Book Description
"As the Indiana Jones films showed, Nazis, new age mumbo-jumbo and exotic locations are a formula that works. Christopher Hale's gripping and well-researched tale of an SS-sponsored scientific mission to Tibet in 1938-39 has the whole shebang: mad occult beliefs, mountains, strange charactors called Bruno or Ernst and stomach-churning concentration camp experiments to round things off."
—The Sunday Times (London)

A scientific expedition or a sinister mission?

Why would the leader of the Nazi’s dreaded SS, the second-most-powerful man in the Third Reich, send a zoologist, an anthropologist, and several other scientists to Tibet on the eve of war? Himmler’s Crusade tells the bizarre and chilling story one of history’s most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions. Drawing on private journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives as well as in Tibet, author Christopher Hale recreates the events of this sinister expedition, asks penetrating questions about the relationship between science and politics, a nd sheds new light on the occult theories that obsessed Himmler and his fellow Nazis.

Combining the highest standards of narrative history with the high adventure and exotic locales of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Himmler’s Crusade reveals that Himmler had ordered these men to examine Tibetan nobles for signs of Aryan physiology, undermine the British relationship with the ruling class, and sow the seeds of rebellion among the populace. Most strangely, the scientists–all SS officers–were to find scientific proof of a grotesque historical fantasy that was at the center of Himmler’s beliefs about race.

Set against the exquisite backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, this fast-paced and engaging narrative provides new and troubling insight into one of the strangest episodes in the history of science, politics, and war.

Book Info
Text tells the story of one of history's most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions. Draws on private journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives. First published in the United Kingdom under the title 'Himmler's Crusade: The True Story of the 1938 Nazi Expedition into Tibet', c2003.

From the Inside Flap
It is a pilgrimage that thousands have taken in search of enlightenment, inner peace, or even sheer adventure. When five officers of the Nazi SS made the arduous journey to Tibet’s forbidden city of Lhasa in the winter of 1938, however, the objects of their quest were mysterious, sinister, and, ultimately, deeply malevolent. Under orders from Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, these scientists were to find proof of a bizarre historical fantasy, lay the groundwork for a global political and military strategy, and pinpoint the origins and remnants of the Aryan "master race."

Himmler’s Crusade tells the riveting tale of one of the most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions in history. Based on a wide range of previously unused sources, including journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives as well as in Tibet, this real-life drama combines the highest standards of narrative history with the high adventure and exotic locales of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Central to this chilling tale is the complex and problematic character of Ernst Schäfer, the expedition’s leader. A serious and extremely competent young zoologist, Schäfer was so consumed by ambition that he was eager to become Himmler’s protégé and to do anything his patron commanded in return for opportunity, fame, and influence at the very highest levels of Nazi power. Though they had their own projects to pursue, Schäfer’s team spent most of its time in Tibet doing Himmler’s bidding, which included sowing the seeds of rebellion, undermining Britain’s relationship with the Tibetan ruling class, and confirming Himmler’s grotesque theories about the origins of the Aryan race.

Part spy thriller, part detective yarn, and all real-life adventure, Himmler’s Crusade takes you from Himmler’s SS stronghold at Wewelsburg Castle, where he inculcated elite SS recruits with the appropriate racial thinking, to the dizzying Himalayan heights, where Schäfer and his team examined Tibetan nobles for signs of Aryan ancestry. It asks penetrating questions about the relationship between science and politics and sheds new light on the occult theories that obsessed Himmler and his fellow Nazis. Supplemented with dozens of fascinating photos taken during the expedition, this engagingly told tale provides deep insight into one of the strangest episodes in the tumultuous months just prior to the outbreak of World War II.

From the Back Cover
"As the Indiana Jones films showed, Nazis, new age mumbo-jumbo and exotic locations are a formula that works. Christopher Hale's gripping and well-researched tale of an SS-sponsored scientific mission to Tibet in 1938-39 has the whole shebang: mad occult beliefs, mountains, strange charactors called Bruno or Ernst and stomach-churning concentration camp experiments to round things off."
—The Sunday Times (London)

A scientific expedition or a sinister mission?

Why would the leader of the Nazi’s dreaded SS, the second-most-powerful man in the Third Reich, send a zoologist, an anthropologist, and several other scientists to Tibet on the eve of war? Himmler’s Crusade tells the bizarre and chilling story one of history’s most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions. Drawing on private journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives as well as in Tibet, author Christopher Hale recreates the events of this sinister expedition, asks penetrating questions about the relationship between science and politics, a nd sheds new light on the occult theories that obsessed Himmler and his fellow Nazis.

Combining the highest standards of narrative history with the high adventure and exotic locales of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Himmler’s Crusade reveals that Himmler had ordered these men to examine Tibetan nobles for signs of Aryan physiology, undermine the British relationship with the ruling class, and sow the seeds of rebellion among the populace. Most strangely, the scientists–all SS officers–were to find scientific proof of a grotesque historical fantasy that was at the center of Himmler’s beliefs about race.

Set against the exquisite backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, this fast-paced and engaging narrative provides new and troubling insight into one of the strangest episodes in the history of science, politics, and war.

About the Author
CHRISTOPHER HALE is an award-winning writer and producer who has made films for the BBC and all the major broadcasters, including WGBH and the Discovery Channel. He has made numerous films about both science and the arts, many combining cutting-edge anthropology with high adventure. Hale has traveled and filmed in literally unmapped regions of Mozambique and Yemen in search of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" and looked for the origins of ocean voyaging on one of the most remote islands of the Pacific.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Himmler's Crusade tells the riveting tale of one of the most perverse, eccentric, and frightening scientific expeditions in history. Based on a wide range of previously unused sources, including journals, new interviews, and original research in German archives as well as in Tibet, this real-life drama combines the highest standards of narrative history with the high adventure and exotic locales of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Central to this tale is the complex and problematic character of Ernst Schafer, the expedition's leader. A serious and extremely competent young zoologist, Schafer was so consumed by ambition that he was eager to become Himmler's protege and to do anything his patron commanded in return for opportunity, fame, and influence at the very highest levels of Nazi power. Though they had their own projects to pursue, Schafer's team spent most of its time in Tibet doing Himmler's bidding, which included sowing the seeds of rebellion, undermining Britain's relationship with the Tibetan ruling class, and confirming Himmler's grotesque theories about the origins of the Aryan race.

Supplemented with dozens of photos taken during the expedition, this tale provides deep insight into one of the strangest episodes in the tumultuous months just prior to the outbreak of World War II.

SYNOPSIS

Writer and television film producer Hale tells how, in the winter of 1938, five officers of the Nazi SS journeyed to Tibet's forbidden city of Lhasa in order to find proof of a bizarre historical fantasy, lay a the groundwork for a global political and military strategy, and pinpoint the origins and remnants of the Aryan master race. There are photographs. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Michael Burleigh

As the Indiana Jones films showed, Nazis, new age mumbo-jumbo and exotic locations are a formula that works. Christopher Hale's gripping and well-researched tale of an SS-sponsored scientific mission to Tibet in 1938-39 has the whole shebang: mad occult beliefs, mountains, strange characters called Bruno or Ernst and stomach-churning concentration camp experiments to round things off.

In 1935, the Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler founded an organisation called Ancestral Heritage to uncover the hidden past of an imaginary Aryan race he and his F￯﾿ﾽhrer regarded as the noblest and most vital force in human history. That fact that there had never been an Aryan race — a philological category (the Indo-Germanic language group) had been construed into a "people" — was no impediment to someone who also believed Aryans had been unleashed on the world after divine thunderbolts shattered the primordial ice in which they were imprisoned. Himmler was also pretty keen to find gold in the river Isar or a red horse with a white mane, but that need not detain us.

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