Customer Reviews

Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf (Bk. 2)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

It was apparently in 1961 that a book alleged to be the second literary effort of Hitler was published in Munich. I recall seeing a very small news item around then to that effect in one of the British papers, and I recall the statement in that same item that the work had achieved no significant sales. As it started, so it seems to have continued. It surprises me still that a document of so much historical significance has had to wait more than 40 years for its first English edition, and I naturally wondered whether it could really be genuine under the circumstances. Apparently it is, but it still seems to be avoiding the best-seller lists, and I can't recall a great deal of critical discussion of it either. Nothing that I have seen has cast doubt on the work's authenticity, which I am therefore taking on trust. In attempting a review I am mainly concerned with the actual content of the volume. However in awarding a rating I have given regard only to the editorial work, and I imagine it would go without saying that this rating does not reflect any endorsement of the poisonous doctrines of Adolf Hitler.

The editor at least addresses the basic questions that I wanted to see addressed, namely -
Is the authorship firmly established? Is this (seemingly untitled) book definitely a later work than Mein Kampf? Why was it not published in Hitler's lifetime? He also ponders earnestly the question why an English edition should be published. Because most of us struggle a bit with German would be sufficient answer for me. The likelihood that this text might be inflammatory nowadays would have struck me as nil in any case even if I had not known about its poor sales record. As for the other questions, Weinberg's arguments are the only side of the case that I know, but they are at least plausible. His credentials as a scholar are not familiar to me, but he has written extensively about Hitler and any criticism of his work that I have spotted reads to me like standard academic niggling and infighting rather than anything that undermines my confidence in his conclusions here. As for internal evidence of authorship, I can assure you that the style possesses a conspicuous and frightful familiarity.

The book reads easily and fluently in English, and the translator Krista Smith has to get a great deal of credit for that. Whatever else he may have been, Hitler was supremely articulate and the text is not as prolix or repetitious as some comment might suggest. The reason he suppressed the book at the time of writing was apparently that it put some of his foreign-policy cards face upwards on the table, and he was not ready at the time to do that. We would have known about Lebensraum, but the blatancy of his endorsement of territorial conquest simply for the purpose of protecting the German food-supply is rather breathtaking. One of the things I slightly regret about the failure of this book to arouse general interest is that I would have liked to see some proper analysis by qualified economists of the quaintest economic reasoning I have ever read in my life. A strong nation, one gathers, must not rely on trade, imports, exports and such like to feed itself but must be self-sufficient in that regard. It would have made for a dull Speisekarte if it had even been achieved, I must say, but of course Hitler was vegetarian and his favourite gastronomic treat was Spiegeleier mit Kartoffeln. The rest of the text is mainly concerned with his attitude towards other European nations, France being seen as a traditional and irreconcilable foe, Italy and even England as potential allies. A surprising amount of space, and an even more astonishing level of emotion, is directed on to the strictly contemporary issue of the ownership of the South Tyrol, which he is happy enough to concede to Italy, at least pro tem, in the interests of securing an alliance with fascist Italy under his admired Mussolini. One reason for this unexpected emphasis is his concern to attack the enemy within, the bourgeois democratic traitors who were full of indignation over the trifling matter of the South Tyrol but failed to see the pressing need for large-scale territorial expansion.

Indeed Hitler is nothing if not candid in this work about the prime importance of carrying the sword to ensure his precious breathing-space. Economic superiority was in his view futile - a robust and healthy Germany should not shirk the task, staringly necessary to him, of suppression of its neighbours by force of arms, the basic reasoning being that a nation that is not the hammer will end up being the anvil. The familiar enemies and bogies are paraded too - Jews, Marxists, freemasons, pacifists and the weak-kneed campaigners for a restoration of the pre-1914 borders of Germany, which seemed to Hitler a paltry substitute for the massive expansion of his dreams. The expression is articulate to say the least, the phraseology often vivid, and the racial perceptions, taken unquestioningly as fact, foul beyond description. The reasoning is specious although the insights are often acute and even brilliant, but the book is past its sell-by date for some very bad and sinister reasons. The ugly and unreasoned racism has not really gone away, and indeed is a deeply ingrained European characteristic. This book is no longer dangerous only because it needs no Hitler to put the message across to those who are happy to take it on board without him.

The edition fulfils what is expected of it quite well so far as I can see, except that the proof-reading leaves a little to be desired (notably a rash of misprints on pp 89/90), the frequent insertion of '[sic]' is fussy and excessive, and some of the words inserted to complete the sense of the unrevised text are occasionally in the wrong place. Necessary as history.

After reading the reviews of this book I think serious history buffs need to know the history, the facts of this book. Weinberg discovered the original manuscript while working with captured war documents in Wash. D.C. after the war. It was published in German by Bavaria who owned the copyright to such things in 1961 with Weinbergs notes and introduction. Grove Press with Telford Taylor pirated it and issued a very poor translation and even used Weinbergs notes. Put the 2 books together and you will see that. That book quickly bombed as scholars and serious history buffs recognized the poor translation. Weinberg's Hitler's Second Book is a top notched translation of Hitler's words and contain well researched notes and introduction by Weinberg and this edition is being used by schools and Universities ---the pirated edition never was. Thus far, Bavaria has not given anyone or any country permission to translate this manuscript besides Weinberg. If one wants to compare this translation, the only true way is to get the original German edition. Otherwise, trust the professional literary reviews.

This book is intersting in the sense that it helps us understand better the views of Hitler in the way of foreign policy, especially towards the United States. Altough the book was published in french in the 1960's as L'Expansion du Reich, this edition offers great footnotes by Gerhard L. Weinberg that help us better understand the historical elements developped by Hitler in his manuscript.

While this book might not appeal to the general public, it is defenetly worth purchasing for people intersted in the history of fascism, nazism, Hitler (see also Hitler by Kershaw) or Germany.

First of all,I also was surprised to see this book,wondered if it was legit,and like other reviewers hadn't come across it before. There are several excellent reviews already posted and I only regret that I had not read them all carefully before I read the book.I had many of the same thoughts ,and how others viewed many things, were likewise concerns of mine.
As I was reading the book,I was surprised at the extent of Hitler's thoughts about the way things were in Germany at the end of WWI. He wrote this book in 1928, shortly after having written "Mein Kampf".It is hard to believe he was only an insignificent Corporal in WWI,dismissed as a firebrand and even jailed .His writings are unbelievably clear,whether you believe his assessment of the issues or his solutions.
If you want to know where the roots of WWII originated,why "The War To End All Wars" led to WWII only 11 years later,what were Hitler's concerns and intentions,what the German people bought into,why the rest of Eorope did nothing about it, and why he gained such power and arguably had the greatest impact on the world of any individual in the 20th Century;you will find the answer in this book.
Some might wonder why one should waste their time reading about a megalomaniac, who we all now know was so evil, and caused such death and destruction;and at this time nearly 80 years after it was written.The reason is the same now as it was then, and the same as it has been throughout history.One of Hitler's greatest despises was the concept of Democracy ,and the fact that weaker elements had a say in their society and that there could be any place for belief systems of a higher order than man;particularly when the people turn over their liberty and freedom,willingly or otherwise, to a dictator. The adage of "Power corrupts;total power corrupts totally" has always proved to be correct.
As we look at situations around the world today,we once again see "The Seeds of Destruction" germinating, and at the same time socities who are at risk ,are playing the same games of appeasement,looking the other way,refusal to work together to confront evil,placing self interest and politics ahead of justice and understanding,and all those same things happening ,that were taking place during the decades before WWII.
One reviewer suggested this book should be put on school curriculums. I agree,but that is not likely to happen;"someone might get offended" .That kind of thinking is all Evil needs to proceed.Don't expect the enlighted establishment to do what is right.It didn't happen in Europe in the 1920's and is not happening now. I am glad I found this book and read it,and I believe anyone who values their liberty and freedom will find it enlightning.

This is a review of HITLER'S SECOND BOOK: THE UNPUBLISHED SEQUEL TO MEIN KAMPF BY ADOLF HITLER, edited by Professor Gerhard L. Weinberg and published by Enigma Books in 2006. Translated from the German by Krista Smith, mine is the paperback edition.

"Today, Germany; tomorrow, the world!" was one of those Nazi mottos heard all the time in Hitler's Third Reich. This sequel to MEIN KAMPF is basically the Fuhrer's strategic vision for the world after the Nazi transformation of Germany. This was dictated by Hitler in 1928, but never published.

The manuscript languished in the archives of captured Nazi records in Alexandria, Virginia, until 1958 when Professor Gerhard L. Weinberg discovered it and recognized it to be the unpublished sequel to MEIN KAMPF. Munich's Institute for Contemporary History brought out a German language edition in 1961 under the title HITLER ZWEITES BUCH: EIN DOKUMENT AUS DEM JAHR 1928 (HITLER'S SECOND BOOK: A DOCUMENT FROM THE YEAR 1928). This was followed by some sloppy English language editions and finally by Professor Weinberg's carefully annotated edition.

This is the edition you should have if you're serious about studying Hitler and his Third Reich. It's the best translation and it's value is enhanced by Weinberg's Foreword and Introduction. The text of Hitler's speech of July 13, 1928, originally published in the VOLKISCHE BEOBACHTER (PEOPLE'S OBSERVER, the Nazi Party newspaper) is also appended and there is a useful index.

Hitler included little autobiographical information in his SECOND BOOK, but he expands the basic themes developed in MEIN KAMPF. Germany needs "Lebensraum" (living space) and will redeem that from the ancient German East at the expense of the inferior Slavic races and the diabolical "Jewish race." Instead of being moved by class conflict as Marx thought, Hitler repeats his earlier beliefs that history moves ahead by racial conflict.

The "Aryan master race" struggles to prevail against the evil "Jewish race" and the "subhuman Slavs", in Hitler's strategic vision of tomorrow's world. He foresees conflict with the Soviet Union over land and the US over world hegemony. France will be battered into stasis and England left isolated on her island. "Greater Germany" will enjoy her place in the sun under enlighted Nazi leadership. It won't replace Nostradamus, or Shakespeare, but it's a useful indication of how Germany's future leader saw the world around him.

Don't bother with other translations. Professor Weinberg's is the most accurate. If you're interested in Modern European history, the Third Reich, World War II, the Holocaust, or Hitler, you'll find this book to be a valuable reference.

I like it and gave it five stars.

Zweites Buch, or, "Second Book", was originally a transcript of Adolf Hitler's unfiltered thoughts on a number of topics. This sequel to "Mein Kampf" went unpublished during his infamous lifetime. "Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf" is annotated with great care by Weinberg and Smith and provides numerous context clues throughout. It remains the authoritative English translation.

This "Mein Kampf Part II", which focuses more on foreign policy, expands on the dictated original and goes so far as to suggest that around 1980, a final struggle would take place for world domination between the United States and the combined forces of Greater Germany and the British Empire. Most reader have not been previously privy to this information until now because either (1) The Führer deemed it to tip his strategic hand or (2) Mein Kampf v2.0 was not flying off the shelves and his publisher felt another book would further squash sales. Opinions differ.

Hitler attacks friend and foe alike for their goal of restoring Germany to its pre-1914 position. In Hitler's view, merely overthrowing the Treaty of Versailles and restoring Germany to its pre-1914 borders was unacceptable as in Hitler's opinion the Versailles Treaty was only a lesser problem.

Hitler here states for the first time that his belief that Germany's real problem was the lack of sufficient Lebensraum ("Living space") for the German people. In Hitler's view, only states with large amounts of Lebensraum were successful. In Zweites Buch, Hitler announced that overthrowing the "shackles" of Versailles would be only the first step in a Nazi foreign policy, whose ultimate objective was to obtain the desired Lebensraum in the territory of Russia.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler declared that Germany's most dangerous opponent on the international scene was the Soviet Union. In this second book, Hitler declared that for immediate purposes, the Soviet Union was still the most dangerous opponent, but that in the long-term, the most dangerous potential opponent was the United States. Hitler's views on the United States changed dramatically between 1924 and 1928 due in small measure to the Immigration act and other US policies such as eugenics and segregation.

This is a key historical document from perhaps the most evil man to walk the earth. Ultimately though, it suffers the same pitfalls as "Mein Kampf" in that it is a collection of disjointed ramblings straight from the mind of a madman. Still, enough here of historical import to recommend for fanciers of history and World War II. Note: the 1962 version is a hack job, steer clear if you ever stumble upon it. A lack of editorial caretaking bumps this book down a notch in my final rating.

No doubt this will offer the reader retrospective insight deep into the mechanical mind of Hitler. Easily set aside from Mein Kampf and ramblings, this volume should be standard reading in all military science curriculum.

What is most concerning is not Hitler's perversions. Rather, it was his ability to consume and control a nation of people; possibly the greatest salesman of the 20th century.

The text by Hitler actually expands on Mein Kampf and focuses on foreign policy which tutnred out to be of enormous importance to the world. Hitler had a great impact on world history and is the central figure of the 20th century whether we like it or not. The added importance here is the presence of the introduction and notes that do not appear in any edition of Mein Kampf. Hitler's Second Book is therefore much more useful to students such as myself and I strongly recommend it. And by the way it is completely AUTHENTIC.

I had never read Hitlers second book, but have of course read Mein Kampf. I was unsure as to whether or not to get the second one, but was glad I did. It was much shorter than the original book and much easier to read. Good buy. It is a very good insight into the historical times and the way they were seen through the eyes of a true madman.

Originally I purchased this book back in the early '90s. But loaned it to a friend and never got it back. This book is fascinating, it that it predicts the Cold War between the US and Russia, and is a fairly clear and accurate look into a future the author was not able to see first hand.

There were more than a few US Generals at the time, who could also see what was coming, and wanted to take on the Russians at the time. One can only imagine how different the world could have been, had they achieved their objective.

This book shows the author wasn't completely disoriented during the battle for Berlin. He saw the writing on the wall, and tried to leave a warning.