In 1938, shortly before the war, a Nazi expedition set out through British India on a mission funded by Himmler himself. Its purpose was to trace the roots of the Aryan race high in the sacred mountains of Tibet. The expedition was led by two complex individuals - Ernst Schäfer, a daring naturalist with a gun on his back, and Bruno Beger, an anthropologist of racist theories whose ideas led to Auschwitz.

Schäfer and Beger soon found themselves facing hostility from the British, being manipulated by the Tibetans, and struggling with the primitive conditions in the holy city of Lhasa. Every detail of the expedition was recorded in diaries, letters, and secret reports. It was also documented in thousands of remarkable photographs (some of which are reproduced here for the first time in decades) and on film.

Despite the rich documentation, the full story of Schäfer's failed expedition has never been fully told. This encounter between the British and the Nazis, so close to World War II, forms a 'small picture' of the impending conflict. HIMMLER'S CRUSADE explores the ideological roots of the Nazis' obsession with racial theory and the occult. Utilizing the wealth of primary materials as well as his own interviews with Bruno Beger, Christopher Hale has written a compelling and thought-provoking book that highlights this little-known prelude to the unimaginable horror of war.

Pages: 592, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm