In a discerning and well-written essay published in the Fall edition of the Claremont Review of Books, Algis Valiunas reviews two recent books about famed Nazi apologist, Leni Riefenstahl. You'll undoubtedly learn much about Riefenstahl that you didn't know (the MSM, filmmakers and historians alike have been naively defensive of her), but you'll also learn from Valiunas' review of the two books in question (Leni Riefenstahl: A Life, by Jürgen Trimborn, translated by Edna McCown, and Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl, by Steven Bach) about propaganda, the powerful lure of ambition, and other aspects of the "banality of evil."It is an excellent, provocative read.
