Rating: 
Summary: A Cautionary Tale
Review: This is the story of how Hitler came to power told through the eyes of his niece, Geli Raubal. Although a work of fiction, Hitler's Niece is based on factual events. It retells the conditions in Germany after World War I and the disorder, which created the climate for Hitler's rise to power. In addition, it greatly details the lives of the other major players of the Third Reich. It talks about how such characters as Goebbels, Goring and Hitler were all relative failures, and for that reason had to blame somebody, mainly the Jews and Communists, for their lack of financial and career success. One account speaks of how the Brownshirts assault an old man at a rally just because he happened to "look like" Vladimir Lenin. The book points out the unmistakable reasons why such thugs came together, and how blowing personal failures to a level of racist fury can become a powder keg leading to a collective feeding frenzy. To be sure, the book also tells of how Hitler's family reflected inwardly on how insane the "Fuhrer" and his entourage was, and how complacency always allows the evil in society to flourish. In this work, Hitler's followers catapult him to the level of a deity and describe themselves in so many words as willing slaves to the whims of the Fuhrer. It also probes into the plasticity and facade that was the Reich. Hitler's Niece is an honest and necessary tale of caution. A must-read for all those concerned with how one level of mere unhappiness among a group of individuals can mount into a full-blown campaign of extermination. The fact this book retells true historical accounts through the fictional eyes of Geli Raubal does not detract in any way from its effectiveness.
Rating:
Summary: Great Speculations On A Doomed Friendship!
Review: As someone familiar with many within the Fuhrer's immediate circle, I found this novel a terrific tale of what may have happened between him and his young niece, Geli Raubel. All the familiar characters, Goering,Goebbels, the chauffer (who, in this book, actually competes with Hitler over Geli's affections), and many others, seem all too real. The manipulative and mesmorizing future dictator slowly becomes truly sickening, but he actually is not without some human feelings as well. The descriptions of 1920's-early 1930's Munich and Germany are perfect, and the everyday life of the Hitler and his entourage are just as good. Note the claustophobic feel of his large flat, and the slowly developing, urgent paranoia of Geli that becomes all too real. In fact, though she does feel strangely drawn to Hitler, she is among the few not drawn completely in his web. The ending may not be true , but still a great read, and fine job by Mr. Hansen!
Rating:
Summary: Hitler, the Man
Review: A chilling and intimate portrait of a psychopathic narcissist from the point of view of his gullible and common-sensical niece. She is ensnared less by his infamous magnetism than by his rising celebrity and the pecuniary entrapments he foists on her. Gradually and painfully, she wakes up, in a golden cage, to the nightmarish, venomous and perverted relationship with her uncle. A "fly on the wall", superb, bated breath, piece of prescience in hindsight. Reads like journalism, deep like history, moving like a first rate novel and tragic beyond words. Close to a masterpiece. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary speculation on the life of Hitler
Review: Hitler's Niece by Ron Hansen is an enthralling, convincing look at the feeble man who became the great monster. Although Mr. Hansen also paints a splendid portrait of the thoughtless, mesmerized minions who made up his cult, the primary eyes through which this portrayal is painted are those of Geli Raubal, the daughter of Adolf Hitler's half-sister, Angela. Hitler shows little interest in his niece as a child, but when she reaches her late teens, the charming, witty, attractive, young woman - an easy character for readers to love - becomes an object of obsession to him. As he and the Nazi Party gains significant momentum and his megalomania blooms, Hitler becomes Geli's financer, caretaker, companion, surrogate father and, if he has his way, sexual partner. Hitler takes meticulous, roundabout, disgusting measures to confuse and dominate the young girl. Geli, thankful to "Uncle Alf" for bringing her out of the Raubal's poverty, lives in fear and dread of her uncle and the power he holds over her, over everything he touches, while she wears a jovial public smile. The engaging, lushly told narration slowly and gracefully moves toward the type of nail-biting conclusion whose inevitability only causes it to be more absorbing and affecting. The tale, based on actual occurrences and obviously well researched, is a believable, fascinating speculation on the emotional emptiness that backgrounded Hitler's appalling evil.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Fiction From Truth
Review: Hitler and his niece, Angelika ''Geli'' Raubal, were living in the same Munich house when she was killed by a bullet fired from his pistol in September 1931. Geli, a lively, witty young woman, was no Nazi and had been restive under Hitler's increasingly domineering obsession with her. After her death, ruled a suicide, he said she had been the only woman he would ever love. Was there a sexual relationship? Was Geli actually murdered because the affair, if made public, would have derailed his rise to power? In Hitler's Niece, a fact-based novel, Hansen's attempt to solve the mystery approaches melodrama. But the incidental detail accumulates into a brilliant, chilling account of the way psychological deformity and historical chance propelled Hitler and his confederates toward triumph.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius . . .
Review: Ron Hansen uses his story to take you down from all the big images of Nazi Germany to a level where you feel you can almost experience it as it is born and grows. His characterization of Hitler seesaws back and forth. One moment you think you might almost sympathize with the failed artist/dictator, but then his other side shines through and dispels your illusions. Even better is Hansen's portrayal of Angelika, Hitler's niece who is groomed to become his lover. Her repulsion/attraction to Hitler is rendered in a very believable manner. This was my first time reading Hansen, but I plan to go back for more. Hitler's Niece is clearly the work of a master.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Niece
Review: Hitler has always been someone who intrigued me, even as a young child. After reading many books on his childhood, his power over Germany, how he gained it, etc., I finally decided to read about his personal life. The book, Hitler's Niece, captured my interest from the time I opened the book. In fact, I read the entire thing in an afternoon. We all know about Hitler, we all know the evil he did and so on. For me, this book did not shed a new light on Hitler as more evil than he already is. Nothing is capable of that. What Hitler's sex life detailed was BDSM, which is now (and has been) a normal life for thousands. If you read the book, you will see that it was not only Hitler who wanted his half-niece, but she also felt the same way for him. If you're interested in knowing more about Hitler as a man, than a leader, I strongly suggest reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Really good!
Review: This is a deeply troubling book about Hitler and his passion for his niece. Of course, I suppose all books about Hitler are difficult, because he is such a dreadful historical character, but this book takes his global madness that we all know about, and puts it on an intimate scale. Hansen is an extremely talented writer to make this work. This is an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Niece
Review: Most likely because I have such an aversion to the man in the title I found this book compelling enough to finish but in many ways I wish I had not started it. It has always been curious to me how Hitler got such a firm hold on the German population. To some degree, this book helped me understand the reasons for his success. I have been told by someone who watched and listened to his speeches that his eyes were spellbinding. This novel would validate that statement.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a joke, right?
Review: Yet another example of how wrong historical novels can go. The only thing Hansen proved by writing this book was how little he knows about Hitler and his relationship with Geli. "Hitler's Niece" is superficially "researched", scattered throughout with rumors, plus the quotes he took from Kubizek and Hitler himself were, for the most part, either taken out of context or completely fictional. He also, to top it all off, had the audacity to claim that Hitler (the character) did, in actuality, murder his niece. Facts support the theory that Angelika was, indeed, murdered-- either by members of Hitler's own Party or those of a rival organisation. However, to presume that Adolf Hitler was the perpetrator is a clear sign of a gross lack of information on Hansen's part.
The author would be well advised to stick to subjects with which he is better acquainted in future.
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