ser ▁is ▁a ▁widely ▁published ▁historian ▁of ▁Naz i ▁Germany , ▁while ▁Dav ies , ▁a ▁self - conf essed ▁former ▁ad her ent ▁to ▁the ▁Ost front ▁myth , ▁special izes ▁in ▁US ▁history ". ▁In ▁the ▁pre face ▁to ▁the ▁book , ▁Dav ies ▁called ▁the ▁book ' s ▁writing ▁a ▁" person al ▁journey " ▁and ▁described ▁how ▁his ▁interest ▁in ▁the ▁Soviet – G erman ▁War ▁grew ▁from ▁reading ▁Hitler ▁D riv es ▁East ▁by ▁Paul ▁Care ll . ▁Dav ies ▁became ▁a ▁dev ote e , ▁with ▁hundreds ▁of ▁books ▁on ▁the ▁Eastern ▁Front ▁in ▁his ▁library . ▁His ▁private ▁collection ▁of ▁w arg ames ▁was ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁source ▁material ▁in ▁the ▁book . ▁ ▁Str ucture ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁section ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁focus es ▁on ▁the ▁prev ail ing ▁American ▁att itudes ▁towards ▁Naz i ▁Germany , ▁the ▁We hr macht , ▁and ▁the ▁SS ▁in ▁the ▁period ▁during ▁World ▁War   II ▁and ▁its ▁immediate ▁after math . ▁The ▁authors ' ▁sources ▁were ▁newsp apers , ▁mag az ines , ▁and ▁other ▁American ▁media ▁of ▁the ▁period . ▁The ▁book ▁also ▁discuss es ▁the ▁role ▁of ▁war - time ▁American ▁propag anda ▁in ▁sh aping ▁a ▁positive ▁image ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁as ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom ' s ▁and ▁the ▁United ▁States ' ▁al ly . ▁ ▁The ▁book ▁then ▁covers ▁positive ▁views ▁of ▁the ▁Germ ans , ▁produced ▁early ▁in ▁the ▁Cold ▁War ▁era . ▁These ▁arose ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁changing ▁ge opol