从19世纪末百货公司的出现到第一次世界大战结束后几年的金融灾难，德国大规模零售业的历史由开创性的一代德国犹太企业家主导，他们发现了财富和影响力，却在20世纪30年代被希特勒和纳粹夺走了生计。
《凯撒、希特勒和犹太百货公司》利用一系列档案来源和私人收藏，揭示了与纳粹的说法相反，犹太所有的百货公司是如何体面的雇主，深受顾客欢迎，并很好地融入了经济。事实上，这些机构是德国社会不可或缺的组成部分，以至于当希特勒在1933年掌权时，纳粹被迫放弃废除这些机构的承诺。正如这段启示性的历史所指出的那样，犹太人经营的商店的终结不能仅仅归因于反犹太主义的兴起：它也是财政管理不善和德国人民漠不关心的后果。
约翰·F·穆勒（John F.Mueller）揭示了德国犹太百货公司在社会和政治方面的强大力量，以及在建筑和设计方面的领导者。他的书挑战了关于消费文化、德国犹太商业社区和纳粹主义崛起之间关系的常见假设，为现代德国的社会历史提供了新的见解。
The Kaiser, Hitler and the Jewish Department Store: The Reich’s Retailer
From the emergence of department stores in the late 19th century to the financial disasters of the years following the end of World War I, the history of large-scale retailing in Germany was dominated by a pioneering generation of German-Jewish entrepreneurs who found fortune and influence only to have their livelihoods taken by Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s.
Drawing on a range of archival sources and private collections, The Kaiser, Hitler and the Jewish Department Store reveals how, contrary to Nazi claims, Jewish-owned department stores were decent employers, popular with customers, and well integrated into the economy. In fact, such institutions were so integral to German society that, when Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazis were forced to abandon their pledge to abolish them. As this revelatory history argues, the end of the Jewish-run store cannot solely be attributed to the rise of antisemitism: it was also the consequence of financial mismanagement and the indifference of the German people.
John F. Mueller reveals the German-Jewish department store as a powerful force in society and politics as well as a leader in architecture and design. His book challenges common assumptions about the relationship between consumer culture, the German-Jewish business community and the rise of Nazism, providing fresh insights into the social history of modern Germany.
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