Why Hitler?: The Genesis of the Nazi Reich [Hardcover]

Samuel W. Mitcham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275954854 | ISBN-13: 978-0275954857 | Publication Date: November 30, 1996 | Edition: 1St Edition

How did an Austrian tramp named Adolf Hitler become chancellor of Germany, in a position to launch the most infamous reign of terror experienced in the 20th century? Why Hitler? explains the Nazi rise to power in captivating prose and uncompromising detail. Why Hitler focuses on the issue of why and how Hitler and his party attained power in Germany, a question asked by all reflective Americans. Author Samuel Mitcham presents new information, dispensing with the hackneyed theory--presented by Hitler in Mein Kampf and repeated by historians as illustrious as William Shirer and Alan Bullock--that the heroic young Fuehrer struggled to survive against poverty and incredible odds, working as a day laborer and living in a flop house, hunger his constant companion. In fact, Hitler's income from his father's pension was higher than that of a junior postal employee, a teacher with less than five years' service, or a court lawyer with one year's salary. Hitler attained power in 1933 as the result of a complex set of factors, including the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I; the German's lack of faith in democracy and the reasons behind it; the corruption and mismanagement which characterized the Weimar Republic; the hyperinflation of the early 1920s, during which the German currency lost 99.3% of its value in just 12 weeks and the cost of eggs soared to 80 billion marks each; the Great Depression, during which nearly a quarter of the German work force was unemployed; the political and economic instability of the times, in which the Nazis thrived; and the evil genius of Adolf Hitler, master politician. Why Hitler? transports the reader back to the Germany of the 1920s and 1930s, to a time when a country and a civilization began its apocalyptic descent.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These two volumes, both by well-respected scholars, provide short, well-written, thoughtful accounts of why and how Hitler and the Nazis could have come to power in a Western democracy such as Germany. They are aimed at an audience more encompassing than just the circle of professional historians. Mitcham (Hitler's Field Marshals, Madison, 1993) deals with the broader aspects of the subject. Beginning with the end of World War I, he draws upon established historical research to cover the social, political, military, economic, and personal forces that contributed to Hitler's rise to power. His short account distills a huge literature into a readable study that covers the main themes effectively and understandably. Turner (editor, Hitler: Memoirs of a Confidant, Yale Univ., 1985) focuses on Hitler's actual accession to the chancellorship of Germany during January 1933. He is concerned with the main players in the politics of the takeover and in his final chapter provides an elegant summing-up of some possible answers to the enduring questions. Turner has used a variety of documentary sources, including materials newly available in the Moscow archives, to provide a model of scholarly work. Both books provide valuable insights for any library collection that includes European history; Turner's book is likely to be the definitive study of its subject for years to come.?Barbara L. Walden, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“[A] short, well-written, thoughtful account of why and how HItler and the Nazis could have come to power in a Western democracy such as Germany...Beginning with the end of World War I, [Mitcham] draws upon established historical research to cover the social, political, military, economic, and personal forces that contributed to Hitler's rise to power. His short account distills a huge literature into a readable study that covers the main themes effectively and understandably...valuable insights for any library collection that includes European history...”–Library Journal

“Few authors have provided as much biographical information on even minor personalities of the Weimer Republic and the Nazi movement in one monograph; this detail adds depth to the account and is the book's major strength....Despite all its detail, the book reads well.”–German Studies Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Trade; 1St Edition edition (November 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275954854
• ISBN-13: 978-0275954857
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can history repeat itself?, May 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Why Hitler?: The Genesis of the Nazi Reich (Hardcover)

"Reasonably happy and prosperous people", Mitcham notes at the outset, "regardless of nationality, do not elect extremists like Hitler to high office in normal times".
Normal times were but a memory to the hard-pressed Germans, with economic chaos, daily political violence, and an inept government which compounded their misery. Into this political maelstrom strode Hitler, with plausible answers - and hope.
Mitcham's very readable history makes it clear that the advent of Hitlerism was the product of a particular set of circumstances; not so mysterious, and not so unusual as to rule out the possibility that another desperate people might risk dancing with the Devil.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Hitler, September 27, 2000

By 

Dr. Jeffrey J. Mcinturff "Cal Turf" (Granite Bay, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Hitler?: The Genesis of the Nazi Reich (Hardcover)

This book is extremely well researched. Its what you might expect from a professor. It is better documented than Rise and Fall of the Third Reich that is considered the Bible on the subject but is shorter in length. Some of the intricate details however seem dubious, such as, the reference to the Soviet autopsy report on Hitlers body that states that Hitler had only one testicle. I don't doubt that the Soviets wrote such but there has never been DNA proof that his body was ever identified. As a result of the authors research it does seem to refute the notion that Hitler, in his early years, was a bum with relatively no financial resources compared to others during that period. His book is nevertheless spellbinding for those in search of Why Hitler, the high school dropout, rose to lead a nation with 12 Nobel Prise winners in Berlin and the worlds greatest opera, a nation that was elitist by any standard.