Book Description

In Hitler's Generals, distinguished historian Correlli Barnett has gathered together an outstanding team of military historians to write about the characters and careers of twenty-six generals of the Third Reich. The book probes the central mystery of why a generation of the world's most able commanders and staff officers came to be seduced by Hitler, and why they failed to deflect him from his disastrous decisions. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

An extraordinary collection of biographical sketches
This is simply a must read for anyone interested in Germany and World War Two. A great companion to 'Stalin's Generals' by Shukman(editor), this book tells the stories of every rank of Germanys command in WW II. Separate sections detail the 'Anti-Nazi Generals', the 'Desk Generals' the Fieldmarshalls the 'Battlefront' commanders and the 'innovators'. Every German general and military leader is mentioned. From Guderian, the man who created 'Blitzkrieg' to Rommell the 'Desert Fox to Paulus who surrendered Stalingrad as well as luminaries like Rundstedt and Kesselring.

These wonderful biographical sketches help one understand the diversity in command of Hitler's war machine. The generals ranged from the totally incompetent to dire hard Nazi's to professional soldiers like Rommell. A number of the Generals were captured or killed before the war ended and many were tried for war crimes. A wonderful book, very well written and one that allows you to jump from place to place since each sketch is authored by a separate expert.

Seth J. Frantzman

Good Overview
I enjoyed the personal details of the generals profiled; it tended to give you a better understanding of the men without having to read a full biography on each one. I would have liked to see more of a comparison made with American generals just to better my understanding of the men. I did come away from the book with a positive view of the generals highlighted, they were professional and competent and not a bunch of jack booted Nazi's out killing any innocent they came across. Then again this book dealt with the top of the class, the type that for the most part did not get relegated to camp duty. The most disturbing observation I made was that here was a very strong, intelligent group of people that were lead to ultimate destruction in only a few years - if it could happen there... This book delivers on what it states it will, an overview of so of the men that made the Germany military successful. It is a good first step if you are looking to increase your knowledge of the area.

Nice Overview
A couple of reviewers have expressed disappointment in this book because it didn't go more deeply into military strategy, but that is exactly the reason why a more general audience will find this book as interesting as I did. I found myself skimming over the esoteric (read boring) battle details and absorbing the personal ones because they were much more revealing of the men beneath the uniforms. Who would have suspected that the imposing von Rundsteadt once considered being an actor and loved to read mystery novels. This may not be the book for strict tactical historians, but it is a very interesting read for everybody else.

Excellent background commanders behind Hitler!
You may find this book helpful to you especially without knowing the men behind hitler! This book contained hitler's famous generals categorized from anti-nazi generals, desk generals, the feldherren, battlefronts generals and innovative generals! You may get to know famous allied generals in other world war 2 books but this book mention capable german generals like guderian, student, kesselring, paulus, model, rommel and etc. This book is excellent by introducing who are the German generals! It may not be detail as a bibliography but it is plenty to read for 20 Hitler's famous generals. This book cited the brilliance of creative strategies from these generals in the opening assault of Western and Eastern Europe to defending their way back to Berlin. Not to mention military blunder and a plot to kill hitler by anti-nazi generals example Rommel, Speidel, Stupnagel and Witzleben. And why did they want to assasinate Hitler? As for my recommendation, this book is a great knowledge for beginner readers who need further information behind Hitlers's generals and World War 2!

Good introduction
This is a book for the beginner in WW II' generals. IT provides a good general overview about some of HItler's most famous generals and Field MArshalls, adn tries to explain why they followed the Dictator of Evil into Germany's destruction. THis is exactly the weakest part in this book> the explanations to this fact are very vague. In "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" you'll find much better explanations to the fact. ... Read more

Book Description

An essential introduction to a notrious figure and crucial theme in modern European history.Focusing on the key themes in modern of Nazi domestic policy, this book draws together the results of recent research into a concise analysis of the nature of Nazi rule and its impact on German society.

This second edition continues to explore the issues of Hitler's beliefs and their role in the Third Reich, the factors that brought the party to power, the structure and nature of the government in the Reich, and the origins and implementation of the Holocaust.This new edition also develops important new themes including race, genetics, class, and the role of women. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Few facts, mostly invented
In the 1970's, at the height of the Hitler boom, Glenn Infield had a cottage industry. He produced numerous books on Hitler and Eva Braun, made a ton of money and then thankfully, disappeared from the face of the earth. I say "thankfully" because Infield never was bothered to get his facts straight. He was (in)famous for making up interviews with long-lost Hitler associates, and even inventing people if it suited him. He even claimed to have interviewed Unity Mitford in 1976; the only problem was that she had been dead for 35 years. Oh well, Infield never was one to allow the facts to get in the way of telling a juicy story.

So the text is inaccurate, shoddy and unintentionally funny. He claims Hitler necked on the sofa with a British woman at Bayreuth in 1935, never mind that the woman herself later admitted she'd never even met the Fuehrer or Glenn Infield, for that matter, who claimed to have interviewed her. I could go on and on, but let's just say the book is mostly fiction. The photographs, however, are exceptional. There are actually some rare gems in here, though, as usual, Infiel misidentifies dozens of them. There are at least twenty photos of Gretl Braun (Eva's sister), that are identified as Eva. Infield even has a photo of Max Amann that he says is Heinrich Himmler. Sigh.

To sum up, if you want some unusual and rare photos of Hitler and Eva, there are in the book. Forget the accuracy of the words, however. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

An Absorbing, Important Book
Waite strips Adolf Hitler down to the core, revealing in his childhood explanations for not only why Hitler was who he was, but also revealing in general the reasons the German volk followed him down the fiery path of the Holocaust. His fascinating analysis of the routine and horrifying abuse that passed for normal child-rearing methods in middle European countries tears away the the curtain that has shrouded the motivations of Hitler and his countrymen, and makes it clear that the Holocaust was not an abberation in Germany--it was an inevitability. Read this with Alice Miller's "For Your Own Good" and Wolff's "Child Abuse in Freud's Vienna," and you'll get the picture.

Inaccurate nonsense
Waite's book is (amazingly) still in print after a quarter century. It's sobering to think so many people put credence in his ridiculous Freudian notions. There is nothing revelatory in this book and the errors are predictable and redundant. Putting Hitler on the couch is nothing new, Walter Langer and the OSS produced the first psychological profile of Hitler in 1943. It is still in print and available on Amazon and is much superior to this effort.

The main problem is that Hitler is dead and putting him through psychoanalysis is problematic, to say the least. I have an innate distrust of non-Germans (or non-German speakers) writing biographies of Hitler, so Waite has a leg up in this department since he does speak and read german. The vast majority of Hitlerian documents have never been translated and a non-German speaker tackles the project with a severe disadvantage. But does Waite use his innate advantage? No, he relies on discredited information, outdated sources and throws in some psychological treatises of his own, which lack credibility.

Hitler was an extraordinarily complex, complicated personality and the vast majority of historians have missed the mark in interpreting him or understanding him. Waite utterly misses the mark in explaining Hitler's relationships with women. He was hardly a sexual pervert and maintained a monogamous, though neurotic, relationship with Eva Braun for the last thirteen years of his life. The stories in this book of his "perversions" are stale and the product of propaganda from WWII.

If you want a steady, readable and reliable biography of Hitler, I urge you to consult John Toland's masterful 1976 book. Nothing has surpassed it in the 25 years since its publication.

The Self-Reinforcing Ideology of Psychoanalysis
This book's main value to the future will be in displaying the extent to which a pseudo-scientific theory of psychology penetrated into the mainstream discourse of history. Freud's ideologically-driven, nonfalsifiable absurdities have been discredited and discredited again by legitimate psychological researchers uninfluenced by politics and philosophers still committed to empirical logic...

Mr. Waite is obviously a decently intelligent fellow and a competent historian, but demonstrates the conformist temper of politically correct academia and its consequent inversion of science in favor of career-securing ideology.

Hitler Had Some Issues


Psychoanalysis of dead historical figures can get old, fast. This book, which I first saw mentioned in print (probably pre-publication) about 15 years ago, is an exception, though I doubt that anyone would read it straight through.

Hitler's favorite painter was Von Stuck. The author of this book mentions a vignette in which Hitler, upon seeing one of Von Stuck's paintings (of Medusa), gasped "those are the eyes of my mother!" For good measure, both Clara Hitler's photo and a photo of the painting are juxtaposed...

This is an excellent book
This is the first and only book that I have read that actualy attempts to understand the mental inner-workings of the greatest political mind in the past hundred years, and through that,understand how he was able to accomlish his goals. Robert Waite's thorough analysis of Hitler's beleifs, personality, mindset, and methods finally explains the inexplicable; how can one man convince an entire country, nay, a continent, to abide by his childish whims and maniacal will, to accomlish what certainly must be considered one of the most horrific, if not the most horrific, acts of all time. The question is a burning one that begs for an answer, and Mr. Waite strives mightily to do just that. Through intense and delicate research, as well as some speculation on his part, he traces Hitler's family origin, the sources of his beliefs, and most importantly, his psyche, and molds them into a very viable theory that is at once enlightening and sickening. This is an excellent book, written by a first class historian. It is without question required reading for any individual that wants to know the "how" of the Holocaust. My only small complaint is that in his immense dislike for his subject, Waite finds it impossible to refrain from sarcasm and showing his disdain at certain points in the reading. I might add, however, that these instances are usually very entertaining. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Dated and embarrassingly inaccurate
This was number one on the New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks when it was released in 1973. I read it as a child and enjoyed it, but I didn't realize as a 10-year-old that it was laden with ridiculous errors. Payne writes well, but entire chapters are completely fabricated, thus making the book worthless. A salient example is chapter 6 where Hitler makes a year-long visit to Liverpool to visit his brother. This is the most embarrassing idiocy to ever appear in a Hitler biography (and there's loads of competition for this dubious distinction).
Hitler was never in England, as his apartment records clearly show from Vienna. Payne relies upon discredited sources again and again, such as William Patrick Hitler and Kurt Krueger, invented Hitler psychiatrist.

The book is good for a few laughs, nothing more. It's aged dreadfully and its errors become more ludicrous as the years past. If you want a solid, reliable and definitive biography of Hitler, consult John Toland's 1977 masterpiece.

payne gives me "pain" while reading book
Although this book showed the reader that Payne knew the topic of Adolf Hitler well, the reader begins to wonder where Payne acquires all of this information, for he rarely credited his sources.

FACT or FICTION?
Definitely an interesting read.My only question is "how much can one believe?"Good advice, by the way, to ALL students of history:Just because it's printed doesn't make it "FACT".What I did like, however, was that Payne explored a little-known "rumor" about Hitler's supposed 6-month stay in Liverpool (yet it brings one back to the original dilemma-- where did the author get his facts from?)Reader beware.

A Very Flawed Book, but with some merit.
Thomas Payne, while well-meaning and by no means a "revisionist" conspiracy theorist, had written what can best be described as a work offiction.

Mr. Payne is not out to lie or decieve.But there are manyparts of his book which, we now know (and he could have known when he wrotehis book) that are based not on actual fact, but on bogus, sensational"biographies" of Hitler which have nothing to do with the truth. The problem with biographies of Hitler is that, being as close as humanelypossible to absolute evil, one readily believes ANYTHING bad about Hitler. But it just ain't so in some cases.

Examples:

1).Hitler as a lazy,dirty beggar in Vienna:Yes, Hitler WAS down-and-out in Vienna.But thedescription of the dirty, lazy beggar is lifted from one of the first bogus"biographies" of Hitler, by one Mr. Hanish, "I WAS HITLER'SFRIEND" from the 1930's.Hanish claims to have known Hitler in earlyVienna - but facts prove otherwise; Arno Kubitzek, who really WAS Hitler'sfriend at the same (and slightly earlier) period, contradicts Hanish, andrecords also show that at the period Hanish supposedly "knew"Hitler as a pennyless beggar, he was living rather comfortably on hisorphan's pension and the small inheritence he was left by his parents.Thewhole account of the period, which generally quotes Hanish, has all thetouches of a melodramatic "made-for-TV" biography.Hitler is notonly down-and-out, but "a figure rarely seen amoung christians"in his dereliction.He is not only supposedly helped with old clothes bykind merchants, but (what else?) by JEWISH merchants (I mean, where is theirony factor otherwise?), and so on.But it just ain't so.

2).Hitler's"visit" to England in 1911/12: this is complete fiction.It islifted from another fake "biography" of Hitler, ghost-written asif by Hitler's sister-in-law, Bridgit [sp?] Hitler, who was married toAdolf's half-brother Alois Jr.According to this book Hitler visitedLiverpool for almost a year and became (what else?) a burden on everybody,until he left back to Germany after a row with his brother.In fact,police reocrds show that at the time Hitler was supposedly"visiting" Liverpool (of all places) he was in fact living inVienna.

The annoying thing about these two episode is that Payne addsinsult to injury: not only does he rely on fictional accounts, but he makesfar-reaching conclusions of the usual pop-psychology sort about the"origin of Hitler's evil" based on Hitler's "badbehavior" on these (fictional) occasions.

3).A"meeting" between the Soviets and Germans in 1943 inGerman-occupied territory:A whole chapter is devoted to this supposed"meeting".It never happened, as we now know for sure after thesoviet archives had opened.

4).Hitler's suicide: Payne prints aphotograph of "Hitler's" body, supposedly clutching a picture ofhis mother (!).This photograph came straight out of end-of-the-war timetabloid sensationalist press.It is now well-known that it is not aphotograph of Hitler's body at all, but simply of a slightly similar manwith a mustasche.

In conclusion, Payne does some basic researchreasonably well, but one must say that his work must be read with greatcaution.You never know when Payne will swallow hook, line, and sinker oneof the outrageous claims made about Hitler by bogus biographers, andpresent it as gospel truth.

A great biography
I've read both "The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler" and Joachim Fest's "Hitler," both of which are cited by historians as among the best Hitler biographies.I must give the nod to this book as thebetter of the two.It is more readable and gives a better overall accountof the tortured mind that led many millions to their deaths.Payne'saccount is particularly strong in following Hitler's Vienna period, when heended up as a homeless vagabond.He eventually spent several years in amen's shelter where he earned a living painting postcards and spent timeentertaining his companions with his occasional ranting outbursts. Particularly surprising is that Hitler displayed no documented traces ofanti-semitism before World War I.Don't expect detailed portraits of otherNazis.This is Hitler's story and his alone.As Payne points out, withouthim there would have been no other Nazis. ... Read more

Book Description

"Four Stars."-- West Coast Review of Books

"Fascinating reading."-- Booklist

"An engrossing book...excellent."-- Oahu Sun Press

"A seldom-seen slant on Hitler's life."-- School Library Journal"A wonderful addition to the works about Hitler."-- Isaiah Kuperstein, Association of Holocaust Organizations

"Fascinating and invaluable....A detailed portrait of Hitler."-- L.A. Reader ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Adolph Hitler - A to Z
Any book with the name of Adolph Hitler in the title is bound to catch the eye of all Germanophiles - serious and semi-serious - and those people will grab this book off the shelf, automatically. It is only 195 pages, and so, is not really a serious biography of Hitler - but it is, nevertheless, a very readable book , especially for those who are already somewhat familiar with Hitler and German history - which means, I guess, sadly, mainly for just those people over 60.
Nevertheless, there are many people with a sense of history who will remember that Hitler was an Austrian-born megalomaniac with mesmerizing oratorical skills, who after fighting in the trenches in World War I gravitated to politics and eventually - in 1933 - rose to become the leader (eventually the dictator) - the "Fuehrer" - of Germany. Hitler was determined to right all the wrongs he thought Germany had been subjected to following the Treaty of Versailles, to restore the German economy, to establish Germany as the leading country of the world, to establish the German Third Reich (Empire)which was to endure one thousand years (it lasted 12) and to purify the German Aryan race - which, for various reasons, required the elimination of the Jewish population - wherever and whenever the opportunity permitted. While this book contains bits and pieces of that unbelievable saga, it deals with none of those issues in any great detail.
What author Fuchs does focus upon in his little book is certain trivia, personal ideosyncracies and eccentricities of Hitler that he judges will be of interest to fans of Hitler
and German history. Fuchs divides his book into 35 short chapters (5-10 pages per), which makes for easy reading. A sample of some of the chapter headings will illustrate the variety of subjects that Fuchs deals with: Hitler's mustache, his dog, his book ("Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle"), Nazi party stuff ( songs, flags, uniforms, greetings, titles, etc.), the "People's Car" (Volkswagen), Hitler, the orator, Hitler's women friends, Hitler, the hypochondriac, Hitler's diet, his dentist, his wardrobe, his reading habits, his tastes in movies, his artistic passions, his money, his anti-Semitism, his relationships with Goering, Goebbles, and Himmler - and more.
The book also contains some 38 pages of notes (but no foot notes), 8 pages of bibliography (containing titles of some more serious biographies of Hitler) and a 26-page chronology of the major events that transpired during Hitler's life - private and
political. The book is in its way entertaining - and reading this book might prompt the reader to move on to other, more serious, more comprehensive books on these matters.

Stay away from this book!
This book was a poorly compiled regurgitation of Allied World War II propaganda. The author had an incredible bias against Adolf Hitler and it gushes out in every chapter. According to this book, anything that Hitler did was the most evil, demented or terrible thing in all of history. When Hitler did ordinary things, or showed kindness, the author criticizes these as well.

Unless you want to read a book that is dedicated to Hitler bashing, I would stay away from this one. You will learn absolutely nothing, except disproven lies, from it. I am not quite sure how people can get away with publishing such discredited information and call it history.

Reader beware..
The author of this book set out to write about a subject he apparantly didn't understand. I don't know what his sources were, but if his readers actually believe most of the things he has written here as "facts", then they are as naive as he is. It is a small book full of hearsay and fabrications, making Fuchs's so-called "Concise Biography" anything but. This book is sad proof that anything can be published nowadays. This is definitely one to avoid.

The Lone Wolf
The life Of Adolph Hitler is a facinating journey which has become riddled with myths by our popular culture. While adjectives such as evil and maniacal accurately describe Hitler, he was also a very intelligent man. Thomas Fuchs attemtps to dispell many of the myths, and bring out the truth with this book.
Hitler seems to have be obsessed with creating poltical change since his career in art failed. Hitler also had other fascinations aside from anti-semitism (which was not his original idea). The book suggests Hitler to be a hypochondriac, which is somewhat beleiveable whether or not you believe that he had syphillis and bad teeth. Also, Fuchs discusses Hitler's obsession with wolfs, often seeing himself as sort of a lone wolf.
My only objetion with this book is that it tends to be redundant at times. However, this is mostly due to the encyclopedia-like format of the book.
For a reader that desires to learn more about perhaps the most hypnotically potent speaker in the history of humankind, this book is an excellent place to start. Many of the other Hitler biographies carry on far to long.

Still An Enigma
Learning 'little details' about Hitler the man doesn't really seem to make him seem any less enigmatic. He seems to have been an odd person to say the least based on his habits and personality quirks, but in my opinion, even though the author's purpose is to make him seem more 'human', to me learning all these wierd little details about the life of Hitler makes him as enigmatic as ever.... That aside, it is a fascinating book. cold hard facts on Hitler without a 'spin' are interesting, but there is not much examination of Hitler, just a collection of details and anecdotes. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Every American should read this book.
Drosnin's painstaking research makes this book THE most authoritative account of the later years of Howard Hughes. Students of politics will enjoy the tales of political bribery.

Citizen Hughes should be reissued for HRH's centennial in 2005.

Essential book
Essential book to understanding Hughes, his empire, his paranoia and his bizarre final years in isolation. Also a must-read for info on Robert Maheu and Richard Nixon.

Great piece of research!
Michael Drosnin did an excellent job of deciphering all the memos that Howard Hughes exchanged with Robert Maheu (his chief of Las Vegas operations) and writing a cohesive story. He also interviewed many associates to obtain a true picture of what went on with Howard Hughes during his many years of self-imposed exile. I found it to be the most interesting and revealing book about Hughes that I have ever read. I worked for one of his companies for 30 years and I would highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The angry ranting of an obscure, small-party politician, the first volume of Mein Kampf was virtually ignored when it was originally published in 1925. Likewise the second volume, which appeared in 1926. The book details Hitler's childhood, the "betrayal" of Germany in World War I, the desire for revenge against France, the need for lebensraum for the German people, and the means by which the National Socialist party can gain power. It also includes Hitler's racist agenda and his glorification of the "Aryan" race. The few outside the Nazi party who read it dismissed it as nonsense, not believing that anyone could--or would--carry out its radical, terrorist programs. As Hitler and the Nazis gained power, first party members and then the general public were pressured to buy the book. By the time Hitler became chancellor of the Third Reich in 1933, the book stood atop the German bestseller lists. Had the book been taken seriously when it was first published, perhaps the 20th century would have been very different.

Beyond the anger, hatred, bigotry, and self-aggrandizing, Mein Kampf is saddled with tortured prose, meandering narrative, and tangled metaphors (one person was described as "a thorn in the eyes of venal officials"). That said, it is an incredibly important book. It is foolish to think that the Holocaust could not happen again, especially if World War II and its horrors are forgotten. As an Amazon.com reader has pointed out, "If you want to learn about why the Holocaust happened, you can't avoid reading the words of the man who was most responsible for it happening."Mein Kampf, therefore, must be read as a reminder that evil can all too easily grow. --Sunny Delaney ... Read more

Reviews (131)

Excellent book
Not at all what I expected. I expected a monster spouting hate and ignorance. Instead, I found a very well written autobiography. Hitlers writing style has a lot of flavor to it, and the stories are very intriguing, particularly the ones about his youth and the time he lived in Vienna. What is interesting to me is that he tells his story the way he saw it whether it benefits him or not. He freely admits his faults, as well as his strengths. For example, his sadness at being rejected from art school when, in his mind, he thought he was a very good painter. Or, when he admits his lack of understanding of how labor unions work when confronted by co-workers on a construction site. It is a very interesting book. It is a good study of one particular persons version of sociology.

Adolf Hitler's Manifesto on National Socialism
I am sick of constantly hearing people trash this book. Not surprisingly, those same people have usually not taken the time to read this tome. If they did they would realize that it is for the most part lucid and pragmatic. Hitler makes many good points, but he often lets his resounding passion take hold of him. He was obviously a true believer in what he espoused. One must read this book if one wants to understand Hitler; the good and the bad.

Socialist trios: Hitler, Stalin & Mao. Hitler, Marx & Mao.
The disgusting book "Mein Kampf" by Adolph Hitler ranks down with "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and the little "Red book" by Mao (also available).Many people try to single out Hitler as unique, but it is unfortunate that he was matched or surpassed in monstrosity as a member of the socialist trio of atrocities (Hitler, Mao, Stalin) that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part): 62 million killed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 35 million by the Peoples' Republic of China, 21 million by the National Socialist German Workers' Party.They were the worst slaughter in history.

It is also important to remember that the National Socialist German Workers' Party and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics started as allies in 1939 to invade Poland in a pact to divide up Europe.

The book led to the National Socialist German Workers' Party.Hitler used the word "socialist"constantly throughout the book as he promoted the dogma.The word "fascist" is used about three times and only as references to Italy. Many people forget that "Nazi" means "National Socialist German Workers' Party," and one reason people forget is because the word "Nazi" is overused by media mouthpieces who never say the actual name of the horrid party. Most people no longer remember the meaning.A good mnemonic device is that the sick socialist swastika resembles two overlapping "S" letters for "socialism."

Here is another interesting fact: the word "swastika" does not appear in the book once in the German version.Hitler only used the term "Hakenkreuze" (hooked cross)."Swastika" was a bad translation of "Hakenkreuze."

The book might contain Hitler's only written comments about the "swastika." It is a brief section and can be interpreted as Hitler stating that the Hakenkreuze was also used as alphabetic symbolism of overlapping "sieg" runes representing "S" letters for "socialism" or the "socialist victory" of his National Socialist German Workers' Party, a news-breaking discovery by the historian Rex Curry.

The book contains no mention of the infamous straight-arm salute of the National Socialists. The salute was not in use by Hitler when the book was written and the salute developed from the military salute and from the original pledge of allegiance in the USA, and not from ancient Rome, as exposed by the historian Rex Curry.

The pledge and its straight-arm salute was written by a socialist (Francis Bellamy) in the USA (as shown in web image searches for "original socialist salute").Francis Bellamy and his cousin and cohort Edward Bellamy were national socialists who idolized the military and wanted to nationalize the entire US economy, including all schools.It was a philosophy that led to the socialist Wholecaust (of which the Holocaust was a part) where millions were murdered. Bellamy put flags in every school to promote a government takeover of education for nationalization and socialism.That is why the Bellamys are known as America's Nazis.

Some educated socialists (socialists who know the origin of the pledge) laugh at so-called conservatives who support robotic pledging in government schools, because socialists presume that "conservatives" in the USA have been duped into supporting socialism and is ignorant of the pledge's socialist origin.Conservatives don't arise each morning to gather with neighbors and robotically chant, as they only "love" the pledge when government's schools lead children in robotic chanting every morning for twelve years of their lives upon the ring of a bell, like Pavlov's lapdogs of the state.

It is an ominous parallel that is covered-up in government schools in the U.S. Neither the schools nor the media will ever show a historic photograph of the original pledge of allegiance.

Here is another ominous parallel: At the height of Nazi power in Germany in 1935, the USA's government stepped onto the same path with the social security scam and its Nazi numbering.

Some proposed social security reforms would invest social security taxes in private businesses and provide an avenue for the government to nationalize all private businesses in addition to schools.It is a scheme that would impress the Bellamys. It is an avenue for Bush to nationalize the entire U.S. economy.Conservatives support the Nazi-like scam because they don't have the ethics nor intellectual honesty to do the right thing: end government involvement in education, and end the social security scam, its taxes and its Nazi numbering.

Overall, the book was eye-popping.

worse than c-span
this book is a diatribe and its really boring.

he is like someone who has the basics of something down
but kind of has missed the whole point. in this case
that something would be logic and reasoning.

however, if you want to find out some reasons behind
why the guy is so screwed in the head, you can read
between the lines here and figure it out.

he was a loser, complete unwanted, germany was in
depression, no jobs, no nothing, and this dumb
@#$@#$ decided he wanted to do something about it....

by killing millions of people and invading other countries.

----

like a kid who discovers how a hammer works and proceeds
to use it to bash other kids and take candy, instead
of building something.

----

also its funny to read about how he admired henry
ford for being anti-semitic. gosh i thought america
was anti-hitler from the start, what with all the
indiana jones and john wayne movies i have seen over the years.

Most will not read this but . . .
As the review title states most people will put this book face down and refuse to read it because of the author.As other reviewers have stated, this book probably shaped the political, social and economic environment of the latter 20th century like no other.As you read and analyze, based on the knowledge of the outcome, one can only scratch the surface of how insane this person and his ideas were but still very much alive in the world today.
In the United States the instant association of Hitler is linked to the white supremist movements, but the same philosophy is also present in the feminist movements, pro-abortion lobby, the compartmentilization of cultures in the differing diversity programs etc. Unfortunately most are afraid to read this book but if they do these associations and the parallelism are readily apparent.
This book should be required reading in any history program but it never will be. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The evidence? The Truth?
If you are looking for something new and interesting on this subject, this is not the book for you. The author has cobbled together a great deal of previously published material from which he endeavors to garner the 'Truth' by the simple process of the vote system. Ergo, if two witnesses say one thing and a third says otherwise, then the two witness statement must be right! Always assuming that the two witnesses are in accordance with his ;feeling; on the subject.

The author spends many pages on the subject of the exact thickness of the bunker roof which, whilst mildly interesting, is of no great historical import.

Perhaps the only 'new' material which he introduces in the closing chapter is his hypothesis on the subject the love affair between Eva Braun-Hitler and Hermann Fegelein. Any credence which might be given to this is somewhat marred by the fact that his 'evidence' is mainly attributed to statements by Hitler's youngest secretary Frau Junge. Throughout the main body of his book the author has discounted all statements by Frau Jung as being 'unreliable'. Yet, suddenly, the reader is being asked to accept statements by the same witness as gospel.

There is nothing new here. Buy O'Donnell's The Bunker or Trevor Ropers The Last Days of Adolf Hitler. The former for entertainment and a host of fact. The latter for pure fact written very shortly after the events.

100% in personal evidence, 0% in archive evidence
With many details in Hitler's life and death, there are scores of myths, half-truths, and surmises. His death has its share of all three. Joachimsthaler does the best job I've seen in presenting and analyzing the evidence of personal testimonies of those involved with Hitler in his last days. However, he totally writes off the archival evidence from Moscow. To discover the full truth about Hitler's death, one must, at the very least, compare this book and the one by Ada Petrova and Peter Watson.

Packed with information, the real story.
Anton Joachimsthaler is clearly one of the most knowlegeable authors on this subject! The depth of his research is evident in his foot notes. All of his information and facts are backed- up by documentation. This is just one of his many books on WWII Germany. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

best book i have read
this book made my love hockey even more and know more about the howe family and there lives and i live in mich and gordie in on of the most see people in ths town and state

Excellent
I am not an avid reader, but this book kept me glued to every page. Gordie and Colleen Howe share many interesting stories of not only their life with hockey but also of their family. I recommend this book for everyone, especially hockey fans. ... Read more

Book Description

Reproduced on high quality postcard stock, this original photograph album contains editorials form SS General Major Julius Schreck, Dr. Otto Dietrich, General Wilhelm Bruckner, First Lieutenant Foertsch, and SS General Major Julius Schaub. Distasteful as the propaganda is, this work offers a unique, historical opportunity to view Hitler as he was portrayed to the German People prior to his eruption into the world theater of battle.It also affords us a rare opportunity to glimpse into the mind of Joseph Goebbels, the master propagandist himself, who in large part was responsible for the loyalty and support Hitler was to receive.In this way, Goebbels' propaganda of deification of Adolf Hitler was disseminated to the German People. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

LET THE READER BEWARE
If you consider yourself an amateur history buff as I do, and is fascinated by tyrants such as Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin, this book is one that should interest you.

There are many pictures that one will normally not see nowadays. Pictures of happy Germans fawning over their Fuehrer. The writing is stilted and bad. But it is interesting in how different writers were so uniform in their deification of one man. Under normal circumstances this book would not rate one or two stars due to the poor writing style but the importance and significance of this book makes these a good book for one's collection. But only if the reader has an interest in such drivel.

If one is to believe Joseph Goebbels, the German people loved their Fuehrer in 1936. But did the German people love their Fuehrer in 1946?

Needless,typical intrduction commentary
There are many period books from the third reich era that are reprinted in these days.This book is one of them,only this one contains commentary to designed lead your aproach of thought on the material contained within.That type of personal bias "additive" has no place in an historical document.It should be presented in it's original form with english "translation as closely acurate as possible".This also leads me to wonder about the validity of the translation,wich has also been an ongoing problem of personal bias concearning english translation of books concearnind third reich material.The author could have aproached this project in a way that he will be able to sell a reprint of an interesting period document,but at the same time through his commentery detach himself from any possibility that he might seam a nazi sympathizer.If you realy want good unbiased insight into the mind of Goebbels and his propaganda,read David Irving's "GOEBBELS:MASTERMIND OF THE THIRD REICH",wich is the first and only book based on the complete Goebbels diaries,and no cheap punches.Oh,and incidently,the Germans were not the only ones who used propaganda.The Russians,French,British,and Americans also used it during the second world war,and it is still used today.

Fascinating!
I've had this same book for many years only it was simply entitled "Adolf Hitler." I thought it was no longer in print until I finally found it here on Amazon. This is one of the most fascinating books I've read. It is a reproduction of the 1936 cigarette album many Germans had on their coffee tables during Hitler's years of victory. I have one of the original cigarette cards pictured in this book, and it is an excellent reproduction in detail and size. The book contains tons of photos (some in color) celebrating Hitler and the advancement of the German nation after he came to power. He is shown with children, giving speeches, relaxing (one photo has him peeling an apple), visiting wounded soldiers, at rallies, inspecting a Mercedes Benz racing car, visiting a factory, etc. Chapters celebrating different aspects of Hitler's successes and interests are provided by such important party members as Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels (he penned the preface and four of the 13 chapters, which may be the reason he is listed as the author), Architect Albert Speer (who, of course, would become disillusioned with Hitler during the war), Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Four-Year Plan head Fritz Todt, etc. There is no historical commentary, no afterward added from our benefit of hindsight, and no qualifications expect for the line "Lies told to the people" on the back. There is only the raw propaganda Germans were subjected to when the Nazis controlled the press and most of their thoughts and lives. One eerie piece is a memorial written by Rudolf Hess for SS Brigadefurhrer Julius Schreck who died in 1936. Schreck looks like a bloated Hitler with the characteristic mustache (decoy?). Of course, the whole book is eerie knowing where the happy people in these photos were headed. I am glad this book was preserved, translated into English, and put back into print so future generations can learn what powerful and all-encompassing propaganda can do to a nation.

The Black Side of Marketing
I just got this book yesterday,and stayed up til midnight scan- ning it. The subject matter is repellent, the packaging and mar- keting of Adolf Hitler, for the German nation, but at the same time, it is fascinating to read. Dr. Goebbels utilized some very "modern" ideas to market Hitler, such as using paste-in stickers for booklets, showing Hitler using the then revolutionary concept of flying all over Germany to get to multiple sites for speeches. Giving the impression he was omnipresent, and concerned about all economic and age groups-where ever he popped up.

It is both horrifying to read, because you know what happens even tually, but strangely fascinating, watching how the devil's mar- keter packaged him, complete with glowing testimonies from people coming from all walks of life. In all the photo ops, der fuehrer is shown smiling benevolently, as ecstatic crowds greet him. Yes there are the requisite baby-kissing, attentively listening to children, etc.

So, if you wish to study the black side of marketing and packag- ing a political figure-read this book. And remember it's lessons well when you are asked to vote for someone that is packaged a little too smartly.....there lurks no friend, but a savage mask- ing behind a sheep's clothes.

Well worth the price for it's historical value, as well as the wrenching reality that one has seen such slick packing of polit- ical figures before-remember The Selling of the President?

Fascinating and chilling
During the 1930's it was fashionable to include small photographs of Hitler attached to cigarette packages. You would then paste the photos sequentially into an album that included glowing textual references to Hitler and the Third Reich. I own the original version of this 1936 book and this new offering is considerably less powerful than the German version. Still, this is an effective way for people of our era to understand and grasp the enormous importance of propaganda in the Third Reich.

Goebbels and Hitler were masterminds of this art and the book personifies their mastery of mass persuasion. In the photographs, Hitler is presented as a "normal guy" in civilian clothes, surrounded by adoring children at his retreat on the Obersalzberg. He is also presented as the omniscienet Fuehrer, presiding over mass rallies in Nuremberg, mesmerizing the audience. The photographs, all by Hitler's official photographer, Heinrich Hoffman, are excellent representations of a nation gone collectively mad, seduced by Hitler's paralyzing charisma.

One cautionary note: this book is not written by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. The text is incidental and was certainly not penned by Goebbels, who scarcely appears in this book. Despite the misleading title, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in how Hitler effectively and brutally utilized propaganda in the 30's. ... Read more

Book Description

In Hitler's Generals, distinguished historian Correlli Barnett has gathered together an outstanding team of military historians to write about the characters and careers of twenty-six generals of the Third Reich. The book probes the central mystery of why a generation of the world's most able commanders and staff officers came to be seduced by Hitler, and why they failed to deflect him from his disastrous decisions. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

An extraordinary collection of biographical sketches
This is simply a must read for anyone interested in Germany and World War Two. A great companion to 'Stalin's Generals' by Shukman(editor), this book tells the stories of every rank of Germanys command in WW II. Separate sections detail the 'Anti-Nazi Generals', the 'Desk Generals' the Fieldmarshalls the 'Battlefront' commanders and the 'innovators'. Every German general and military leader is mentioned. From Guderian, the man who created 'Blitzkrieg' to Rommell the 'Desert Fox to Paulus who surrendered Stalingrad as well as luminaries like Rundstedt and Kesselring.

These wonderful biographical sketches help one understand the diversity in command of Hitler's war machine. The generals ranged from the totally incompetent to dire hard Nazi's to professional soldiers like Rommell. A number of the Generals were captured or killed before the war ended and many were tried for war crimes. A wonderful book, very well written and one that allows you to jump from place to place since each sketch is authored by a separate expert.

Seth J. Frantzman

Good Overview
I enjoyed the personal details of the generals profiled; it tended to give you a better understanding of the men without having to read a full biography on each one. I would have liked to see more of a comparison made with American generals just to better my understanding of the men. I did come away from the book with a positive view of the generals highlighted, they were professional and competent and not a bunch of jack booted Nazi's out killing any innocent they came across. Then again this book dealt with the top of the class, the type that for the most part did not get relegated to camp duty. The most disturbing observation I made was that here was a very strong, intelligent group of people that were lead to ultimate destruction in only a few years - if it could happen there... This book delivers on what it states it will, an overview of so of the men that made the Germany military successful. It is a good first step if you are looking to increase your knowledge of the area.

Nice Overview
A couple of reviewers have expressed disappointment in this book because it didn't go more deeply into military strategy, but that is exactly the reason why a more general audience will find this book as interesting as I did. I found myself skimming over the esoteric (read boring) battle details and absorbing the personal ones because they were much more revealing of the men beneath the uniforms. Who would have suspected that the imposing von Rundsteadt once considered being an actor and loved to read mystery novels. This may not be the book for strict tactical historians, but it is a very interesting read for everybody else.

Excellent background commanders behind Hitler!
You may find this book helpful to you especially without knowing the men behind hitler! This book contained hitler's famous generals categorized from anti-nazi generals, desk generals, the feldherren, battlefronts generals and innovative generals! You may get to know famous allied generals in other world war 2 books but this book mention capable german generals like guderian, student, kesselring, paulus, model, rommel and etc. This book is excellent by introducing who are the German generals! It may not be detail as a bibliography but it is plenty to read for 20 Hitler's famous generals. This book cited the brilliance of creative strategies from these generals in the opening assault of Western and Eastern Europe to defending their way back to Berlin. Not to mention military blunder and a plot to kill hitler by anti-nazi generals example Rommel, Speidel, Stupnagel and Witzleben. And why did they want to assasinate Hitler? As for my recommendation, this book is a great knowledge for beginner readers who need further information behind Hitlers's generals and World War 2!

Good introduction
This is a book for the beginner in WW II' generals. IT provides a good general overview about some of HItler's most famous generals and Field MArshalls, adn tries to explain why they followed the Dictator of Evil into Germany's destruction. THis is exactly the weakest part in this book> the explanations to this fact are very vague. In "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" you'll find much better explanations to the fact. ... Read more

Book Description

An essential introduction to a notrious figure and crucial theme in modern European history.Focusing on the key themes in modern of Nazi domestic policy, this book draws together the results of recent research into a concise analysis of the nature of Nazi rule and its impact on German society.

This second edition continues to explore the issues of Hitler's beliefs and their role in the Third Reich, the factors that brought the party to power, the structure and nature of the government in the Reich, and the origins and implementation of the Holocaust.This new edition also develops important new themes including race, genetics, class, and the role of women. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Few facts, mostly invented
In the 1970's, at the height of the Hitler boom, Glenn Infield had a cottage industry. He produced numerous books on Hitler and Eva Braun, made a ton of money and then thankfully, disappeared from the face of the earth. I say "thankfully" because Infield never was bothered to get his facts straight. He was (in)famous for making up interviews with long-lost Hitler associates, and even inventing people if it suited him. He even claimed to have interviewed Unity Mitford in 1976; the only problem was that she had been dead for 35 years. Oh well, Infield never was one to allow the facts to get in the way of telling a juicy story.

So the text is inaccurate, shoddy and unintentionally funny. He claims Hitler necked on the sofa with a British woman at Bayreuth in 1935, never mind that the woman herself later admitted she'd never even met the Fuehrer or Glenn Infield, for that matter, who claimed to have interviewed her. I could go on and on, but let's just say the book is mostly fiction. The photographs, however, are exceptional. There are actually some rare gems in here, though, as usual, Infiel misidentifies dozens of them. There are at least twenty photos of Gretl Braun (Eva's sister), that are identified as Eva. Infield even has a photo of Max Amann that he says is Heinrich Himmler. Sigh.

To sum up, if you want some unusual and rare photos of Hitler and Eva, there are in the book. Forget the accuracy of the words, however. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

An Absorbing, Important Book
Waite strips Adolf Hitler down to the core, revealing in his childhood explanations for not only why Hitler was who he was, but also revealing in general the reasons the German volk followed him down the fiery path of the Holocaust. His fascinating analysis of the routine and horrifying abuse that passed for normal child-rearing methods in middle European countries tears away the the curtain that has shrouded the motivations of Hitler and his countrymen, and makes it clear that the Holocaust was not an abberation in Germany--it was an inevitability. Read this with Alice Miller's "For Your Own Good" and Wolff's "Child Abuse in Freud's Vienna," and you'll get the picture.

Inaccurate nonsense
Waite's book is (amazingly) still in print after a quarter century. It's sobering to think so many people put credence in his ridiculous Freudian notions. There is nothing revelatory in this book and the errors are predictable and redundant. Putting Hitler on the couch is nothing new, Walter Langer and the OSS produced the first psychological profile of Hitler in 1943. It is still in print and available on Amazon and is much superior to this effort.

The main problem is that Hitler is dead and putting him through psychoanalysis is problematic, to say the least. I have an innate distrust of non-Germans (or non-German speakers) writing biographies of Hitler, so Waite has a leg up in this department since he does speak and read german. The vast majority of Hitlerian documents have never been translated and a non-German speaker tackles the project with a severe disadvantage. But does Waite use his innate advantage? No, he relies on discredited information, outdated sources and throws in some psychological treatises of his own, which lack credibility.

Hitler was an extraordinarily complex, complicated personality and the vast majority of historians have missed the mark in interpreting him or understanding him. Waite utterly misses the mark in explaining Hitler's relationships with women. He was hardly a sexual pervert and maintained a monogamous, though neurotic, relationship with Eva Braun for the last thirteen years of his life. The stories in this book of his "perversions" are stale and the product of propaganda from WWII.

If you want a steady, readable and reliable biography of Hitler, I urge you to consult John Toland's masterful 1976 book. Nothing has surpassed it in the 25 years since its publication.

The Self-Reinforcing Ideology of Psychoanalysis
This book's main value to the future will be in displaying the extent to which a pseudo-scientific theory of psychology penetrated into the mainstream discourse of history. Freud's ideologically-driven, nonfalsifiable absurdities have been discredited and discredited again by legitimate psychological researchers uninfluenced by politics and philosophers still committed to empirical logic...

Mr. Waite is obviously a decently intelligent fellow and a competent historian, but demonstrates the conformist temper of politically correct academia and its consequent inversion of science in favor of career-securing ideology.

Hitler Had Some Issues


Psychoanalysis of dead historical figures can get old, fast. This book, which I first saw mentioned in print (probably pre-publication) about 15 years ago, is an exception, though I doubt that anyone would read it straight through.

Hitler's favorite painter was Von Stuck. The author of this book mentions a vignette in which Hitler, upon seeing one of Von Stuck's paintings (of Medusa), gasped "those are the eyes of my mother!" For good measure, both Clara Hitler's photo and a photo of the painting are juxtaposed...

This is an excellent book
This is the first and only book that I have read that actualy attempts to understand the mental inner-workings of the greatest political mind in the past hundred years, and through that,understand how he was able to accomlish his goals. Robert Waite's thorough analysis of Hitler's beleifs, personality, mindset, and methods finally explains the inexplicable; how can one man convince an entire country, nay, a continent, to abide by his childish whims and maniacal will, to accomlish what certainly must be considered one of the most horrific, if not the most horrific, acts of all time. The question is a burning one that begs for an answer, and Mr. Waite strives mightily to do just that. Through intense and delicate research, as well as some speculation on his part, he traces Hitler's family origin, the sources of his beliefs, and most importantly, his psyche, and molds them into a very viable theory that is at once enlightening and sickening. This is an excellent book, written by a first class historian. It is without question required reading for any individual that wants to know the "how" of the Holocaust. My only small complaint is that in his immense dislike for his subject, Waite finds it impossible to refrain from sarcasm and showing his disdain at certain points in the reading. I might add, however, that these instances are usually very entertaining. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Dated and embarrassingly inaccurate
This was number one on the New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks when it was released in 1973. I read it as a child and enjoyed it, but I didn't realize as a 10-year-old that it was laden with ridiculous errors. Payne writes well, but entire chapters are completely fabricated, thus making the book worthless. A salient example is chapter 6 where Hitler makes a year-long visit to Liverpool to visit his brother. This is the most embarrassing idiocy to ever appear in a Hitler biography (and there's loads of competition for this dubious distinction).
Hitler was never in England, as his apartment records clearly show from Vienna. Payne relies upon discredited sources again and again, such as William Patrick Hitler and Kurt Krueger, invented Hitler psychiatrist.

The book is good for a few laughs, nothing more. It's aged dreadfully and its errors become more ludicrous as the years past. If you want a solid, reliable and definitive biography of Hitler, consult John Toland's 1977 masterpiece.

payne gives me "pain" while reading book
Although this book showed the reader that Payne knew the topic of Adolf Hitler well, the reader begins to wonder where Payne acquires all of this information, for he rarely credited his sources.

FACT or FICTION?
Definitely an interesting read.My only question is "how much can one believe?"Good advice, by the way, to ALL students of history:Just because it's printed doesn't make it "FACT".What I did like, however, was that Payne explored a little-known "rumor" about Hitler's supposed 6-month stay in Liverpool (yet it brings one back to the original dilemma-- where did the author get his facts from?)Reader beware.

A Very Flawed Book, but with some merit.
Thomas Payne, while well-meaning and by no means a "revisionist" conspiracy theorist, had written what can best be described as a work offiction.

Mr. Payne is not out to lie or decieve.But there are manyparts of his book which, we now know (and he could have known when he wrotehis book) that are based not on actual fact, but on bogus, sensational"biographies" of Hitler which have nothing to do with the truth. The problem with biographies of Hitler is that, being as close as humanelypossible to absolute evil, one readily believes ANYTHING bad about Hitler. But it just ain't so in some cases.

Examples:

1).Hitler as a lazy,dirty beggar in Vienna:Yes, Hitler WAS down-and-out in Vienna.But thedescription of the dirty, lazy beggar is lifted from one of the first bogus"biographies" of Hitler, by one Mr. Hanish, "I WAS HITLER'SFRIEND" from the 1930's.Hanish claims to have known Hitler in earlyVienna - but facts prove otherwise; Arno Kubitzek, who really WAS Hitler'sfriend at the same (and slightly earlier) period, contradicts Hanish, andrecords also show that at the period Hanish supposedly "knew"Hitler as a pennyless beggar, he was living rather comfortably on hisorphan's pension and the small inheritence he was left by his parents.Thewhole account of the period, which generally quotes Hanish, has all thetouches of a melodramatic "made-for-TV" biography.Hitler is notonly down-and-out, but "a figure rarely seen amoung christians"in his dereliction.He is not only supposedly helped with old clothes bykind merchants, but (what else?) by JEWISH merchants (I mean, where is theirony factor otherwise?), and so on.But it just ain't so.

2).Hitler's"visit" to England in 1911/12: this is complete fiction.It islifted from another fake "biography" of Hitler, ghost-written asif by Hitler's sister-in-law, Bridgit [sp?] Hitler, who was married toAdolf's half-brother Alois Jr.According to this book Hitler visitedLiverpool for almost a year and became (what else?) a burden on everybody,until he left back to Germany after a row with his brother.In fact,police reocrds show that at the time Hitler was supposedly"visiting" Liverpool (of all places) he was in fact living inVienna.

The annoying thing about these two episode is that Payne addsinsult to injury: not only does he rely on fictional accounts, but he makesfar-reaching conclusions of the usual pop-psychology sort about the"origin of Hitler's evil" based on Hitler's "badbehavior" on these (fictional) occasions.

3).A"meeting" between the Soviets and Germans in 1943 inGerman-occupied territory:A whole chapter is devoted to this supposed"meeting".It never happened, as we now know for sure after thesoviet archives had opened.

4).Hitler's suicide: Payne prints aphotograph of "Hitler's" body, supposedly clutching a picture ofhis mother (!).This photograph came straight out of end-of-the-war timetabloid sensationalist press.It is now well-known that it is not aphotograph of Hitler's body at all, but simply of a slightly similar manwith a mustasche.

In conclusion, Payne does some basic researchreasonably well, but one must say that his work must be read with greatcaution.You never know when Payne will swallow hook, line, and sinker oneof the outrageous claims made about Hitler by bogus biographers, andpresent it as gospel truth.

A great biography
I've read both "The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler" and Joachim Fest's "Hitler," both of which are cited by historians as among the best Hitler biographies.I must give the nod to this book as thebetter of the two.It is more readable and gives a better overall accountof the tortured mind that led many millions to their deaths.Payne'saccount is particularly strong in following Hitler's Vienna period, when heended up as a homeless vagabond.He eventually spent several years in amen's shelter where he earned a living painting postcards and spent timeentertaining his companions with his occasional ranting outbursts. Particularly surprising is that Hitler displayed no documented traces ofanti-semitism before World War I.Don't expect detailed portraits of otherNazis.This is Hitler's story and his alone.As Payne points out, withouthim there would have been no other Nazis. ... Read more

Book Description

"Four Stars."-- West Coast Review of Books

"Fascinating reading."-- Booklist

"An engrossing book...excellent."-- Oahu Sun Press

"A seldom-seen slant on Hitler's life."-- School Library Journal"A wonderful addition to the works about Hitler."-- Isaiah Kuperstein, Association of Holocaust Organizations

"Fascinating and invaluable....A detailed portrait of Hitler."-- L.A. Reader ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Adolph Hitler - A to Z
Any book with the name of Adolph Hitler in the title is bound to catch the eye of all Germanophiles - serious and semi-serious - and those people will grab this book off the shelf, automatically. It is only 195 pages, and so, is not really a serious biography of Hitler - but it is, nevertheless, a very readable book , especially for those who are already somewhat familiar with Hitler and German history - which means, I guess, sadly, mainly for just those people over 60.
Nevertheless, there are many people with a sense of history who will remember that Hitler was an Austrian-born megalomaniac with mesmerizing oratorical skills, who after fighting in the trenches in World War I gravitated to politics and eventually - in 1933 - rose to become the leader (eventually the dictator) - the "Fuehrer" - of Germany. Hitler was determined to right all the wrongs he thought Germany had been subjected to following the Treaty of Versailles, to restore the German economy, to establish Germany as the leading country of the world, to establish the German Third Reich (Empire)which was to endure one thousand years (it lasted 12) and to purify the German Aryan race - which, for various reasons, required the elimination of the Jewish population - wherever and whenever the opportunity permitted. While this book contains bits and pieces of that unbelievable saga, it deals with none of those issues in any great detail.
What author Fuchs does focus upon in his little book is certain trivia, personal ideosyncracies and eccentricities of Hitler that he judges will be of interest to fans of Hitler<