" Dead Funny isn't just a book of wildly off-limits humor. Rather, it's a fascinating, heartbreaking look at power dynamics, propaganda, and the human hunger for catharsis." -- The Atlantic, Best Books of 2012 "A concise, compelling book." --The Independent "Fascinating. Intriguing.Herzog, the son of the film-maker Werner Herzog, shares his father's curious and mordant wit." -- The Financial Times "Dead Funny' s real value lies in the way it situates anti-Nazi folk humor in the shifting historical context of this grim bygone era, and the fact that the author is able to resuscitate such obscure jokes verbatim is a phenomenal feat . [the] book's strikingly original historical research sets it apart from the glut of dry tomes which are still being cranked out about Nazi history.

" --Time Out (New York) "Chilling.[Herzog] shows, in unadorned language, the process of propagandising and the psychological capitulation of many Germans to the Nazis' will." --PopMatters "Herzog's thesis is that, during the Third Reich, Germans relished jokes about their leaders. Throughout Hitler's 12 years in power, there were plenty of caustic gags doing the rounds -- about Dr Goebbels' club foot, or Hitler's limp Nazi salute, which made him look like a waiter carrying a tray, or the widely held suspicion that Goering wore his medals in the bath." --The Guardian "Herzog demolishes the idea that Germans didn't know what the Nazis were up to: there were many, many concentration camp jokes. Germans under Hitler seemed to find it natural, and kind of funny, that 'troublemakers'--including Jews and dissidents--should end up behind barbed wire." --Macleans Praise for the German Edition "A thrilling book." -- Der Spiegel "The first comprehensive book on comedy and humor in the Third Reich.

[.] The author brings together all manifestations of humor--wit, newspaper cartoons, cabaret, variety shows, entertainment, film, pop songs, and musicals. An important history." --Suddeutsche Zeitung.