Rating: 
Summary: A Self-Hating, Biased Account of the Nazi Dictator
Review: Ian Kershaw, an English historian and academic, has written the second volume of his biography of the Nazi Dictator. Unfortunately, it is hard to see what this book adds to our knowledge of Hitler that was not already presented in previous accounts by Bullock, Toland, Fest, Keegan and Flood. Kershaw's account relies heavily on Josef Goebbel's diary and the post-war accounts of other close Hitler cronies; unfortunately their self-serving and self-deceptive views do not clarify Hitler, they obscure him. However the biggest flaw of this account is the subtle but pervasive bias throughout. Kershaw states up front that he detests Hitler but is obviously fascinated by his career. Later, Kershaw concludes that Hitler was "an ill-educated beerhall demagogue and racist bigot". While true, it is an incomplete description. Yet for Kershaw it is enough and he uses this account to paint a portrait of Hitler almost as a self-destructive fool who was incapable of seeing reality. Not only Hitler, but the Third Reich, the Whermacht itself, most of the generals and even the German people seem pretty incapable and fatalistic here. Nowhere is Kershaw's account more biased than in his account of wartime operations. German successes are minimized, the campaigns in Poland, France, Norway and the Balkans get one page or less each. Kershaw attempts to chide the German Navy by stating that the cruiser Blucher was sunk "by a single shell from an ancient coastal battery". In fact, the cruiser was hit by two 11", thirteen 6", thirty 57mm shells and two torpedoes and despite this loss, the Germans still took Oslo. On the other hand, Allied disasters are totally ignored. Kershaw portrays Hitler's anguish over the loss of the Bismarck (mistakenly identified as a "pocket battleship"), but fails to mention the loss of HMS Hood. Hitler triumphs, like the glider assault on Fort Eban Emael or the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow are ignored. Allied defeats, like Kasserine Pass or Gazala, do not appear in these pages. Later in the war, he notes the "ceaseless bombing that the Luftwaffe was powerless to prevent," while ignoring the fact that the Luftwaffe in fact dealt the Royal Air Force night bombers severe setbacks in early 1944. Arnhem is described as "heavy fighting," no mention of the virtual destruction of the British 1st Airborne Division. The Ardennes Offensive is described only in negative terms, no mention of the surrender of most of the US 106th Division or the initial panic all the way back to Eisenhower. On the eastern front, it is much the same. Kershaw states about Operation Barbarossa, "in retrospect, it seems sheer idiocy" and says that, "Hitler's best strategy in autumn 1940 would have been to sit tight and await developments". It is hard to see what developments might have occurred to help Germany after 1941, and Hitler was certainly aware of this. Kershaw then claims that Barbarossa failed in July 1941! Absolutely ridiculous. The 1942 Case Blue strategy is described as "sheer lunacy". Certainly Barbarossa and Blue had over-optimistic objectives with inadequate resources, but "idiocy" and "lunacy" are certainly inappropriate descriptions. Kershaw ignores the fact that both offensives gained most of their objectives and had the Germans stopped to consolidate in time and been more flexible about retreats, then both offensives would have ended up as net gains for Germany. Kershaw, like many other historians, directs intense criticism toward Hitler's intervention in military operations. To be sure, Hitler's mistakes in 1943-1945 cost Germany dearly. However, this doesn't give the reader a balanced view for two reasons. First, Hitler's interventions that were led to success are ignored. The glider attack on Fort Eban Emael was Hitler's idea, but is not mentioned. Nor are Hitler's orders to modify and enhance the German Panzer Arm in 1940-1 covered here, although they might show where Hitler was ahead of the "technical expert" (in fact, there were some real dunces in the German ordnance bureau). On the second count, Kershaw ignores the disastrous interference of other wartimes leaders like Churchill and Stalin. Churchill badly hurt the British war effort by diverting forces to Greece in 1941, then Singapore in 1942, then ordering a "no retreat" from Tobruk and later diverting RAF Bomber Command to bomb political rather than strategic targets. Stalin's stupidity in 1941 cost the Soviet Union 3 million men through "no retreat" tactics, and then thousands more in early 1942 in premature offensives. Furthermore, modern American presidents have involved themselves with micromanagement in military affairs that Hitler would never have dreamed of: Johnson had a terrain model of Khe Sanh built in the White House in 1968 and he attempted to direct units down to company level! The Kosovo War in 1999 allowed leaders to direct individual aircraft or missiles. Furthermore, the loathing and distrust that Hitler felt for his generals was echoed in 1968 and 1999 by US presidents who did not trust their military advisors. A less biased author might have been able to note that Hitler's interference was neither unique or wholly inimical. By the end, it is apparent that this is a very flawed and biased account. Even murderers like Hitler deserve an honest account but Kershaw does not deliver that. Hitler was evil but he was also tinged with genius (Kershaw would say it was gambler's luck) and charisma, and he was also genuinely popular in Nazi Germany. The fact that a man from such a meager background could rise to control not only Germany but much of Europe is still staggering. So yes, he was "an ill-educated beerhall demagogue and racist bigot" as Kershaw describes, but he was also a lot more than that. He was a man who had the ability to rise from obscurity to threaten the entire human race with his evil vision. However in a self-hating account such as this, Hitler appears little more than a whimsical dreamer.
Rating: 
Summary: Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis
Review: In this riveting account, drawing on many previously untapped sources--including Joseph Goebbel's diaries, recently discovered in Moscow--& incorporating numerous contemporaneous accounts of Nazi Germany, Ian Kershaw reveals a leader fanatically, ruinously convinced that he alone has the genius to conduct a war while his henchmen maintain the totalitarian state created in his name. As Nemesis opens, Adolf Hitler has achieved absolute power within Germany & triumphed in his first challenge to the European powers. Idolized by large segments of the population & firmly supported by four pillars of the Nazi regime--the Party, the armed forces, the industrial cartels, & the civil service--Hitler is poised to subjugate Europe. Nine years later, his vaunted war machine destroyed, Allied forces sweeping across Germany, Hitler will end his life with a pistol shot to his head. Kershaw's Hitler will be the final word on the most demonic figure of the twentieth century.
Rating: 
Summary: An unfair depiction of hitler
Review: It can be seen from reading the first few pages of this book that the author has a personal hatred of Hitler.It is ,of course quite normal for a person to despise Hitler for everything that he has done and represents.However ,as a historian and author ,writing a book in a such a climate of hatred will result in the contents of the book being extremely bias and prejudiced against the person in question.In the end, the book seems more like propaganda against Hitler rather than a fair analysis of the character and doings of Hitler.On a more positive note,although the book is very biased, it still does provide a fairly large amount of information on what happened during the 9 years that was in concern.On a final note , for all people who are truelly interested in knowing more about Hitler as a person, I would suggest that you read "Mein Kampf"the book written by the man himself.That book will allow the reader to really know and understand the thoughts of Adolf Hitler and also to know him as a person, human being ,rather than the image of a tyrant and ruthless dictator as portrays by historians.
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Summary: This is a biography, not a war-history
Review: It says a lot that the review below spends a great deal of time getting worked up that this book does not devote much effort towards descriptions of various fronts and campaigns during WW2 - but a couple of reviews down we see someone complaing that too much time is given over to WW2 descriptions at the expense of Hitler the Man! The truth is this is a BIOGRAPHY of Hitler, not a war-history, and so military activity is for the most part sketched out quite broadly, except for those occasions where the author thought some particular military activity or Hitler's reaction to it afforded some insight into the dictator's mind. Therefore the sinking of one battleship might be dwelt upon if it affected Hitler's mental state, or view of the war, or caused him to start acting or thinking in a particular way, or if he made some psychologically revealing speech as a result - but some other battleship sinking (of equal military significance) might be glossed over if there was nothing significant about Hitler that could be inferred from it. This is a *excellent* biography of Hitler - I would say the best, though a few years persepective might be neccessary to consolidate that view. But if it's a history of the Third Reich's influence in Germany you are after, try "The Third Reich - A New History", or if it's a history of WW2 you want, look elsewhere still!
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first book
Review: Kershaw's first part of a biography of Hitler was very good. The second part not so. It's as if he took a grand project and petered out somewhere during the middle. The years from 1936 on are essentially a rehash of the various diaries that came out after the war - Goebbels, Speer, etc., etc. - and these memoirs are suspect in that they are written by those who had a definitive view of Adolf Hitler as a "great" man. Speer, in particular, is seductive because he presents himself as a "naif", only figuring out the monstrosity of the regime at the very end - this from the chief architect of slave labor in the Third Reich. Goebbels diary, honest in his adoration of Hitler, is more trustworthy - if such an adjective can be used - and never dissembles, constantly agreeing to the horrors of that regime, especially as it refers to the Jews. If the reader is coming to Hitler for the first time, then these books are recommended. If, like many of us, you already have a background, there's nothing new here. There seems to be an issue over whether Hitler ever put himself down on paper for the "Final Solution". Apparently, he didn't. The neo-Nazis harp on this. Kershaw correctly indicates that Hitler's constantly repeated philosophy was enough to place the blame. Henry II never wrote down an execution order for Thomas Becket, yet no one denies his ultimate guilt. Secondary to the horrors of the Nazis has been the closing down of any scientific discussion about races, nationalities, and ethnicities. Prior to the racism of the Nazis, good discussions had been circulating. There is clearly a point to be understood about, say, why the people of Borneo seem not to have progressed as the people of Europe have. This statement here may be enough to prove the point.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Kershaw's follow up is as wonderful as the earlier text "Hubris." It is sure to become the gold standard for the Hitler biography.
Rating:
Summary: The Problem of Perspective
Review: Kershaw's second volume of his biography of Hitler is disappointing for two reasons. First, it is hardly a biography. Rather, it is a superficial history of the Second World War in Europe, starring Hitler. Little insight into the motives, character, actions and impact of the subject is given. Second, Kershaw has relied very heavily upon a historical point of view represented by Momsen and Irving - that the Holocaust was not intential, but derived from the unexpected contingencies of the war and the way it was conducted. One must observe with regret that not only does Kershaw adopt this view point, but he does not acknowledge the historical debate about this issue or that he has chosen an impugned point of view. This is a book that should be read with great caution by anyone without extensive background on Hitler, the War, and the Holocaust.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not up to the standard of the first
Review: Kershaw's two volume biography is destined to be authoritiative. By only complaint is that, where the first volume focused on Hitler and his rise, the second spends a great deal of time dealing with the structure and decision making in the Third Reich. While I found it facinating, it did not give me as much as I wanted about Hitler himself. The first really tried to get into the man's mind. The second did not do this to the same degree. My suggestion is read the first volume. If you loved it, as I did, read the second. Only do not expect the same brilliant detail into the man himself.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Biography Of Hitler At His Zenith Of Power!
Review: Most simply put, this, the second of two superb books by British historian Ian Kershaw on Hitler's life and times, quite successfully draws the reader closer to an understanding of this historically enigmatic and often bizarre human being who so changed the world of the 20th century. Although there are a myriad of such books that have appeared in the half-century since Hitler's demise in the dust and rubble of Berlin, this particular effort, which draws from hundreds of secondary sources, many of which have never before been cited, paints an authentic and masterful portrait of Hitler as an individual. This is an absolutely singular historical work; and it will almost come to occupy a central place on the shelves of serious World War Two historians. Most fascinating for me is the way in which Kershaw grows an incredibly fertile appreciation for Hitler's personal characteristics into a sophisticated appreciation for what unfolded historically. A good example is his fetish for secrecy, which left both Hitler himself and those around him incredibly poorly informed of many of the details of what their policies were doing to the society around them. Author Ian Kershaw takes a quite different and novel approach, and it is one I enjoyed. Here, by carefully locating and fixing the individual in the context and welter of his times, it yields a much more enlightening approach toward painting a meaningful comprehensive picture of how this criminally twisted psychopath became such a fatefully placed politician and leader of post-World War One Germany. Thus, in Volume One we saw the boy grow and change in whatever fashion into a man, tracing the rise of this troubled malcontent from the anonymity of Viennese shelters to a fiery and meteoric rise into politics, culminating in his ascent to rule Germany. Kershaw memorably recreates the social, economic, and political circumstances that bent and twisted Hitler so fatefully for the history of the world. In this volume, Kershaw concentrates masterfully on how this single human being then fatefully pushes Nazi Germany, Europe, and the rest of the world into the most horrific bloodbath in modern history. Hitler was, in Kershaw's estimation, a man most representative of his times, reflecting a widespread disaffection with democratic politics, steeped in the virulent anti-Semitism of his Viennese environment, twisted and experienced in the cruelties and absurdities of the First World War, thrust by circumstance and disposition into the sectarian, dyspeptic, and rough & tumble politics of the 1920s, and rising by finding himself the most unlikely of politicians with an unusual ability to orate and emote. It is also interesting to discover that Hitler had an unusually acute (though uneven) intellect, is rumored to have possessed a 'photographic memory', and was said to have an amazing ability to discuss and quote facts and figures and then subsequently casually weave them into a conversation that witnesses found spellbinding and convincing. He was also unquestionably quite charismatic and charming. Kershaw argues masterfully that it is impossible to understand 'why' Hitler without understanding this extremely toxic and strange combination of social, economic, and cultural factors that characterized Germany. Thus, as Hitler begins his ineluctable rise to power, we better appreciate how and why such a seemingly unlikely cast of characters as the Nazis succeeded so wildly beyond what one would expect to be possible in a sane and sophisticated modern industrial state. This is fascinating stuff, as is his treatment of the concomitant rise of the slugs, thugs, and under-life accompanying him into the corridors of power and influence. Here is the world's greatest single collection of otherwise underachieving bullies, fanatics, pseudo-intellectuals, and fellow travelers, who clashed into an uneasy coalescence that formed the nucleus of the single greatest force for collective evil seen in the modern world. Finally, one's mind reels at the scene at the book's conclusion, as the fabulous evil empire created by the Nazis had been reduced by Soviet artillery and Allied bombing into dust and rubble, and Hitler becomes an almost comically eccentric figure, reduced by his own devices to settling for a self-inflicted gunshot to the brain rather than the worldwide domination he had struggled toward.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding concluding volume of Hitler biography.
Review: Mr Kershaw concludes his biography of Adolf Hitler with this volume covering the period of Hitler's greatest successes and ultimate defeat. As before Mr Kershaw tells the story in a way that is accessible to the general reader, but provides many footnotes and a bibliography for those who are interested in more details. While the course of events from 1936 to 1945 is familiar to many readers, Kershaw provides new insights in many areas - including the relationship between Hitler and the Army leadership, the internal administration of the Reich, and the beginning of the Holocaust. One item of interest (among many) is the connection between the creation of the death camps in occupied Poland and the failure of the 1941 campaign against the Soviet Union. "Hubris" and "Nemesis" together are an authoritative biography of Adolf Hitler. For those who are interested in Hitler's life and times, I strongly recommend both volumes.
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