Hitler [Paperback]

Joachim C. Fest (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1992

A bestseller in its original German edition and subsequently translated into more than a dozen languages, this book has become a classic portrait of a man, a nation, and an era. Index. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Joachim Fest is a highly acclaimed historian and journalist, and the author of several widely respected books on Nazi Germany, including The Face of the Third Reich, Plotting Hitler's Death, and Speer. He worked closely with Albert Speer as the editor of Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: The Secret Diaries. He lives near Frankfurt.

Product Details

• Paperback: 856 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156409461
• ISBN-13: 978-0156409469
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,114,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As much a biography of Germany as of Hitler, August 9, 2001

By 

Jeff in Philly "Jeff in Philly" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitler (Paperback)

I'm a big fan of biographies, and this remains (some 10 years after reading it) one of my favorites. There is no dearth of books on Hitler, of course. Fest's accomplishment here is that each section on Hitler is straddled by a section describing other events in the world and Germany, always giving the reader a larger context in which Hitler's activities can be placed.

I'm a little dismayed by [people] who suggest that Hitler was merely a sufferer of post-traumatic-stress syndrome after his experience in the trenches of WWI, and that Fest does a disservice (to Hitler?) by leaving this information out. But many people have suffered in the trenches in many wars without later moving on to attempt world domination and genocide.

In any case, Fest's biography omits nothing. It is written in a clear, beautiful language, and will leave you with an entirely new understanding of Hitler, Germans and Germany.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No other biography comes closer to the subject, February 12, 2000

By 

Ray Smith (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hitler (Paperback)

As a devoted reader of history, especially of the early 20th century period, I probably have gone through every popular and even arcane book on Hitler and National Socialism. I've read Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich," Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reach," Alan Bullock's "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives," . . . yet, these books, while informative, lack the depth of understanding of the horrible phenomenon of Hitler that Joachim Fest brings to his biography. Maybe because Fest himself is German and is therefore closer to his subject. Yes, the style is dry, and the book is indeed rather biased at times--the preface is titled incredibly "Hitler and Historical Greatness!" Yet, within that preface, you will find insights and observations that are lacking in all other biographies on the Fuehrer. I myself was riveted from page one all the way to the end. So, if you want to really understand Hitler, read this book. If you want to read a lighter biography, read the sections on Hitler in Bullock's "Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives."

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fairly good biography, July 20, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hitler (Paperback)

The life story of Adolf Hitler is so compelling that it is hard to imagine a book about it ever being boring. Fest's account is thoroughly researched and and meticulously detailed and was a best sellerin West Germany before being published in the U.S. Though not as readabled as Robert Payne's superior "The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler," it still paints a fairly complete portrait of the man. If the book has any drawback, it is that it does not spend enough time on Hitler's pre-World War I activities. Payne much more thoroughly documents the humiliation and disappointment in Vienna that searled Hitler's soul and helped turn him into a monster. Nevertheless, Fest's "Hitler" remains one of the defining biographies of the 20th century's most evil figure.