Hitler's Table Talk, 1941-1944: His Private Conversations 3rd Edition

I found reading this book to be an interesting and educational experience. It reads as a diary with the date listed and then a 1 to 5 page dictation of what Hitler had said in conversation. Because of this format it really grabbed my interest because there are short sections of material before another break. This led me to read a short section for a little while at times, and also gave me a nice stopping point. At times it also made me want to keep reading because I couldn't wait to see what was coming next. Hitler's dialog runs the whole gamut on all facets of life. You pick a topic, and I'm sure at least one page has some reference to it.
For those worried if this is a propaganda piece, I believe it is not. The conversation has an overwhelming abundance of detailed conversation which comes across the page as authentic dialog. In reference to Hitler's "Christianity", I will say this. Anyone could list a large number of people who have spoken of their "faith in Christ". For example, I do believe I remember Charles Manson in his numerous interviews compares himself to Christ and his sufferings, or Jim Jones preaching. One has only to look at the fruit or the actions to see what the true heart is. Let's speak plainly here shall we. Hitler was not a Christian. Hitler played word games using Darwinian philosophy wrapped in a cloak of Christian rhetoric. Hitler was no fool. He knew what he was doing. He did it to mock Christianity, and this book has quite a bit of that. Now, in fairness, I agree with him many times when he speaks of the hypocrisy of the Church; especially the Catholic Church. He cites numerous example where I was in strong agreement with him. What is sad to me is what happened with Adolf happens to many people. He was taught as a child a false Christianity intermixed with man made religion, hypocrisy, and superstition. This led him to view Christians as weak, not understanding the meekness of true strength. Hitler being a follower of Darwin believed those who are weak die. Hitler alludes to it a few times that he will not allow the church to continue after the war. The "state" will be the new religion, and that is exactly what all those rallies were about. They were designed to replace worship!
In addition, potential readers should be aware that the book is translated from German into "old" English text. There are many words I had to look up to understand their meaning. Hitler also uses a lot of slang in which a dictionary will not suffice. Also, Hitler is a very well read and intelligent individual, and he lists alot of names in history including all his meetings with church leaders, ambassadors, diplomats, etc. So what I found myself doing is reading this book next to the Google search engine to give meaning and context to the text. I found this to be the only way I could thoroughly enjoy this book. To some this may be a tremendous negative.

Fascinating read. The really interesting thing about what he says is how much it reminds me of how uneducated people can have very strong opinions about issues, and are unable to reflect objectively on their opinions. It's fun to compare his table talk to his speeches where he expresses big lies (that he may have believed), here he is just expressing ill informed opinions. But his prejudices and bigotry are plain to see. What was surprising to me was to see how his ethics were really pre-Christian and heroic. He could respect someone who disagreed with him if they bravely accepted the consequences of doing that. He also wanted to champion the little guy against the justice system. This material will give anyone interested in Hitler more insight into his character.

HITLER'S TABLE TALK is much less well known than MEIN KAMPF, but it is infinitely more valuable. The former are the spattered ramblings of a self-educated street agitator whose fledgling political movement had just been crushed. The latter are the vocalized observations of a fiftysomething dictator who ruled Europe, and who'd expanded enormously on his education in the intervening years.

TALK is essentially a vast transcription of Hitler's conversation at the supper table during the years 1941 - 1942, when he was at the absolute height of his power, though there is a also small amount of material from 1943 and 1944. His words were recorded at the order of Martin Bormann, who presumably had plans of publishing them after the war was successfully concluded. And reading, you can see why. Hitler was much more comfortable as an ex tempore speaker than in any other medium, and the breadth of his knowledge and interest is extremely impressive.
Obviously it's not easy to summarize a book over 700 pages in length, but Hitler's pet subjects, which he discusses at great length and with surprising eloquence and insight, were art, music, architecture, economics, history, race, world politics, and his ultimate goals for postwar Europe, particularly as they pertained to Russia. He also enjoyed reminiscing about various periods from his earlier life, particularly the "Kampfzeit", or the Nazi struggle for power. Surprisingly, as much as he bashes the Jews - and he bashes them senseless - his real vitriol is reserved for European nobility, lawyers, and for the "Pfaffengeschmeiss", a German insult which translates roughly as "clerical scum", i.e. the Christian clergy. He seldom discusses military affairs except in general terms - his table talk seems to have been his escape from playing the war-lord.

Hitler is revealed by his own words as a man with mercury for blood. Highly intelligent, even a genius, he is missing some fundamental aspect of humanity. He has no friends in the accepted sense of the word, and admits to lacking any "family feeling", either. When he speaks of things like love, compassion, grief, and pity, one quickly gets the sense he has no idea what these words actually mean; he pronounces death sentences as casually as you might ask someone to pass the butter, and orders the mass execution of epileptics ("defectives") with no more remorse than you'd show for throwing out the trash. Truth and morality are to him mere concepts that can be altered by necessity, and decency itself a construct of "Jewish Christianity." His own mind is powerful but incredibly rigid; his personality is charmismatic but utterly intolerant. It is enough for him to dislike a style of painting to have its adherents thrown into a concentration camp. And yet at the same time, he is often quite funny (his remarks on the German bureacracy are priceless) and had a shockingly liberal attitude on such subjects as animal cruelty, environmentalism, and social inequality - much more liberal, I might add, than many Americans have. He was as much a socialist as a nationalist.

The book does have issues. The translation is from German into British English, which, considering Hitler's frequent use of slang expressions, carries its own problems for an American reader. There is no "glossary of names" and only a very few footnotes. What's more, it is prefaced by an intolerably smug and self-righteous essay by Hugh Trevor-Roper, whose credibility as a historian was largely wiped out by his role in the "Hitler's diaries" debacle, and who, in any case, was a willing tool of the 300 year crime against humanity that was British imperialism , and therefore has no moral right to preach at anybody.

In the end, though, I'd say that this book is an absolutely invaluable tool for understanding just who Adolf Hitler was, what he wanted to do, and why he wanted to do it. It is a brutal, engaging, occasionally humorous and frequently jarring look into the mind of the most reviled man in modern history. In his own words.

I know simply due to the nature of the author and the text, that this is a controversial book. Nonetheless, that does not mean it should be avoided or ignored; This book is a massive conglomeration of the thoughts and talks of a man who has held such a paramount place in the history of the 20th c, albeit infamously. Mein Kampf and his speeches were composed specifically for an audience, and with that intention they were sculpted and edited. This is not the case with this book; for the most part it is the informal thoughts of Hitler as he presented them over dinner talks with 'guests', and in this sense I seriously do not understand how this book is so little known. Yes, Hitler may be Hitler (need I say more), but here you get a more personal and casual look at arguably the most infamous person period