Customer Reviews

Hitler (Profiles in Power)

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Ian Kershaw is the premier historian on Hitler and Nazi Germany and this book from the Profiles in Power series is an excellent study on the roots, success, and ultimate destruction of the "Fuehrercult." Two schools of thought are used by historians to understand the power of Nazism. "Intentionalists" see the Nazi regime as the embodiment of Hitler as the totalitarian leader. "Structuralists," however, believe the policies and, ultimately, the crimes of Nazi Germany were stumbled upon by underlings working under a loose framework rather than a deliberate program. As one would expect, Kershaw takes from both these theories to develop his comprehensive profile.

Kershaw examines Hitler's worldview of racial struggle, anti-Semitism, and living space for the German empire--how these ideas developed (Hitler's background) and how Hitler used them to create his leadership image. This Fuehrercult unified a fractional party, helped repress opposition, and created a mass following. Through Hitler's charismatic leadership the German people would be prepared to fight the Nazi fight (inevitably WWII). Kershaw also looks at the feudal-like power relations inside the Third Reich; a regime of open-ended decrees that left no "smoking gun" pointing at Hitler for the Final Solution. Finally, Kershaw examines the destruction of Hitler's power during which the irrational optimism that "Providence" (i.e. Hitler's will) would prevail was still believed by many (particularly the 'court' of Hitler's bunker). I recommend this book especially to advanced history students who want an in-depth examination of Hitler's power in a compact 230-page book. The book includes footnotes, an index, a chapter on further readings, and a chronology of events.

This book Focuses on the power structure of the nazi party. It doesn't reveal much about personalities or everyday life, but describes the interrelation between the beauracrats, industrialists, land owners, populace, and nazi party members. It is appropriate for anyone interested in political structures and how they are held together. It gives a fascinating look into the accumulation of power into one charismatic leader and the appointed henchmen/disciples who would literrally do anything to please the whims of their demigod, and thus gain more power for themselves, And how this monopolistic and 'anarchic' power structure ultimately led to such a terribly disfunctional outcome.

This Kindle book is not the book that's described under "Product description." The description is of the single-volume abridgement of the two volume work of which this Kindle book is the first. Be sure you know what you're ordering.

Kershaw gives us more on the pre-Vienna, pre-art school rejection, Hitler than the normal biography.

It's clear, clear indeed that the acorn didn't fall far from the parent tree, in the sense of "parent" being his mother more than his father.

Overindulged by a mother who lost some of her children, with a distant father about old enough to be his grandfather, we can see the roots of a "spoiled" Hitler start early. Add to that an unchallenging primary school, with Hitler then suddenly brought up short when the high school/secondary school in Linz showed that he couldn't cut the mustard academically without serious study and diligence, which Hitler simply refused to do, and it's clear the juvenile was indeed father to the man.

After this, Kershaw carefully researches how Hitler's antisemitism developed over the years in Vienna, and was certainly not something that emerged early on.

After we get past the time of the 1923 putsch, Kershaw falls into a wide stream of biography. But, he certainly presents new insights into Hitler's early years.

Note: This review is based on my reading the combined one-volume "Hitler" by Kershaw.

Sir Ian Kershaw, the premier biographer of Hitler, wrote a rather compelling biography of Hitler, stretched into two volumes, Hubrus and Nemesis. This edition is a single, edited, version of those two books, short about 650 pages (approxemetly 300,000 words). However as Kershaw states in the introduction, the deleted parts are mainly details about the setting of the times, and seemingly doesn't detract from the overall biography.

That said, the book itself covers his life, from birth to death, and looks at how he formed his views. While detailed, it is also proves to be very easy to read, and rather straightforward. There is not much information about the many different characters invovled in the life of Hitler and while there are indeed many, they are easy to keep track of, and not a distraction. It would be hard to find a less thourough biography of one of the most complex individuals to ever live, and almost necessary reading for anybody interested in the story of Hitler.

This is the first of two volumes. The research includes papers that Russia seized at the end of WWII. I hope they release Vol. 2 Nemesis soon. The abridged version is an insult to Mr. Kershaw's hard work.

It is not your typical biography of Hitler. It is a thorough examination and analysis of Hitler's rise to power. It examines how he got power, how he maintained power, how he used power, and, finally, how he lost power. Quite an interesting book. Be sure to check out other books in this "Profiles in Power" series.

This is a good read, but like most books on Hitler it's all pretty much the same.