Dederichs, a correspondent for Stern magazine, has written this biography of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the key architects of the genocide perpetrated by the Third Reich. Written for general readers, this book covers Heydrich's swift rise to power within the SS, his aggressive and ambitious personality and ultimately his assassination at the hands of Czech partisans in 1942. The author uses interviews with Heydrich's surviving family to reveal his "personal abyss" and to detail his acts of cruelty and ruthlessness that led even Hitler to proclaim him as "a man with an iron heart." Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)