Hitler: Pride/Revenge (1889-1936/1936-1945) (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (British) Ian Kershaw
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Ian Kershaw is one of the leading figures in the global study of Hitler and one of the most important biographers of him. His biography Hitler garnered widespread attention from the world media. The Times, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal all published articles reviewing the book, calling its publication outdated many Hitler biographies and calling it a groundbreaking work in the study of the Third Reich and Hitler. This magnificent masterpiece explains the historical fact that Hitler won the "hearts" of the Germans and how he acquired and exercised absolute power. Why the world's most powerful nation would submit to such highly personalized rule, which, in turn, won the cheers of millions. People were consumed by the will of one individual, who was leading them down a path of destruction with unerring precision. How could citizens of a modern nation become complicit in genocide, and how could an unprecedented, nationwide campaign of mass murder be carried out. The entire continent suffered devastation, and their nation ultimately collapsed. The author points out that the German people nurtured Hitler's arrogant personality. The German people made the greatest gamble in their historical destiny, and the gamble's goal—to completely dominate the European continent—was the incentive that drove them to take such risks. They must bear the consequences that followed. Looking back at history from today, this gamble itself meant self-destruction. It is a story of a nation and its representatives self-destructing, as well as the process by which they designed their own disaster, with the consequences devastating the entire European civilization. This book examines the combination of personal and non-personal factors that constituted this extremely important historical period, in order to understand how Hitler was able to expand his power to the point where he could determine the fate of millions of people, and why Hitler and Nazism caused immense harm to Germany and the world.