Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe’s Bullion

If Germany had learned anything from the Great War, it was that gold was the best currency. Though inflation eventually devalued German currency to almost worthless, gold kept its purchasing power, even into the closing days of WWI. This fact prompted German leaders to obtain as much gold as possible. This book tells the story of their quest; how they strove to steal, buy, or trade for as much gold as they could, while the Allies struggled to evacuate the gold to Britain or America.

Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe’s Bullion does some things right: it conveys the needed information, it is incredibly accessible, and it maintains chronological coherence. But it also has many gaping flaws: its paragraphs are riddled with tangential non sequiters, the sentences are bland and totally uniform, and the narrative is simply uninteresting. Though more than enough potential for a swift story is present, the book dilutes this potential with constant meandering. I do recommend this book, both as an overview of WWII and the financial situation during that time, but would recommend caution about the book’s confusing nature.