Reviews

Discovery of Adolf Hitler's secret diaries several years ago caused first a worldwide sensation and then a howling scandal when they proved to be a crude forgery. Harris, a BBC journalist, competently reconstructs this tale of international chicanery, which eventually cost gullible press barons in Germany, Britain, and the United States some $4 million, making it ``the most expensive and far-reaching fraud in publishing history.'' Especially interesting are Harris's colorful profiles of the leading players, including Gerd Heidemann, the German reporter who ``found'' the diaries, and Hugh Trevor-Roper, the Oxford don who, to his lasting regret, originally authenticated the documents. For popular collections. Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.