HITLER HERE is a well researched and lyrically written biographical novel offering first-person stories by the Fuehrer and a variety of other characters. This intimate approach invites the reader to peer into Hitler's mind, talk to Eva Braun, joust with Goering, Goebbels, and Himmler, debate with the generals, fight on land and at sea and in the air, and huddle in the death camps as, everywhere, civilization is consumed.
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Editorial Reviews
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"An excellent look into the life and mind of Hitler and those around him, before power until the end." -- Book Review Cafe
"Clark illustrates with precision the Nazis' frightening madness, cunning, and brutality. Hitler comes alive in a chillingly believable way." -- Historical Novels Review Online
Hitler Here is one of the best...No, it is the best book about Hitler that I've ever read, and I'm proud to have it in my library. --The Midnight Bookworm
"Clark illustrates with precision the Nazis' frightening madness, cunning, and brutality. Hitler comes alive in a chillingly believable way." -- Historical Novels Review Online
Hitler Here is one of the best...No, it is the best book about Hitler that I've ever read, and I'm proud to have it in my library. --The Midnight Bookworm
About the Author
George Thomas Clark has been a material handler, salesman, newspaper correspondent, and the publisher of a monthly tabloid of features and columns. He is currently a teacher in California and the author of two books, HITLER HERE, a biographical novel, and OUTLIVING FLYNN, a volume of short stories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truth from Fiction,
By Retired Reader (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hitler Here: A Biographical Novel (Paperback)
In point of fact, "Hitler Here" is a very good biographical novel. It not only gives new dimension to its subject, Adolph Hitler, but the presents a unique view of 20th Century German history. Make no mistake this novel does not make Hitler a sympathetic figure nor does it mitigate his role in perpetrating monstrous crimes against humanity. It does provide a plausible explanation of how Hitler was able to cajole an entire nation into collaborating with him in these crimes. It does not really explain why Hitler did these things, but offers a scary window on what he might have been thinking while he was doing them. The best sections of this novel concern the Weimer Republic and the early years of the Third Reich. The account of how such an unlikely individual as Adolph Hitler was able to gradually able to achieve a position of absolute leadership of Germany is fascinating and quite well told. The last three sections of the book set during WWII are compelling in some ways, but considerably less interesting. This book is an exercise in creative analysis and imagination that paints a fictional, but probably accurate picture of the man behind Hitler, the larger than life personification of evil.
However, the reader should be warned that this is not a conventional novel in its form or content. Rather than tell Hitler's story from a single viewpoint, Clark constructed his biography around narratives from Hitler, his supporters, lovers, and opponents. Thus the reader is presented not with a smooth narrative, but with independent statements loosely grouped around specific events in Hitler's life. Some may find this disconcerting, but this reviewer found this style very effective. Seeing the same event or situation from several different perspectives provides depth and perspectives on Hitler that a single voiced narrative could not.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid historical fiction, with an emphasis on history,
By
This review is from: Hitler Here: A Biographical Novel (Paperback)
With "Hitler Here" George Thomas Clark has crafted a highly readable and thoroughly enjoyable literary experience. As historical non-fiction is the standard reading fare of this reviewer, he was quite pleasantly surprised at how good this biographical novel was from a historical standpoint. Readers of WWII history should be fully aware that "Hitler Here" is a NOVEL, yet Clark has done much homework in developing his engaging prose. The entire book is presented as short first person accounts that attempt to bring fictional life to the history. The cited bibliography is fairly extensive and from this reviewers reading of many of those book cited, Clark has grasped the historical picture quite well. This is not to say that everything in "Hitler Here" is historical or reflect reality as it happened. Yet, in general the text grips the readers interest and only a relative few minor (in terms of page relative to 'gripping' sections) cases does Clark fail to fully engage the readers imagination.
Clocking in 632 pages, "Hitler Here" holds its own, both in length and depth, against many of the great historical works Clark references (e.g., John Toland's "Adolf Hitler" and Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich") that have Hitler as their central theme/character. Clark organizes the book into 9 basic chapters, each (with the exception of the Prologue) divided into chronological periods ranging from one or two years (five chapters dedicated to the War years) to as long as a decade ('Discovery: 1914-1924' describing the politically formative years of Hitler). In organizing his text like this Clark was able to quite effectively compartmentalize major historical events, whether they were changing popular views and international political stresses (both pre-war categories), major armed engagements, or personal developments. Clark touches on many issues relating to the Third Reich, its major personalities and the Second World War in a more general sense as relates to the Mediterranean and European Theaters. Thus, while not a historical book per se, "Hitler Here" is good reading and provides 'historical facts' and perspective. In spite of the generally positive nature of this review, it is fair to say that "Hitler Here" cannot substitute for traditional historical documents and works. Because "Hitler Here" is a biographical novel there are points of 'historical' contention, or at least passages subject to historical criticism. One example is the painting of panzer pioneer Heinz Guderian as one of the few high ranking military leaders in the Third Reich to speak his mind freely and critically to Hitler on a regular basis. Certainly there is historical evidence that Guderian did oppose Hitler on several occasions, but as presented in Clark's novel a reader might walk away with a 'historical' picture of Guderian as anti-Hitler or even anti-Nazi. This would indeed be misleading as Guderian was an ardent Nazi and generally loyal, if critical, supporter of Hitler. In many ways Clark might not be at fault for this view of Guderian as much of the popular historical literature has also painted him this way - in many ways self-propogated by Guderian's own book "Panzer Leader", which Clark cites in his bibliography. Second, Clark may oversell the 'innocent' basal nature of Heinrich Himmler that has been sold to the public in some historical literature. In many cases such historical accounts reflect sensational literature tactics rather than solid research to support a thesis that Himmler was not at his core 'evil'. Although Clarrk doesn't cite the work, Peter Padfield's "Himmler: Reichs Fuhrer SS" is a perfect example of a solid piece of historical literature that sells the 'innocent' Himmler idea. Lesson: readers should remember that "Hitler Here" is a novel and some amount of fiction exists to make the prose and story flow the way it does. All in all this is a 4.5 star read and solid 3.5 star book as 'history', despite being a novel!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant Surprise,
By
This review is from: Hitler Here: A Biographical Novel (Paperback)
I've read numerous WWII books down through the years, but this was probably the most unique one I have thus far encountered. Written almost entirely in the first person, singular using straight declarative sentences, it takes a little getting used to. Even inanmimate objects give us this treatmenat and the reader is facing barrel after barrel of short declarative information blasts coming at them from all directions, but on the plus side this makes getting bored nearly impossible.
Two pages is a long chapter in this book, and due to the writing style and length of stories it should appeal a lot to the under thirty readership. In fact it is almost a Cliff Notes (although very long Cliff Notes) version of the "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", covering nearly the same time span from Hitler's youth to Hitler's death. It is nowhere nearly so well documented, but if not better written at least it is finished more quickly. It is weak on dates, but heavy on thumbnail sketches of the major playors and events. Like most WWII books, it can't stand on it's own, but I found it very helpful in getting an overview of the War, and found the unusual style refreshing (for one book). I'm betting that style will be the dividing line for most readers- you either will love or hate that format.
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