The Rise and Fall of the Nazis - Book 1 Germany 1922. ‘The Circle of Hate’ is closing in on Walther Rathenau, the Jewish Foreign Minister. As a Jewish, homosexual industrialist, politician and avid painter, Walther is being hounded from all sides, scapegoated by his own countrymen. In creating the War Raw Materials Department during the Great War and unpopular democratic economic policies, Rathenau has created enemies as well. He is struggling through a damaged Weimar Republic, clinging onto his morals whilst right-wing extremism is blossoming all over Germany. ‘The Circle of Hate’, made up of anti-Jewish Ludendorff, Stinnes and Helfferich, refuse to let Rathenau ruin their own political aspirations. They aim to strike at the most opportune the Genoa conference where all the world will be watching. They plan to make headlines and with the radical, assassination obsessed Von Salomon leading the charge, Rathenau’s life is in danger. Will Rathenau be able to hold off the attacks and negotiate the Treaty of Rapallo successfully? Brutally betrayed by those closest to him, his lover Hartmut Plaas and his servant Josef Prozeller, this is a story of passion, principles and deceit, where hatred is closing in on all sides. Praise for Michael Dean’s book Hour "A gripping story or war and moral choices, rich in drama and historical detail." - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code'. Michael Dean studied history at Worcester College, Oxford and has a translator's qualification in German. He lived in south Germany for five years. He has written for television and now writes fiction full-time. His books include ‘The Enemy Within’ and 'Hour Zero'.