unsettling dreams after Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. She envisioned herself being shot at, tortured and scalped, surrounded by Nazis in disguise, and breathlessly fleeing across fields with storm troopers at her heels. Shaken by these nightmares and banned as a Jew from working, she began secretly collecting dreams from her friends and neighbors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Disguising these "diaries of the night" in code and concealing them in the spines of books from her extensive library, she smuggled them out of the country one by one. Available again for the first time since its publication in the 1960s, this sensational book brings together this uniquely powerful dream record, offering a visceral understanding of how terror is internalized and how propaganda colonizes the imagination. After Beradt herself fled Germany for New York, she collected these dream accounts and began to trace the common symbols and themes that appeared in the collective unconscious of a traumatized nation. The fear of dictatorship was ever-present. Dreams of thought control, even the prohibition of dreaming itself, bore witness to the collapse of outer and inner worlds. Now in a haunting new translation by Damion Searls, The Third Reich of Dreams provides a raw, unfiltered, and prophetic look inside the experience of living through Hitler's terror.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.