'Lindqvist argues that the Nazi holocaust had its roots in nineteenth century European thought. Such is his main argument, but it would be quite wrong to suggest that he has written a mere tract about ideas. The book is presented as a sequence of 169 short and beautifully written passages in which his story is mixed with autobiographical reflection. A few academics may mutter that this is not a proper history book, and deplore the absence of this year's mandatory theorists from its footnotes. But Lindqvist deserves far better than that. He has written an engaged and engaging book that the general reader can think along with. Were the universities ever to tire of their clotted labyrinths of 'theory' they would hail it as exemplary for its lucidity' - the Independent