Customer Reviews

Hitler: Speeches and Proclamations, 1932-1945--The Chronicle of a Dictatorship (4 Volume Set)

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The Domarus's books on Hitler's speeches are considered the authoritative source on this subject. I have all four volumes of these works listed here on Amazon. I also also have all volumes of the original German set. It's a useful historical source. However, there are some very major problems. If you speak German, you should definitely buy the German version rather than the English version. In the first place, it's less expensive. In the second place, the quality of the English translations (like many translated works) is not very good. Even more aggravating is Domarus's editorial style. Beginnings and endings of speeches are not clearly marked in the type setting format. Domarus insists on sticking his comments into the middle of Hitler's speeches at odd intervals, making things even more confusing. Worst of all, this is not a complete record as he claims. There are speeches that are not here. In spite of all these problems, this expensive set is well worth getting if you are a serious student of this subject. Nobody else has published anything quite so complete, and it has a value beyond the speeches themselves. It serves as a kind of guide to Hitler's actions during each year. I have some more books on Nazi documentary history in my Listmania list on this subject you can see below or on my profile. I also have a list on communist documentary history.

This four volume set offers a glimpse of Hitler in power through excerpts of many of his speeches. Unlike the reviewer who found the translation wanting, I think the English version quite readable. What might be wanting for the scholar familiar with the German language is some of Hitler's awkward phrasing or rather somewhat eccentric (at least to German ears) Austrian German. Hitler was self taught and this added to some mannerisms of speech that were unconventional within the context of the language. It must be admitted that the English translation loses this aspect of his style. But Hitler's meaning and content are crystal clear as is his thought process. As a chronicle of his daily routine, these volumes offer a picture of a hectic and disjointed, but energetic politician. Since Hitler was his own speechwriter, his public utterances offer extraordinary insight into his mind, manipulations, and duplicity. As time goes on and Hitler's actions repeatedly confound previous publicly stated positions, it becomes clear to the reader that the man could not be believed. And yet he manifestly was believed by the majority of Germans right up until the end. I think this can at least in part be explained because taken separately, each of his speeches paints a picture of a reasonable man (except of course when and where his carefully constructed choreography called for a different projection). The man was nothing if not deliberate. Perhaps only a few contemporaries such as author Domarus, closely followed and critically compared Hitler's public speeches over time. My overriding criticism of these volumes is twofold: First, there is entirely too much editorializing and commentary by Domarus, whose views, although entirely understandable, detract from the flow of Hitler's words; second, the text is disjointed and incomplete presumably to make room for Domarus's commentary, which is not only confusing at times, but often is taken out of context or chronology, and is not reliably accurate in all cases. I would much rather have had what is claimed, but not to be found here, and that is the complete text of all Hitler's speeches. This set, nevertheless, is worth reading for the patient and serious scholar.

I always wanted to know what Hitler tells to masses. I have big interest in his speeches, in his style of talking. It is a great book for me because it unclude the most important Adolf's public speeches. I enjoied reading it!