As secretary to the Fuhrer for the duration of the Third Reich, Christa Schroeder was perfectly placed to observe the actions and behaviour of Hitler, along with the most important figures surrounding him. Her memoir does not fail to deliver fascinating insights: she notes Hitler's bourgeois manners, his vehement abstemiousness and his mood swings. She also reflects candidly on political and military developments from the earliest days of the regime through its final collapse. This is, without any doubt, one of the most important primary sources from the pre-war and wartime period.