Schnell's book came out when I was still just a kid JW. I remember hearing about it. When it was mentioned Schnell was always described as being "demon possessed," or as someone who was angry because he wasn't moved up in the organization fast enough. He was described as a very angry person. I did not actually read his book until sometime in the late 1970s.
When Schnell's book came out, the Watchtower authorized Marley Cole to write his book around 1952. This was a standard hardcover book. Later, I found out that Cole was a JW and that the Watchtower provided some of the funds for the publication of the book. Every JW family rushed out to buy a copy, so for a brief time it was on the best seller lists. Talk about a kiss-ass piece of sh3t.
Just a few years later, A. H. MacMillan wrote "Faith on the March." Again, the Watchtower Society funded the publication of his book (MacMillan could not afford to publish it - he was a member of the Bethel family). MacMillan was an associate of both Russell and Rutherford, so his perspective was interesting from a historical perspective. But later on I found out that much of the material in his book was actually partly written and approved by the Writing Committee at Bethel. It was sort of a precursor to the "Proclaimers" book.
Franz's first book was the first one that I read that seemed to be an honest reporting job of the WT's history and the events that surrounded the 1975 debacle and the formation of the Governing Body. As you read it, you can almost imagine Ray sitting in the room with you and just telling his story in an honest and forthright way. As many have mentioned before, I did not see any anger in his writings, but there was frustration and a feeling that many good deeds were left undone by those who had it in their power to correct the errors and the course that the Society was taking.