Customer Reviews

Adolf Hitler

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For anyone truly interested in finding and reading a definitive biography of Adolph Hitler, this is the book. This work is at once carefully documented and scholarly yet is also eminently readable and entertaining. Although there is no single volume that adequately explains the mysterious truth of Adolph Hitler the phenomenon, author John Toland delivers a most informative and exhaustively researched manuscript that does help us to understand Adolph Hitler the man. Toland spent several years researching this book with intensive interviews by surviving principals, and had access to a wide range of archival data and previously unpublished data and facts. The result is this magisterial work.

This is a book much like Toland's previous efforts in that it concentrates heavily on interviews with a literal torrent of people who had significant contact and knowledge of Hitler, from those who surrounded him in his rise to power, and who followed him into the ash and ruins of the embattled and besieged Third Reich. From his early days in Austria, to his school boy experiences and the discouraging failures of his early adulthood, through the heady but painful days as a volunteer in the front lines during World War I, Toland faithfully traces the rise and growth of this strange young man as he falls prey to a variety of venomous and unfortunate ideas and prejudices that mark him for life, and set the path to the kind of pathological aberrances that characterized his beliefs and behaviors from that point on.

Yet Toland makes a painful effort to be non-judgmental, and carefully presents all the facts as he can best determine them. This sometimes makes him err on the side of presenting personal and perhaps subjective opinions of others as fact, and this is typical of the Toland approach. While recognizing the dangers in presenting a lot of information into the record that might be inaccurate, twisted, or fanciful, he also wants us to hear the whole story from all of the participant's viewpoints so we can make our own informed judgment. In this sense Toland has a somewhat archaic belief in the historical reader's critical skills and to be well-enough formed as thinkers that he lets us judge for ourselves based on our interpretation of the `facts' he presents rather than pre-digesting and coming to his own conclusions for us.

The busman's tour he takes through pre-war Germany, observing and describing the collection of rag-tag malcontents accompanying Hitler in his rise to power is quite interesting, as is his casual and matter-of-fact presentation of what is certainly a horrifying plethora of unbelievably provocative, ruthless and despicable acts on the parts of Hitler and the national Socialists. Yet this is also history at its best, unblinking, without comment or sentiment, and in-your-face. Much of what you will read you can find elsewhere, but nowhere else can you find it presented in the style and grace that Toland brings to the printed page. Simply stated, this is an outstanding piece of historical biography, and is also truly the standard against which all other, more recent works on Herr Hitler must be judged. Enjoy!

This book has to be one of the longest biographies ever written about a historical figure, but it is greatly the worth the effort expended to read it. John Toland is as good a historian as one will ever experience in the modern era. His books, to a one, are eminently readable. There is no historian who has the ability to make his subjects appear so lifelike, even to those who lived long after the events he writes about. By taking actual quotes and putting them into proper context, Toland marinates a genre long known for its aridity. Hitler the man was as complex a person on the political stage as any that preceded him, or have followed. Toland wades through Hitler's many complexities and seeming contradictions, and sheds light on what drove the Fuhrer's madness and his need to bring Europe (and later the world) to the brink of destruction. Toland offers plausibility to what drove Hitler to vilify and massacre the Jewish race in Europe, his goals of conquest, and his political system...areas in which historians have argued about for generations. We learn many things about Hitler's childhood and early adulthood, things which may shed some light on the future dictator's raison d'etre. From a disappointing childhood to dreams of being an artist and architect in Vienna, Austria, to his service in the German army during World War I, Hitler's dreams of a Germanic empire are mapped out every stage of the way. Toland's treatment of Hitler is fair, which is deeply hard to do, as the leader of Germany's Third Reich has caused much misery and destruction to people all over the world. His detachment makes Hitler appear much more scarier. It is hard to envision a man who would hold so true to his demonic visions over a span of twenty years, as Hitler did with his blueprint for domination of Europe and the Soviet Union. If you love twentieth-century history, particularly that of World War II, this book will satisfy your craving...and then some! I highly recommend all of Toland's books relating to the World War II era, particularly "The Last 100 Days" and "Infamy," which is about the Pearl Harbor attack by Japan on the U.S. on December 7, 1941, and the apparent subsequent cover-up by the government of its foreknowledge of the attack. Toland has also written a couple of fictional books that are not quite as good, but worth a look-see.

As an amateur student of WWII history I have tried hard to understand more about how the major "players" came to be, thought, and operated before, during, and after (when applicable) the war. John Toland's biography of Hitler is an amazing piece of historical literature!! If you've ever read any of Toland's books (I've read "Battle: The Story of the Bulge" and "The Last 100 Days" - both excellent) you know he can convey a story that makes the words feel alive. He does that here equally as well in a 900 page masterpiece. He starts with a historical background of the Hitler lineage (and possible Jewish blood!) and ends in with various Nazi elites and their capture, deaths, etc after the fall of Berlin and Hitler's suicide. In between we get a marvelous picture of a child Adolf - his closeness to his mother and estrangement from his father; a young man searching for his place - time spent in Vienna flop houses struggling to survive, failing to acheive and finding his place in the political upheaval leading to the Great War; his time at the front - from runner to gassed Iron cross winner; his "Time of Struggle" in forming the NADSP and leading a failed putsch, prison, and release to a country ready to embrace him; to his rise to Chancellor, dictator, statesman, warlord, self-proclaimed Christ, mass murderer; to a broken, pre-aged, sickly man how ultimately takes his own life to avoid paying the butchers bill. Toland weaves a story that is both easy to read and historically engaging. I learned a lot and had fun doing it - just the way I love history!!!

Highly recommended.

The key to approaching this book is given by the author in his forward : " My book has no thesis, and any conclusions to be found in it were reached only during the writing ". Indeed, this book is certainly no study on Hitler, Nazism, German or European history, in the sense of a penetrating historical analysis or acute psychological understanding of the individuals or the peoples involved. It is nonetheless an extremely informative work on Hitler's life, abounding in details and information gathered by a multitude of sources most of which were close to Hitler and those surrounding him, and presented in a form that is highly readable. From his early childhood years to the last bunker days his life is being narrated by numerous first hand witnesses, adding to the great amount of information provided by the author's research. Even some Hitler boyhood poetry finds it's way through these pages.

The book relies heavily on interviews and memoirs of people who were close to Hitler and his inner circle. On the one hand this approach is what gives the reader a sense of familiarity with the details of Hitler's life and habits that no other book can even come close to present. On the other, this fact is something that every cautious reader continuously has to bear in mind - that almost every one of these sources was a strong Hitler devotee, or strong admirer at best and thus these records are not to be considered as models of objectivity and thoroughnes. Toland has chosen not to be critical on the presentation of most of his first hand material, and numerous passages in the book are presented as matter of fact knowledge while in essence they only come from someone's personal testimony. Not all such testimonies are biased on misleading of course - the majority could very well be quite accurate - but with the deep emotions and reservations involved in reminiscencing of those events, this is something to always have in mind and Toland has not made that clear to his readers to the extend that he probably should. Why has the author chosen not to adopt a more critical attitude towards his material ? He states in his forward that " ... I have done my utmost to subdue my own feelings and to write of him as if he had lived a hundred years ago ", and to this he has indeed succeeded completely. There is not the slightest trace of emotion from the part of the author ( in contrast to every other book dealing with the topic ) but at the cost of an almost absolute lack of involvement from his part as well - it is as if his aim was achieved by the presentation of material and not by any accompanying analysis. Many people consider this as their prefered method of historical writing ( presenting facts and leaving the conclusions to the reader ) but many more must have felt disapointment in not geting some deeper input from an expert so deeply involved in the history of that period. Toland has been attacked as being a sympathizer of Hitler's ( from Lukacs in his book on Hitler's biographies ) but this is not suported by his efforts in this book - he clearly states in whose decisions the Final solution had it's origins and the pathological hatred of Hitler for Jews and "lower" races. It seems that some people choose to consider an attempt at objectivity as a covert expression of sympathy towards Hitler, which is of course an unacceptable way of judging historical writings.

Many parts of Hitler's life are covered as well - or even better - as one can find in any other Hitler book. The Vienna years, Hitler's WWI front line experience, the Rohm affair, the Czech crisis, the road to war and the July plot are very well presented, while the rise to power and the war years mainly focus on Hitler's actions and doings and not on any external accompanying elements or factors that decisively influenced the course of events ( there is a limit obviously to what one can put in a single book, even if it runs to a thousand pages ). The one thing that is dearly missing is a discussion on Hitler's decisions and actions that led to the recovering of German economy and social conditions after his assumption of power - there is very litle in this book on the one true outstanding achievement of the Hitler regime, as well as in matters that dealt with reforms aiming towards education, the Arts, social life and the establishment of the police state in Germany.

There is no definitive book covering Hitler, a person of such high complexity who was also the prime force behind actions whose mere mention produces the highest degree of emotions and pations. However this book definitely has a place within the group of select works that collectively come closer in giving an accurate understanding of the man and his actions.

In most biographies of Adolf Hitler, the "monster of evil," the "madman," the "mass murderer" have loomed so large that the man has been obscured, if not completely submerged. This is one point among many where John Toland's book parts company with most that have come both before and after. This is not just the best Adolf Hitler biography I've ever read - it's the best biography of ANYONE I've ever read. I never would have believed such a long book could be such an enjoyable read, yet be so totally informative, well-researched and well-documented.

Toland makes no apologies or excuses for the monstrous crimes Germany committed at Hitler's behest - nor do I. I firmly believe that Adolf Hitler stands condemned before the bar of history, and on Judgment Day, with responsibility for those crimes.

But there is more to any man than just whatever evil he has done. This book shows Hitler the loving son, who mourned his mother from the day of her death until the day of his own, 38 years later; the lover of animals who befriended a homeless dog on the front lines in World War I, and was heartbroken when the dog was stolen by another soldier some months later; the man who was very fond of children, and who was "Uncle Adi" to numerous young offspring of high members of the Nazi Party; the powerful national leader who put on no airs, wearing only a regular officer's uniform with one medal pinned on it - the Iron Cross, First Class, he had earned in World War I. According to Toland's well-researched book, Hitler treated the "little people" around him - secretaries, valets, chauffeurs, and the like - with unfailing respect and graciousness.

It all reminded me of an editorial I once wrote for the newspaper where I work, concerning the death of one of the Soviet leaders who came just before Gorbachev. TV news had shown the visitation for this leader, and standing by his casket were his son and daughter, the woman weeping, the man looking as if he had just lost his last friend. I wrote something like, "It showed that even a dictator can have a family who loves him, and who deeply mourns his loss."

John Toland shows us in this book that monster, evil genius or whatever one chooses to call Adolf Hitler, he was the most unique historical figure of the 20th Century.

I had the opportunity of corresponding and meeting John Toland when I was a teenager and he was a remarkable man and a great writer. This is by far the best and most readable biography ever written on Hitler. Toland eschews, thankfully, the ridiculous psycho-babble which ruins many other major Hitler biographies.

Toland interviewed over 300 people close to Hitler: Tradul Junge, his secretary, Max Wunsche and Richard Schultze, his adjutants, Eva Braun's best friend and many others. He went to the source and his oral interviews constitute a tremendous historical resource.

Toland shows that Hitler was sexually normal, which is important since Hitler's supposed "deviant sexuality" is the lynchpin of many inferior books.

If you are to read one book about Adolf Hitler, make it this one. Nothing better has come down the pike in the 25 years since this books publication. For anyone interested in the history of the 20th century and World War II, this is a must read.

No book written before "Adolf Hitler" ever presented the positive sides of Adolf Hitler. John Toland does an excellent job of removing the normal evil and hate thoughts from the facts. Mr. Toland presents Adolf Hilter in a very fair way and provides a good insight to people to consider. The book leaves no doubt that Adolf Hilter was wrong in his ideas and take over of Germany. This book should be read by any person that truly wants to gain the truth of the years between 1933 and 1945 and of Germany. This book provides the elements that are missing from such books as "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer. It is written without the normal emotions. I recommend reading this in order for the individuals to come to a more fair and unbiased judgement of the German people. People that read this book should also read "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer and "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". I beleive that a person can then come to a better understanding of the power and hate which was created in Germany during the Third Reich. Yes, John Toland has accomplished what very few historians ever do. He has written an unbiased book that is not that difficult to read. Like most historical books, the book is not for a person that is wishing to just relax and read for pleasure. Instead, John Toland's "Adolf Hilter" is a book to learn of how history is created and tyrant's can rise to power.

Tom

I have just completed this book after purchasing it about 1 1/2 years ago. I made a choice after recieving the title, to read the book little by little before I go to bed at night to "serialize" the drama of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, his rule, and his ultimate downfall.

I found that this book was very much suited for this type of reading. I have read 2 other Hitler biographies, both of which were many times shorter then this one and after compraison, suspiciously biased. The one biography was George Victor's "Hitler : The Pathology of Evil."

Unlike that book, Toland does not have a grand theory[ies] on what made Hitler tick, and whats more, Toland does not forward any perposterous theories (such as one that stated Hitler had "smaller" or "deformed" sex organs, a claim that is refuted with evidence by Toland. Or the completely bizzare account claimed by some, that Adolf Hitler forced Eva Braun to defecate on him durring some intimate moment) that are obvioully stated to dehuminize or embarass the "historical man."

Toland does however hint at certain possiblities or explanation of action, buy, in the most part, it is obvious that Toland very much wants his reader to make their own opinion on the events and the man. The works cited and notes in the end of the book are simply amazing. Although I have not read too many biographies of this length, I must say that the extensive notes and works that are refrenced is simply staggering (I have not as of yet been able to validify any of the works cited, but I have no doubt they are accuruate).

This book would make a great introduction to World War 2 in the viewpoint of hte German political high command. The modus operandai is drawn out concisely and thoroughly in the 890+ pages of text. One will be completely amazed on both fronts. First how dynamic and amazing a political leader Adolf Hitler really was, yet, one will also be amazed at the stupidity and reckless gambling Adolf Hitler often resorted too in his dealings with international leaders.

Toland corroborates Victor's observation of Hitler's obsession with "fate" or "providence" to carry him forward from one crisis to another. Indeed, according to Toland, the collosal blunder of overplaying his hand and taking Poland was a complete gamble that Hitler chalked to "providence" to bring him to safety. Whereas Victor's biography offers a "Freudian" analysis of this decision-behavior, perhaps, stating it was a residule of infantile behavior from Hitler's obsession with his mother (or some other psycho-babble like this), Toland makes no such reach and merely states the facts as far as he can determine them.

This book pays Hitler his dues when deserved, and shows his many flaws when they are apparent. It shows that one does not need to be blatently biased to demonstrate that Adolf Hitler was far from a super-man. I cannot account for others who have read this book, but I came away from the biography feeling that Adolf Hitler was somewhat naive in his command of the military. Guiled by his luck in the beginning of the war, he quickly bought into the propoganda that he was somehow a military genius and this led to complete disaster.

To abruptly conclude this review, technically, the book is worthwhile, if only for the extensive sources in the back of the book. Any 'arm-chair' historian of World War 2 should have this book, it would serve as a great opener to World War 2 or as a complete seperate book for those who are just curious about the Man/Monster/Myth of Adolf Hitler.

It is easy to write off Adolf Hitler as a monster, or a man of pure evil, but these labels only serve to hide what Hitler truly was- A human being. John Toland's facinating biography is must reading for anyone interested in just how one man could be responsible for such horror. From dispelling myths surrounding the death of Hitler's niece, Geli Raubal, and his involvment in the Reichstag fire, to his ghastly orders to carry out the final solution, we see Hitler the man. And while his motives often times seem unthinkable, Toland nevertheless manages to convey the feelings and emotions that led to Hitler's unrelenting policies of destruction. What truly makes this work remarkable is Toland's presentation of the facts seemingly without bias. The facts are presented as they happened and the reader is left free to come to thier own conclusions. For decades people the world over have tried to understand the madness of Nazi Germany. Toland's biography will no doubt educate and help to give a measure of understanding to anyone who reads it. Truly a great work.

Written in 1976 when many of Hitler's key contemporaries and friends were still alive, Toland carefully and thouroughly utilizes first person oral histories and a vast myriad of sources to craft one of the most compelling biographies ever written. Toland works effortlessly through his prose to paint a human face on the individual who left perhaps the greatest imprint on the 20th Century. Hitler not only perfectly defined and personified Evil in both the modern and contemporary mind, but also changed the way politics are conducted. His use of multimedia propaganda lives with us still The brilliance of Toland's writing is that while he remains completely objective and true to his subject, he lets history and the facts speak for themselves.For anyone interested in studying the second world war or the 20th century, I truly reccomend beginning with this book. Five stars out of five.