The meth in the madness

In his book Blitzed, German author Norman Ohler doesn't argue that drugs were primarily responsible for the decision to invade France in 1940 - but he does argue that they gave the Nazis the belief that such an invasion could work and that they did indeed prove critical to the campaign's success.

Judging by this piece by the Guardian's Rachel Cooke, Blitzed would be a fascinating read, underlining the hypocrisy that saw the Nazis persecute drug abusers while at the same time developing forms of amphetamine and other stimulants to aid their soldiers in battle. Hitler himself emerges from Ohler's pages a complete junkie whose ill health towards the end of the war should probably be attributed to the effects of withdrawal.

(Thanks to Adam for the link.)