The eReader battles between Nook and Kindle get plenty of old media, new media and social media attention, but in the meantime iPhone apps have quietly introduced a new way to reach History buffs as readers. History in an Hour, an eBook and iPhone app venture founded by Rupert Colley, examines Nazi Germany in an Hour through the HIAH app.
The History in an Hour Series
The idea behind History in an Hour is as simple as its name: learn what you can about a specific history topic in an hour, and use your iPhone to do so. The HIAH series aims to reach students, casual readers, and history buffs alike with catchy titles and clear, concise prose.
Each HIAH title breaks down into an eBook of about 10,000 words, a timeline, photos, and biographies of key figures. The app itself is easy to purchase via the iTunes application, and retails at $2.99. Download the app and open it to find a basic table of contents. Tap to open any section, and "flip" through the pages by touching the right side of the screen and swiping to the left.
Nazi Germany in an Hour
So what can you lean in an hour about Nazi Germany on your iPhone? Quite a bit, actually.
Colley, the History in an Hour founder, wrote Nazi Germany in an Hour. The app's focus is definitely political, opening with the Weimar Republic and Germany's humiliation at the end of WWI. He focuses on Adolph Hitler's early years and his role in the founding of what became the Nazi Party, a party that began only in 1920 as a loosely-organized band of five or seven members.
Colley takes the reader through the failed 1923 Munich Putsch and Hitler's sentence for treason (13 months served). He gives the reader small tidbits that reflect on some of Hitler's quirks; Mein Kampf, for instance, was originally titled My 4 1/2 Year Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice, a considerably less elegant title than the one Hitler's publisher settled on.
The book takes us through economic and political history; there is very little reflection on social history, with the exception of the chapter titled "The Family," a fascinating look at how Hitler's policies affected women and children. Women were discouraged from working and blocked from political involvement, encouraged instead to raise good Nazi children. As Colley notes, "By 1939 almost 90 percent of boys were members of the Hitler Youth," while girls were enrolled in the League of German Maidens.
Colley highlights the 1937 Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Disease, noting that more than 200,000 adults deemed diseased of mentally diminished ("useless mouths" in Nazi parlance) were forcibly sterilized as part of eugenics policy.
The book covers major events from the 1930s and 1940s including the 1936 Olympics, the Spanish Civil War, the Anschluss, Sudentenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the war through 1939 to 1945.
iPhone History App
Nazi Germany in an Hour takes us through WWII to German surrender on May 8, 1945, but I can't agree that it does so in an hour. From start to finish, this iPhone History app took me about 2.5 hours to read at a comfortable pace. Speed doesn't matter, of course, and part of the reason for the slower reading time is the book's quality.
As a historian, I found myself wanting to see sources for images and some facts, or to read a bibliography; Nazi Germany in an Hour provides neither. Designed for the casual reader, the HIAH app doesn't burden the reader with academic formalities, but a chapter with a bibliography or notes would be a welcome addition to this useful and unique History app.
Melanie Zoltan - Melanie Zoltan is a former college professor and administrator who has written for About.com, PCWorld, Brain Child, Thomson Gale, and ...
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