Praga

2001 — 2 vols., roy. 8vo., First Edition, with very numerous photographs (a number full-page) throughout; original pictorial boards, a near fine set. The set comprises Vol. I: Road to War; Vol. II: Enigma. Ten years in the making, this comprehensive study chronicles the life of Reinhard Heydrich, Hitler's probable heir apparent. This extraordinary man rose to become second only to Himmler within the SS, controlling the entire Security Service through a career of controversy which continues to this day. He was considered so dangerous that the British had him assassinated. Volume 1 details Heydrich's life from birth to the outbreak of WWII; Volume 2 covers Heydrich's involvement in the Jewish question, the Wannsee Conference, his posting as Acting Reichsprotector for Bohemia-Moravia, his assassination in 1942, his State Funeral, and the precarious life of his wife Lina and their family until her death in 1985. A major feature of this work is the unique collection of over 700 photographs, many never seen before, assembled by the authors during a decade of intensive research. Already very scarce.