Introduction

This book explores the curious relationship between Albatross Press—a British-funded publisher of English-language books with Jewish ties—and the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler. Albatross began printing its books in Germany in May 1932, barely a year before Hitler came to power. It made its name not in the trade of mild classics but in edgy, modern British and American books. From its titles to its packaging, Albatross projected a cosmopolitan ethos at odds with German nationalism. This book tells the story of survival against the odds, of what happened when a resolutely cosmopolitan, multinational publishing house became entwined with the most destructively nationalistic culture of modern times. It asks how Albatross was allowed to print and sell its books within the nationalistic climate of Nazi Germany, became the largest purveyor of English-language paperbacks in 1930s Europe and then vanished with so little trace.