Read this when
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
The most unsettling thing about him was how ordinary he was.
Who it's for
This is a hard read, and it is meant to be unsettling.
Disturbed and searching→Clearer about my own responsibility
Feelings it meets
What it is
Political theorist Hannah Arendt reported on the 1961 Jerusalem trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi official who helped organise the deportation of Jews during the Holocaust. Rather than finding a monster, she described a careerist who spoke in clichés and avoided thinking about what he was doing, and she coined the phrase 'the banality of evil'.
Where to find it
Penguin Classics paperback, ebook and audiobook; widely held in libraries (check Libby).
Before you start
Heads up: Discusses the Holocaust and mass murder.
Age: Not rated (suggested 16+)
