Part 2, Chapters 14-18 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 14, "Start in My New Office," describes how Speer comes to run the Armaments Ministry. It begins with a frustrating tour of Dnepropetrovsk and a visit to Hitler's headquarters in Rastenburg. Opting out of a flight to Berlin, he survives the crash that kills Todt and is "thunderstruck" to inherit Todt's ministries and the Todt Organization, which is building the Western Wall, U-boat shelters, and roads in occupied territories. Goering arrives too late to absorb Todt's domains, which creates lasting animosity. Speer marvels at the appointment, being an outsider to the military, party, and industry. Seeing it as fate, Hitler finds Speer far less troublesome than Todt and promises this is but a temporary interruption of Speer's life's work.

Speer tries not to look like an intruder to the staff. He gets no time to acclimate to...