- Table View
- List View
Hitler: Beyond Evil and Tyranny (German Studies)
by R. H. StolfiCountless books, including five major biographies, have been devoted to the subject of Adolf Hitler. Yet, despite the mass of tantalizing detail uncovered over six decades, the man at the center of so much historical, psychological, and political analysis remains elusive. For some, he was evil personified, a diabolical tyrant driven by a lust for power; for others, he was a banal demagogue, an opportunist with a talent for propaganda and oration but little more than an empty vessel embodying the disappointments of a defeated Germany. Though we know many facts about Hitler, no coherent picture of his character or personality emerges. Instead, we are left with a cardboard cutout of an evil dictator whose life, in the end, no one can really explain. This fascinating and richly detailed new biography of Hitler reinterprets the known facts about the Nazi Fuehrer to construct a convincing, realistic portrait of the man. In place of the hollow shell others have made into an icon of evil, the author sees a complex, nuanced personality. Without in any way glorifying its subject, this unique revision of the historical Hitler brings us closer to understanding a pivotal personality of the twentieth century.
Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939
by Volker UllrichA New York Times 2016 Notable BookA major new biography—an extraordinary, penetrating study of the man who has become the personification of evil.“Ullrich reveals Hitler to have been an eminently practical politician—and frighteningly so. Timely… One of the best works on Hitler and the origins of the Third Reich to appear in recent years.” —Kirkus Reviews“An outstanding study… All the huge, and terrible moments of the early Nazi era are dissected…but the real strength of this book is in disentangling the personal story of man and monster.” —The Guardian (U.K.) For all the literature about Adolf Hitler there have been just four seminal biographies; this is the fifth, a landmark work that sheds important new light on Hitler himself. Drawing on previously unseen papers and a wealth of recent scholarly research, Volker Ullrich reveals the man behind the public persona, from Hitler's childhood to his failures as a young man in Vienna to his experiences during the First World War to his rise as a far-right party leader. Ullrich deftly captures Hitler's intelligence, instinctive grasp of politics, and gift for oratory as well as his megalomania, deep insecurity, and repulsive worldview. Many previous biographies have focused on the larger social conditions that explain the rise of the Third Reich. Ullrich gives us a comprehensive portrait of a postwar Germany humiliated by defeat, wracked by political crisis, and starved by an economic depression, but his real gift is to show vividly how Hitler used his ruthlessness and political talent to shape the Nazi party and lead it to power. For decades the world has tried to grasp how Hitler was possible. By focusing on the man at the center of it all, on how he experienced his world, formed his political beliefs, and wielded power, this riveting biography brings us closer than ever to the answer.Translated from the German by Jefferson Chase.
Hitler: 1939-1945 (Hitler Biographies Ser. #2)
by Volker UllrichFrom the author of Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939--a riveting account of the dictator's final years, when he got the war he wanted but his leadership led to catastrophe for his nation, the world, and himself. In the summer of 1939 Hitler was at the zenith of his power. The Nazis had consolidated political control in Germany and a series of foreign-policy coups had restored Germany to the status of a major world power. He now embarked on realizing his lifelong ambition: to provide the German people with the resources they needed to flourish and to exterminate those who stood in the way. Yet despite a series of stunning initial triumphs, Hitler's decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941 turned the tide for good.Now, Volker Ullrich offers fascinating new insight into Hitler's character and personality, vividly portraying the insecurity, obsession with minutiae, and narcissistic penchant for gambling that led Hitler to overrule his subordinates and then blame them for his failures; and, ultimately, when he realized the war was not winnable, to embark on the annihilation of Germany itself in order to punish the people who he believed had failed to hand him victory. This is a masterful account of a spectacular downfall, and an essential addition to our understanding of Hitler and the Second World War.
Hitler
by A. N. WilsonA ruthless dictator who saved his country from economic ruin only to nearly destroy it#151;and an entire people#151;in his quest for world domination, Adolf Hitler forever changed the course of history. In this masterful account of Hitler’s life, biographer A. N. Wilson pulls back the curtain to reveal the man behind the mythic figure, shedding new light on Hitler’s personality, his desires, and his complex relationship with the German people. While Hitler maintained that his life had been characterized by #147;struggle” from its very beginnings, Wilson shows that the reality could not have been more different. Hitler grew up in middle-class comfort and, as a young man, lacked ambitions of any sort besides a vaguely bohemian desire to become an artist. And while the Hitlerian mythos holds that he forged his skills as a leader during the First World War, Wilson explains the truth: Hitler spent most of the war as an office boy miles from the front lines, and only received his cherished Iron Cross because of his slavishness to the officers he served. The army gave him a sense of purpose and brotherhood, however, which continued to inspire Hitler once the war ended. Hitler left the army with no skills, contacts, or money#151;and yet, within fourteen years, he would become chancellor of the German nation. Wilson describes the story of Hitler’s ascent as one of both opportunism and sheer political shrewdness. He possessed no real understanding of the workings of government but had a prodigious knack for public speaking, and found that a large number of Germans, despairing at their country’s recent defeat and terrified by the specter of international communism, were willing to listen to the right-wing fantasies that had taken root inside his head. Allying himself with the extremist German Workers’ Party (soon renamed the National Socialist Party), Hitler offered many Germans a seductive vision of how the country might raise itself back up and reclaim its rightful place at the center of world politics. Wilson shows that, although Hitler’s bid for power stalled at first, he soon gained traction with a German public starved for hope. Using his skills as a manipulator, Hitler found himself first at the head of the Nazi Party, then at the helm of the German nation. Wilson explores the forces that allowed Hitler to become Chancellor of Germany, and later to march Germany into total war. He examines Hitler’s increasingly virulent anti-Semitism and his decision to implement the Final Solution to exterminate European Jews, and he considers Hitler’s tactical successes#151;and failures#151;in World War II. Wilson also reveals a great deal about how Hitler’s personal life affected his time as Germany’s leader, from the lasting pain caused by the death of his mother and the suicide of his young niece to his poor health and addiction to the drugs prescribed by his doctor. As Wilson demonstrates, Hitler the Führer was not so different from Hitler the bohemian: lazy, moody, and hypersensitive, he ruled more through intimidation and the mystifying force of his personality than through any managerial skill or informed decision-making. His story#151;and that of Germany#151;is ultimately a cautionary tale. In a modern era enamored with progress, rationality, and modernity, it is often the darkest and most chaotic elements of society that prove the most seductive. Hitler’s unlikely rise to power and his uncanny ability to manipulate his fellow man resulted in the deaths of millions of Europeans and a horrific world war, yet despite his colossal role in world history, he remains mythologized and, as a result, misunderstood. In Hitler, A. N. Wilson limns this mysterious figure with great verve and acuity, showing that it was Hitler’s frightening normalcy#151;not some otherworldly evilness#151;that makes him so truly terrifying.
Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership
by Andrew Roberts'His book is timely and a triumph. Roberts manages to convey all the reader needs to know about two men to whom battalions of biographies have been devoted' EVENING STANDARDAdolf Hitler and Winston Churchill were two totally opposite leaders - both in what they stood for and in the way in which they seemed to lead. Award-winning historian Andrew Roberts examines their different styles of leadership and draws parallels with rulers from other eras. He also looks at the way Hitler and Churchill estimated each other as leaders, and how it affected the outcome of the war. In a world that is as dependent on leadership as any earlier age, HITLER AND CHURCHILL asks searching questions about our need to be led. In doing so, Andrew Roberts forces us to re-examine the way that we look at those who take decisions for us.
Hitler and Film: The Führer's Hidden Passion
by Bill NivenAn exposé of Hitler’s relationship with film and his influence on the film industry A presence in Third Reich cinema, Adolf Hitler also personally financed, ordered, and censored films and newsreels and engaged in complex relationships with their stars and directors. Here, Bill Niven offers a powerful argument for reconsidering Hitler’s fascination with film as a means to further the Nazi agenda. In this first English-language work to fully explore Hitler’s influence on and relationship with film in Nazi Germany, the author calls on a broad array of archival sources. Arguing that Hitler was as central to the Nazi film industry as Goebbels, Niven also explores Hitler’s representation in Third Reich cinema, personally and through films focusing on historical figures with whom he was associated, and how Hitler’s vision for the medium went far beyond “straight propaganda.” He aimed to raise documentary film to a powerful art form rivaling architecture in its ability to reach the masses.
Hitler and his Women
by Phil CarradiceThis unique biography examines Hitler&’s many female relationships, from his mother and sisters to his girlfriends, secretaries, and adoring public. To most of the world, Adolf Hitler was a ranting, evil demagogue whose insane ambitions caused incalculable harm to humanity. But to the women in his life, he was kind, compassionate, and loving—a man to be admired and adored. In Hitler and His Women, historian Phil Carradice explores the Fuhrer&’s many relationships with women, from his romantic involvements to his interactions with female staff and the thousands of women who flocked to hear him speak. While many are familiar with Eva Braun, she was not alone in her role as the Fuhrer&’s lover. Dozens of women preceded her, including Mitzi Reiter, Henny Hoffmann, and his own niece Geli Raubal. To them and many others, Hitler was the ultimate romantic. From deep familial bonds to a teenage infatuation with a girl he never met, from actresses like Zara Leander to English aristocrat Unity Mitford, Carradice examines how Hitlers relationships with women affected the course of history.
Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives
by Alan BullockForty years after his Hitler: A Study in Tyranny set a standard for scholarship of the Nazi era, Lord Alan Bullock gives readers a breathtakingly accomplished dual biography that places Adolf Hitler's origins, personality, career, and legacy alongside those of Joseph Stalin--his implacable antagonist and moral mirror image.
Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Führer's Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals
by James Longo&“A detailed and moving picture of how the Habsburgs suffered under the Nazi regime…scrupulously sourced, well-written, and accessible.&”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) It was during five youthful years in Vienna that Adolf Hitler's obsession with the Habsburg Imperial family became the catalyst for his vendetta against a vanished empire, a dead archduke, and his royal orphans. That hatred drove Hitler's rise to power and led directly to the tragedy of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The royal orphans of Archduke Franz Ferdinand—offspring of an upstairs-downstairs marriage that scandalized the tradition-bound Habsburg Empire—came to personify to Adolf Hitler, and others, all that was wrong about modernity, the twentieth century, and the Habsburgs&’ multi-ethnic, multi-cultural Austro-Hungarian Empire. They were outsiders in the greatest family of royal insiders in Europe, which put them on a collision course with Adolf Hitler. As he rose to power Hitler's hatred toward the Habsburgs and their diverse empire fixated on Franz Ferdinand's sons, who became outspoken critics and opponents of the Nazi party and its racist ideology. When Germany seized Austria in 1938, they were the first two Austrians arrested by the Gestapo, deported to Germany, and sent to Dachau. Within hours they went from palace to prison. The women in the family, including the Archduke's only daughter, Princess Sophie Hohenberg, declared their own war on Hitler. Their tenacity and personal courage in the face of betrayal, treachery, torture, and starvation sustained the family during the war and in the traumatic years that followed. Through a decade of research and interviews with the descendants of the Habsburgs, scholar James Longo explores the roots of Hitler's determination to destroy the family of the dead Archduke—and uncovers the family members' courageous fight against the Führer.
Hitler at Home
by Despina StratigakosA look at Adolf Hitler&’s residences and their role in constructing and promoting the dictator&’s private persona both within Germany and abroad. Adolf Hitler&’s makeover from rabble-rouser to statesman coincided with a series of dramatic home renovations he undertook during the mid-1930s. This provocative book exposes the dictator&’s preoccupation with his private persona, which was shaped by the aesthetic and ideological management of his domestic architecture. Hitler&’s bachelor life stirred rumors, and the Nazi regime relied on the dictator&’s three dwellings—the Old Chancellery in Berlin, his apartment in Munich, and the Berghof, his mountain home on the Obersalzberg—to foster the myth of the Führer as a morally upstanding and refined man. Author Despina Stratigakos also reveals the previously untold story of Hitler&’s interior designer, Gerdy Troost, through newly discovered archival sources. At the height of the Third Reich, media outlets around the world showcased Hitler&’s homes to audiences eager for behind-the-scenes stories. After the war, fascination with Hitler&’s domestic life continued as soldiers and journalists searched his dwellings for insights into his psychology. The book&’s rich illustrations, many previously unpublished, offer readers a rare glimpse into the decisions involved in the making of Hitler&’s homes and into the sheer power of the propaganda that influenced how the world saw him.&“Inarguably the powder-keg title of the year.&”—Mitchell Owen, Architectural Digest&“A fascinating read, which reminds us that in Nazi Germany the architectural and the political can never be disentangled. Like his own confected image, Hitler&’s buildings cannot be divorced from their odious political hinterland.&”—Roger Moorhouse, Times
The Hitler Conspirator: The Story of Kurt Freiherr von Plettenberg and Stauffenberg's Valkyrie Plot to Kill the Führer
by Eberhard SchmidtKurt Baron von Plettenberg (1891-1945) was the descendant of Westphalian aristocratic family, and a soldier in both world wars. The expectations, which he along with many of his later fellow conspirators of the 20 July 1944 plot to kill Hitler initially had of the “Third Reich”, are soon disappointed, when he recognizes the true nature of the regime. When he accepts the office as general agent of the former Prussian royal house of the Hohenzollerns in 1942, he already belongs to the inner circle of the resistance planning Operation Valkyrie. <p><p> After the assassination attempt, however, he is not immediately discovered as one of the conspirators. Out of consideration for the house of Hohenzollern, which Hitler considers to be his most dangerous internal enemy, he acted more carefully than many others. Yet only a few weeks before the end of the war Plettenberg is finally denounced and arrested, too. <p> This biography shows for the first time how Kurt von Plettenberg, who belonged to the inner circle of conspirators around Stauffenberg, found a way to prevail during those difficult times and how significantly he influenced the resistance.
Hitler e Estaline: Os Tiranos e a Segunda Guerra Mundial
by Laurence ReesO conceituado historiador Laurence Rees mergulha nas profundezas dos regimes cruéis de Hitler e Estaline e mostra até que ponto os dois homens brutalizaram o mundo à sua volta. Dois ditadores do século XX distinguem-se pelo impacto e crueldade que tiveram no mundo. Aliados por um curto período de tempo durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, Hitler e Estaline tentaram depois exterminar-se mutuamente em campanhas de guerra nunca vistas no mundo moderno, afetando soldados e civis de igual modo. Quilómetros sem fim da Europa de Leste foram arruinados neste combate mortal e milhões de vidas foram sacrificadas. Recorrendo a testemunhos inéditos de soldados do Exército Vermelho e da Wehrmacht, de civis que sofreram durante o conflito e daqueles que conheceram pessoalmente os dois homens, esta obra-prima — o culminar de 30 anos de trabalho — do autor bestseller Laurence Rees, um dos melhores historiadores contemporâneos, analisa o percurso dos dois tiranos durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, quando a Alemanha e a União Soviética travaram a maior e mais sangrenta guerra da História, demonstrando que, apesar de ferozes adversários, Hitler e Estaline eram, em grande medida, os dois lados de uma mesma moeda. «Da autoria de um dos mais conceituados especialistas na Segunda Guerra Mundial, este é um relato importante, original — e devastador — de Hitler e Estaline como ditadores.» Robert Service, autor de Estaline — Uma Biografia «Neste estudo fascinante de dois monstros, Laurence Rees é extraordinariamente percetivo e original.» Sir Antony Beevor, autor de Estalinegrado «Laurence Rees combina de forma brilhante testemunhos poderosos, uma narrativa vívida e uma análise irrefutável neste soberbo relato de como dois terríveis ditadores lideraram os seus países na guerra mais destrutiva e desumana da História.» Sir Ian Kershaw, autor de Hitler «Um trabalho extraordinário e de grande coragem. Revelador, fascinante e extremamente relevante, mostra Hitler e Estaline como nunca foram mostrados. Uma verdadeira história do nosso tempo, com tantas lições a retirar para o mundo conturbado em que vivemos hoje que irá revolucionar o entendimento que temos destes dois tiranos.» Damien Lewis, autor de The Nazi Hunters
Hitler - Films from Germany
by Karolin Machtans Martin A. RuehlThe first book-length study to critically examine the recent wave of Hitler biopics in German cinema and television. A group of international experts discuss films like Downfall in the context of earlier portrayals of Hitler and draw out their implications for the changing place of the Third Reich in the national historical imagination.
The Hitler Kiss: A Memoir of Czech Resistance
by Radomir LuzaThis gripping autobiography is at once a heart-pounding adventure story, a moving recollection of a larger-than-life father, and an important account of the Czech resistance. Radomir Luza's father was a revered army general when the Nazis stormed into Czechoslovakia. After his father went underground to avoid arrest and torture, the nineteen-year-old Radomir spent weeks in a Gestapo prison. Upon his release, he joined his father in hiding. General Luza became the military commander of the Czech resistance, while Radomir secretly helped organize the country's largest resistance network. Luza's narrative makes palpable the terror of being constantly hunted and nearly snared by betrayals and Gestapo raids. The Hitler Kiss is a portrait of courage, tenderness, optimism, and sheer survival.
Hitler, My Neighbor: Memories of a Jewish Childhood, 1929-1939
by Adriana Hunter Edgar Feuchtwanger Bertil ScaliAn eminent historian recounts the Nazi rise to power from his unique perspective as a young Jewish boy in Munich, living with Adolf Hitler as his neighbor. Edgar Feuchtwanger came from a prominent German-Jewish family--the only son of a respected editor and the nephew of a best-selling author, Lion Feuchtwanger. He was a carefree five-year-old, pampered by his parents and his nanny, when Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, moved into the building opposite theirs in Munich. In 1933 the joy of this untroubled life was shattered. Hitler had been named Chancellor. Edgar's parents, stripped of their rights as citizens, tried to protect him from increasingly degrading realities. In class, his teacher had him draw swastikas, and his schoolmates joined the Hitler Youth. Watching events unfold from his window, Edgar bore witness to the Night of the Long Knives, the Anschluss, and Kristallnacht. Jews were arrested; his father was imprisoned at Dachau. In 1939 Edgar was sent on his own to England, where he would make a new life, a career, have a family, and strive to forget the nightmare of his past--a past that came rushing back when he decided, at the age of eighty-eight, to tell the story of his buried childhood and his infamous neighbor.
The Hitler Myths: Exposing the Truth Behind the Stories About the Führer
by Sjoerd J. de BoerAdolf Hitler remains one of the most discussed figures in world history. Every year, an untold number of articles and books are published, and television programs and internet pages are produced, by respected historians through to amateur conspiracy theorists. One of the consequences of this continuous flow of stories is that, over time, increasing numbers of falsehoods and fabrications have emerged about Hitler. Many of these have subsequently gained credence by virtue of their constant repetition – however bizarre they may be. These include such claims that Hitler was impotent (contradicted by another myth that he had an illegitimate son), that he had Jewish ancestors, or that he had killed his niece. Another claim, one of the most persistent, is that he did not commit suicide but escaped Berlin to live in Argentina for years after the war, despite his well-recorded failing health. What is the truth about his corpse, his sexual experiences, his years of poverty, his complete dominance of his subordinates? How much of what we think we know is the result of intentional or misunderstood modern interpretations? Many rumours also circulated during Hitler’s life and, with the passage of time, have been presented as facts despite having no substantial foundation. Was Hitler really a hero of the First World War and, if so, why was he not promoted beyond the rank of corporal? Was he the true author of Mein Kampf and did he write a second book that was never published, and was Hitler initially a socialist? In The Hitler Myths the author clinically dissects many of these myths, often in a highly amusing fashion, as he exposes the inaccuracies and impossibilities of the stories. The myths – the familiar and the obscure – are discussed chronologically, following the course of Hitler’s life. In his analysis of each of the myths, the author draws on an array of sources to prove or disprove the rumours and speculations – once and for all!
Hitler versus Hindenburg
by Larry Eugene JonesHitler versus Hindenburg provides the first in-depth study of the titanic struggle between the two most dominant figures on the German Right in the last year before the establishment of the Third Reich. Although Hindenburg was reelected as Reich president by a comfortable margin, his authority was severely weakened by the fact that the vast majority of those who had supported his candidacy seven years earlier had switched their support to Hitler in 1932. What the two candidates shared in common, however, was that they both relied upon charisma to legitimate their claim to the leadership of the German nation. The increasing reliance upon charisma in the 1932 presidential elections greatly accelerated the delegitimation of the Weimar Republic and set the stage for Hitler's appointment as chancellor nine months later.
Hitler Was My Friend: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Photographer
by Heinrich HoffmannHeinrich Hoffman was a key part in the making of the Hitler legend, the photographer who carefully crafted the image of the Fhrer as a godlike figure. Hoffmann published his first book of photographs in 1919, following his work as an official photographer for the German army. In 1920 he joined the Nazi Party, and his association with Hitler began. He became Hitler's official photographer and traveled with him extensively. He took over two million photographs of Hitler, and they were distributed widely, including on postage stamps, an enterprise that proved very profitable for both men. Hoffmann published several books on Hitler in the 1930s, including The Hitler Nobody Knows (1933). Hoffmann and Hitler were very close, and he acted not only as a personal confidante—his memoirs include rare details of the Fhrer—but also as a matchmaker it is Hoffmann who introduced Eva Braun, his studio assistant, to Hitler.At the end of the war, Hoffmann was arrested by the US military, who also seized his photographic archive, and was sentenced to imprisonment for Nazi profiteering. This edition of a classic book includes photographs by Hoffmann and a new introduction by Roger Moorhouse.
The Hitler Years: Disaster, 1940-1945
by Frank McDonoughThe Second Volume of a new chronicle of the Third Reich under Hitler's hand, ending with his death and Germany's disastrous defeat.In The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945, Frank McDonough completes his brilliant two-volume history of Germany under Hitler’s Third Reich. At the beginning of 1940, Germany was at the pinnacle of its power. By May 1945, Hitler was dead and Germany had suffered a disastrous defeat. Hitler had failed to achieve his aim of making Germany a super power and had left her people to cope with the endless shame of the Holocaust. Despite Hitler's grand ambitions and the successful early stages of the Third Reich's advances into Europe, Frank McDonough convincingly argues that Germany was only ever a middle-ranking power and never truly stood a chance against the combined forces of the Allies. In this second volume of The Hitler Years, Professor Frank McDonough charts the dramatic change of fortune for the Third Reich and Germany's ultimate defeat.
The Hitler Years: Triumph, 1933-1939
by Frank McDonoughFrom historian Frank McDonough, the first volume of a new chronicle of the Third Reich under Hitler's hand.On January 30th, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the German Chancellor of a coalition government by President Hindenburg. Within a few months he had installed a dictatorship, jailing and killing his leftwing opponents, terrorizing the rest of the population and driving Jews out of public life. He embarked on a crash program of militaristic Keynesianism, reviving the economy and achieving full employment through massive public works, vast armaments spending and the cancellations of foreign debts. After the grim years of the Great Depression, Germany seemed to have been reborn as a brutal and determined European power.Over the course of the years from 1933 to 1939, Hitler won over most of the population to his vision of a renewed Reich. In these years of domestic triumph, cunning maneuvers, pitting neighboring powers against each other and biding his time, we see Hitler preparing for the moment that would realize his ambition. But what drove Hitler's success was also to be the fatal flaw of his regime: a relentless belief in war as the motor of greatness, a dream of vast conquests in Eastern Europe and an astonishingly fanatical racism.
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
by Susan Campbell BartolettiIn her first full-length nonfiction title since winning the Robert F. Sibert Award, Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores the riveting and often chilling story of Germany's powerful Hitler Youth groups.<P><P> "I begin with the young. We older ones are used up... But my magnificent youngsters! Look at these men and boys! What material! With them, I can create a new world." --Adolf Hitler, Nuremberg 1933<P> By the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth. It would become the largest youth group in history. Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores how Hitler gained the loyalty, trust, and passion of so many of Germany's young people. Her research includes telling interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members.<P> Newbery Medal Honor book and Sibert Honor book
Hitler's Aristocrats: The Secret Power Players in Britain and America Who Supported the Nazis, 1923–1941
by Susan RonaldSusan Ronald, acclaimed author of Hitler's Art Thief takes readers into the shadowy world of the aristocrats and business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic who secretly aided Hitler and Nazi Germany.Hitler said, “I am convinced that propaganda is an essential means to achieve one’s aims.” Enlisting Europe’s aristocracy, international industrialists, and the political elite in Britain and America, Hitler spun a treacherous tale everyone wanted to believe: he was a man of peace. Central to his deception was an international high society Black Widow, Princess Stephanie Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, whom Hitler called “his dear princess.” She, and others, conspired for Hitler at the highest levels of the British aristocracy and spread their web to America's wealthy powerbrokers.Hitler’s aristocrats became his eyes, listening posts, and mouthpieces in the drawing rooms, cocktail parties, and weekend retreats of Europe and America. Among these “gentlemen spies” and “ladies of mystery” were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Lady Nancy Astor, Charles Lindbergh, and two of the Mitford sisters. They were the trusted voices disseminating his political and cultural propaganda about the “New Germany,” brushing aside the Nazis’ atrocities. Distrustful of his own Foreign Ministry, Hitler used his aristocrats to open the right doors in Great Britain and the United States, creating a formidable fifth column within government and financial circles.In a tale of drama and intrigue, Hitler’s Aristocrats uncovers the battle between these influencers and those who heroically opposed them.
Hitler's Bastard: Through Hell and Back in Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia
by Eric PleasantsOf all the extraordinary individual accounts that have come out of the Second World War and its aftermath, few can compare with that of Eric Pleasants, a member of the 'bastard' British wing of Hitler's SS - the British Free Corps. In this compelling autobiography, Pleasants writes of the bizarre and traumatic years he spent as a prisoner of the twentieth century's most notorious dictators. A life-long pacifist, Pleasants spent the early years of the war on occupied Jersey. He was imprisoned by the Nazis for petty crimes and the years that followed held a whirlwind of unexpected turns. He lived life on the run in occupied Paris, was captured and recruited into the British Free Corps of the Waffen SS, found love with a young German woman, witnessed the bombing of Dresden and attempted to escape from Soviet troops along the sewers of Berlin. When the war ended, Pleasants found himself on the Communist side of the Iron Curtain. By now a strong man in a travelling circus, he was arrested by the KGB on charges of espionage and sentenced to 25 years' slave labour in the notorious camps of Artic Russia. Only with Stalin's death in 1953 was Pleasants finally released from his unique kind of purgatory, after nearly half a lifetime of peripatetic nightmare. He died in 1998 at the age of 87. Hitler's Bastard remains a remarkable testimony to his imperishable will to survive.
Hitler's Charisma: Leading Millions into the Abyss
by Laurence ReesFuelled by hate, incapable of forming normal human relationships, unwilling to listen to dissenting voices, Adolf Hitler seemed an unlikely leader, and yet he commanded enormous support and was able to exert a powerful influence over those who encountered him. How did Hitler become such an attractive figure to millions of people? That is the question at the core of Hitler's Charisma. Acclaimed historian and documentary filmmaker Laurence Rees examines the nature of Hitler's appeal and reveals the role his supposed "charisma" played in his success. Here is a fascinating social, psychological and historical investigation into the formation of a personality whose determination and vision would at the outset convince a small group of like-minded political and social outcasts but would eventually win over an entire nation and plunge the rest of the world into a cataclysm unlike any that had ever been seen before. Hitler's Charisma is a natural culmination of twenty years of writing and research on the Third Reich and a remarkable examination of the man and the mind at the heart of it all.(With 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations)
Hitler's Commanders: German Action in the Field, 1939–1945
by James LucasAs absolute as Hitler's control over the German war machine was, it depended on the ability, judgment and unquestioning loyalty of the senior officers charged with putting his ideas, however difficult, into effect.Top military historian James Lucas examines the stories of fourteen of these men: all of different rank, from varied backgrounds, and highly awarded, they exemplify German military prowess at its most dangerous. Among his subjects are Eduard Dietl, the commander of German forces in Norway and Eastern Europe; Werner Kampf, one of the most successful Panzer commanders of the war; and Kurt Meyer, commander of the Hitler Youth Division and one of Germany's youngest general officers.The author, one of the leading experts on all aspects of German military conduct of the Second World War, offers the reader a rare look into the nature of the German Army a curious mix of individual strength, petty officialdom and pragmatic action.