Rating: 
Summary: Not recommended
Review: This book was a disappointment. On the good side, John Lukacs certainly knows all about Hitler, and the body of historical work *about* Hitler. In the introduction he says he will survey the Hitler biographies, pointing out their flaws and virtues, and he's well-equipped to do that.But after the first chapter --- which goes through every major biography in chronological order --- he divides the rest of the book into aspects of Hitler's life. There's a chapter on Hitler as a statesman, Hitler and the Jewish question, Hitler and Munich, Hitler's apologists, etc. Lukacs uses the main text to describe Hitler's life, then he packs the bottom of each page with footnotes. The footnotes refer to the biographies of Hitler. Some of the notes crowd out the main text, making the book very hard to read. Lukacs has two fatal flaws in his writing style. One is his habit of telling you which facts about Hitler are right, which are wrong, and never bothering to tell you WHY he thinks so. He quotes a biography, then writes "This is not true." Okay, but why should I take Lukacs' word for it? I'm sure he appreciates a little skepticism, since this book is essentially about being skeptical of the way historians have depicted Hitler over the years. But Lukacs doesn't seem to realize that he can't just say yea or nay to each statement he quotes. It's not convincing. The second fatal flaw is his need to criticize Marx, communism, Stalin, and the USSR whenever possible. Obviously, these topics should be criticized (especially Stalin). But statements about the bestial nature of Russians and the lunacy of Marx are a little too shrill. Do we need another historian telling us that the commies are bad? Lukacs treats Hitler's life with an admirable degree of nuance. Lukacs chooses his words carefully when he describes the Nazi party, Nazi Germany, Hitler, and even the term "totalitarian." But when the commies are mentioned, that level of sophistication is gone. He just rants. I can't recommend this book. It has a promising start, but it quickly drops in quality as you go. When I got into it, I looked forward to reading about other books. I wanted to know which Hitler biographies are best, and which should be avoided. But that's not what this book is.
Rating: 
Summary: Chasing The Real Hitler
Review: This synthesis of Hitler biography and historiography is offered with a precision and brio uncommon for a book of little more than two hundred pages. Lucaks is unabashedly opinioned and focuses only on those aspects of Hitler's character of interest to its author. Ultimately, the portrait that emerges is subtle, contradictory - in a word, human. Specialists may argue with Lucak's judgments, but as a reader with a general interest in the era I was profoundly affected by the "Hitler of History". Highly recommended.
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