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Summary: There is not easy answer to the Hitler riddle
Review: With so many biographies written about Hitler, it might seem as if there is nothing left to write about him. If you are thinking that, I believe this book will pleasantly surprise you. It is a great work of history and biography, demonstrating how Hitler became who he was, one of history's most prolific mass murderers. Kershaw discusses how it is not possible, however hard one searches, to uncover the one single event that created Hitler. Rather, you see that he was the product of a number of evil and ugly causes, personal, cultural, political and social. Before reading this book, I did not quite realize how aimless Hitler was in his life before finding his "calling" in politics. In today's vernacular, we would call him a loser if we met him before he entered politics. Were it not for his skills as a speaker, horrifingly misplaced as they were, and his ability to bring the worst out in people by appealing to all manners of resentment and racism, the world might never heard of him. But, alas, that was not to be.
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Summary: Absolutely Extraordinary
Review: This is the biography not just of Adolf Hitler, but of the Germany in which he lived. Again and again, Kershaw explains the interactions of a peculiar individual with peculiar times and how, so often, so achingly, history might have been different.Occasional turgidity of prose can be pardoned for the brilliance of his analysis and the astonishing labor of his scholarship.
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Summary: Facinating details which describe a petty, ordinary man
Review: The power of this book comes from the detailed, balanced story-telling about each phase of Hitler's development. I'm struck by how this over-indulged ordinary little man discovers his singular gift of street rabble-rousing oratory, and uses it to propel himself and a gang of thugs to power. It's terrible, and compelling.
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Summary: A balanced portrait of one of history's pivotal villains...
Review: Kershaw has achieved remarkable objectivity in describing the events in Hitler's life up to his peak in power in 1936. If someone wants to understand why Hitler happened, he or she should read this book. I look forward to the second volume.
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Summary: An excellent Biograraphy with insightfull micro-details.
Review: Being a history buff and a baby boomer I really enjoyed the book.Hitler is in no doubt, one of the most influential people of the 20th century.The intricate details : historical,political climate, and nationlism are all fully explained. The only draw back is Kershaw's occasional loss of his objectiveness. I will definetley read Kershaw's follow up book on Hitler.
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Summary: The best Hitler biography available in English
Review: So many myths have grown up about Hitler that this book is invaluable. Professor Kershaw takes an objective, historical view, avoids sensational charges (for instance, in his coverage of Hitler's relationship with his niece Geli) and makes Hitler's rise to power fairly easy to follow. I think people like those kids in Littleton become fascinated by Hitler because a mystique of the forbidden is wrapped around him. This book should be given to anyone who shows signs of such an obsession. It would be hard to still admire Hitler after reading this book.
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Summary: Meticulously researched, judiciously balanced biography
Review: One might think all that needs to be said about Hitler has already been said. Kershaw's biography proves the opposite. What matters is fresh interpretation of facts, and in this respect the author provides an interesting new approach. He places Hitler firmly in the context of his times, both before the First World War and after the Versailles settlement. He argues that Hitler was not some monstrous Uebermensch but a demagogue and prejudiced fanatic who was propelled to power largely because of the type of society Germany was in the 1920s. It sounds like a semi-sociological approach, but Kershaw's keen sense of the historian's discipline makes his book anything but faddish. He also corrects some long-held errors about Hitler's early life and career that have lasted since Bullock's biography of 40 years ago. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Hitler's rise to power is cannot be believed.
Review: There is much most people donot know of Hitler and his rise to power in Germany. Professor Kershaw's book explains his rise in such detail. It is very revealing. What most interested me is that Hitler had very little to do with his ability to rise to the peak of power. He was a ne'er do well growing up before World War I. He swindled his Mother and Aunt of their savings. He showed little talent during the war. While he was an artist, I suspect he had little talent. He showed very little ability except for public speaking. In this endeavor he was able to rally the blue collar workers to his causes, which were few in number and non-sensical . He was very illogical in his beliefs about Jews and Bolsheviks. He condemned the Jews for their Bolshevik beliefs and for their Capitalist positions. How contradictory? It seems he was always at the right place at the right time. It seemed as if history carried him along rather the he directing history. The right wing industrialiststs thought they could control him, but discovered how little power they had. Even the leaders of other countries were fooled. This book should be recommended reading in the high schools and colleges. It is written in a prose style that's easy to read and comprehend. I am looking forward to Professor Kershaw's second volume.
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Summary: Hitler's misunderstood rise to power...
Review: ...is especially relevant given the sad recent events in the US by gun nuts who assert that Hitler was only able to reach power because of gun control. In fact, this book does a lot to dispel that common fallacy by going into the very interesting parliamentary manuevers which had to take place in order to get Hitler to the critical amount of power necessary to turn the Weimar Republic into the Hitler dictatorship. Highly recommended - I can't wait for the followon.
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Summary: A fantastically detailed summary of Hitler's rise to power
Review: This book is the most detailed account of how and why Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany. Minute detail regarding letters, notes, conversations, opinions of important associates and Hiter's whereabouts on almost a daily basis are interwoven by Kershaw to answer the question of how Hitler rose to power. Though the book is rather long I was totally engrossed in it and finished it within days of receiving it. Now I eagerly await the second volume which will begin with accounts in 1936 and continue to Hitler's death in 1945.
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