Customer Reviews

The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

William Shirer, perhaps most famous for his comprehensive history, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, or his live radio broadcasts from Berlin during the early days of World War II, has also written a thin little book titled, The Rise and Fall of Adlof Hitler. Although the work is geared towards a younger audience, the quality of writing, and information contained are quality fare for an older audience as well.

Shirer, begins his work with a young disgruntled Hitler, arguing with his father over his chosen profession, that of an artist. Shirer then chronicles Hitler's days as a vagabond, moving from one odd job to another across Austria and Germany. In these early years, we see Hitler not as a maniacal demagogue, but as an eccentric wanderer, searching for nothing in particular. However, World War I brought the demagogue forth.

After serving for four years in the Germany military, Hitler, disgruntled with the Treaty of Versailles and the weakness of the German nation decides to enter into political life. It is in a small beer hall that Hitler creates the new found Nazi party and enlists the help of such infamous men as Goering, Himmler, and Hess. Do to Hitler's exceptional charisma, the Nazi party begins to grow.

Following the now infamous "Beer Hall Putsch," Hitler is imprisoned and begins work on his seminal book, Mein Kampf. Following his release, the book sells millions of copies and Hitler is thrust upon the national stage. From here, Shirer illustrates Hitler's rise of Chancellor, and ultimately dictator of Germany. He discusses the serious of invasions and coups conducted under Hitler throughout Europe and subsequent intervention of the Allied Powers.

Finally, Shirer chronicles the decline of Hitler, and his subsequent decent in to madness. His paranoia, greed, and ultimate refusal of accept anything other than total victory led to not only the demise of Adlof Hitler, but also to the German nation.

Shirer did an excellent job chronicling the life of Adlof Hitler in a short and concise book. This would severe as an excellent text for a high school history course, or for any reader who wants to learn more about Hitler, but has very little time

U.S. journalist-author William L. Shirer was a newsman in Nazi Germany for six years (1934-40) who later wrote superb books on the subject. Here he aims for a young audience, outlining the rise and fall of one of history's worst villians. Young readers see how Hitler rose from nothing, the brutal war he launched, and the incredible cruelty and mass killings that marked his reign. There's even a look at his last days in the bunker, screeching paranoia about being betrayed as the Russians closed in. The book is readable and well-crafted, but never quite captures Nazism as did his superb adult efforts - BERLIN DIARY, RISE AND FALL OF THIRD REICH, NIGHTMARE YEARS. Still this is a good pick for young readers with an interest in history.

I read this little book when I was in fourth or fifth grade, was knocked out, and have been hooked on history ever since. Shirer condenses his massive "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" for younger readers. It's a gripping introduction to a subject you could spend your whole reading life exploring. It has the "fascination of abomination"; a first, cautionary introduction for kids to the scary things that happen in the adult world. If you want your children to grow up to be interested in politics, history, law, etc., this is a good book to give them.

This is a review of THE RISE AND FALL OF ADOLF HITLER by William L. Shirer. At the time this book was published by Scholastic Book Services in 1961, there were no biographies of Hitler by an American author.

Alan Bullock's monumental HITLER: A STUDY IN TYRANNY dominated the field after its publication in 1952, but he was British and his work was a challenge to many secondary students. A German author, Konrad Heiden, had written a pioneering biography of Hitler during the 1930s and updated it in 1944 after fleeing Europe for the US. His works were valuable, but needed to be brought up to date and, like Bullock's book, not really intended for American high school students.

Shirer's blockbuster RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH was published in 1960 and he used the basic research and observations from that to write THE RISE AND FALL OF ADOLF HITLER which came out the following year. If you've read THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH, you'll find nothing new in Shirer's biography. It's a "fast read", but a good one.

Shirer was able to adapt his biography to younger readers without dumbing it down. For example, he's careful to include explanations of terms which most adults would understand. And he does an excellent job of presenting the tangled, chaotic story of Hitler's rise and fall in a clear, concise way.

I've done a lot of reading about Hitler and his Third Reich, but Shirer's writing held my attention. In other words, if you don't have a copy of this book, it would be a worthwhile addition to your library. It's widely available including online here at Amazon at give-away prices.

Even though this book is written for students, it will be of interest to adults too. Although the book has no collector value, it's significant in that it's one of the first biographies of Hitler written by an American author. The others are THE LIFE OF ADOLF HITLER by Albert B. Gerber which was also published in 1961 and Walter Langer's psychological profile of Hitler done during WW II for the OSS. Langer's work, however, wasn't published until 1972 when it came out under the title THE MIND OF ADOLF HITLER.

Gerber's biography is longer and more detailed. It was intended for adult readers. Both books hold up well insofar as their readability. To me, Shirer is the better writer.

I liked THE RISE AND FALL OF ADOLF HITLER and gave the book five stars.

William Shirer was a witness to one of the most incredible political events in the history of the world. A former vagabond, who never rose above the rank of corporal in the Great War, Adolph Hitler managed to achieve absolute power in Germany. Using a program based on the systematic destruction of others, he came very close to controlling all of Europe and northern Africa. Shirer was a journalist rather than a historian, so his writing is more in the style of a reporter than that of an academic. Therefore, his accounts are more in the style of a witness rather than an explainer.

This book is very well written and an excellent introduction for young people to the events leading to the Second World War. I consider it the best popular description of the circumstances of Hitler's rise to power and how he managed to win so many nearly bloodless victories before the war. Quite properly, the first two-thirds of the book deals with events before the start of the war in September 1939. It is one of the best books in the scholastic book series for young people.

First of all this is a childrens book.
I read the entire thing in a few hours and thought it was a very concise and informative account of the life of Hitler. It starts with his childhood and youth, then in only a few short chapters it moves on to his education and young adult life. Then it reveals the politacal history and shows the dark side of the man and what he did. Shrirer is one of my favorite historians, and although not always completely accurate (I have not found or heard that he made up material, just had some wrong facts) he is an incredible author with an amazing ability to paint a picture. This book is no exception to that. The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler outlines, in words that are easy to understand, the story of Hitler.
It is not overbearing and will not frighten the reader with the gore and hate that it could have had, but it does make you think about the evilness of Hitler.
A good book.

Great truthful read on the fall and rise. Being raised a Catholic kid in the 1960s, I read this book in the 8th grade. Hitler's idea of the Nazi "Party of Jew killers" did not begin with the Atheism of his final years, but with his oh so catholic humble beginnings...roots and his hatefull, learnings from his elders.
jjw*****

I agree with some of the other reviewers: this is an excellent first book for a young person to learn about history. In his memoir "A Native's Return", Shirer says he was asked by Random House's Bennett Cerf to write a child's biography of Adolf Hitler (for ages ten to fourteen).

"How did you write for young people?", he wondered. "You couldn't be condescending. You had to respect them. But you had to keep it simple enough for them to understand". It took his looking at young adult books by John Gunther and Pearl Buck to break his writer's block.

Two years before his death I wrote to him, saying that - he succeeded. And I still have the short thank-you letter he sent to me.

This book doesn't have the detail of Shirer's much longer work, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Instead the book is an excellent compact source for a reader who is primarily interested in Hitler, himself, rather than the complexities of World War II. It concentrates on the Fuhrer in all his evil genius. I was born in 1937 so I have had plenty of time to become acquainted with the standard lore of Adolph Hitler. Nevertheless, until I read this book I hadn't completely grasped how truly wicked this man was. At 179 pages, it's a quick read.

This book tells so much about Adolf Hitler. How he lived his life and what it was like. William L. Shirer writes this in a first person perspective. He actually witnessed these things happening and lives to tell about them.