The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler: An Examination of Hubris from 1889-1936

Timothy Byrne: The book was perfect and it is very well detailed.

United Kingdom on Mar 08, 2023

Mr. Francis A. King: The author, Ian Kershaw, an acknowledged expert on Adolf Hitler, has written a two-part history of the man. This book is the first half of a two part series, and covers: Hitler's birth, youth, time spent in Vienna, his move to Germany, his time in the German Army, his move into politics, his putsch attempt, imprisonment, his improbable recovery, rise to power, and the reoccupation of the Rhineland.

The author carefully unpicks the mythology that Hitler created about his own life, and the lies told in Mein Kampf. It is unlikely that a better history will ever be written on the subject.

United Kingdom on Dec 31, 2022

Stafford Steve: I read the one volume shorter version a decade ago and reading the two volume version I am still impressed with Kershaw's take on the Third Reich through the prism of Adolf Hitler. I have always been nervous about any focus upon specific individuals (Caesar, Cromwell, Napoleon, Stalin etc)
But Kershaw consistently addresses both thec strengths and weaknesses of biography.

United Kingdom on Apr 22, 2022

Blueglasnost: I was looking for a compelling account of Hitler's life. The author achieved that aim. However, the book is often rambling and unfocused. The writing is not particularly elegant or compelling - and that comes from a non native English speaker. There are a number of lengthy developments on international developments that are necessary to understanding the general context in which Hitler evolved, but it often transforms into a general history. The book is tremendously repetitive, often stressing that Hitler liked ranting when he was "entertaining" guests; it does get old after a while and Ian Kershaw could have saved a bit of paper. A lot of Hitler's undeniable successes is ascribed to pure luck. While the man was seemingly devoid of many talents and was a procrastinator, you have to admit that he was sometimes also able to make the right call. Even a broken clock can tell the right time twice a day. Focusing on the evil in Hitler and National Socialism is not especially useful, no-one needs a reminder, really. While the book is hardly riveting, it was still instructive and helped to understand the personality of this central, destructive figure in modern history.

France on Nov 01, 2021

conjunction: I enjoyed reading this book very much, I would have given it four and a half stars if I could.

It is the first book about Hitler I have read, having avoided the subject of the Third Reich, despite a deep interest in history, for many years.

I found it very interesting especially in that Kershaw suggests that while Hitler was a man of many talents, the development of Germany in the twenties and thirties was not, of course, solely down to his influence. Germany, he argues, had an appetite for totalitarian rule and anti-semitism was already highly developed. Having said that, while Kershaw documents prejudice against Jews mainly because of their success in business, he does not offer any in depth analysis of this. Nor for that matter does he offer any history of the Weimar republic, nor of Germany at all except in as much as it relates directly to Hitler. This is not a criticism but it is a limitation. A biographer might reasonably not expect to have to provide any more background than is strictly necessary to tell his tale of a personal development, but if you lack that historical knowledge you will have to go elsewhere to find it.

Kershaw makes it clear from...

United Kingdom on Sep 01, 2013

Utah Blaine: This is the first book of a two volume biography of Adolf Hitler. This is an outstanding pair, although the first volume is better than the second. This first book covers the period from Hitler's birth in 1889 up to the reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936; the second the period from 1936 until the end of WWII. This pair (but particularly the first volume) is more than just a biography of Hitler: Kershaw also weaves a detailed synthesis of how and why the Nazis came to power in Germany. It is the latter aspect that really gives this pair enduring value. As a biography, little new ground is covered, but as a description (and interpretation) of events, particularly between the wars, that led to Hitler and the Nazis taking power, this book may be unparalleled.

This is a well written, engaging book, and although dense and packed with information, is quite readable. All of the major events of Hilter's early life are described (to the extent that specifics are known) including his early life and family, his aspirations of becoming an art student and life in Vienna, and his service in WWI. It is after this introductory material where the real meat lies. Much of the rest of the...

United States on May 02, 2006

Thomas J. Burns: It probably goes without saying that every American citizen should read at least one critical biography of Adolf Hitler over the course of a lifetime. It is hard to conceive of anyone who has influenced American life, foreign policy, and human sensitivities more than Hitler in our own times. There are past and prospective readers of this work who fought the War that he essentially started and fueled, and very few American families are untouched by his legacy of destruction.
Given his place in history, detested as that may be, it would be hard to cite a better biographical sketch of Der Fuhrer than that of Professor Ian Kershaw of the University of Sheffield in England. We all know that Hitler was bad. Kershaw takes us for a two-volume excursion that explains, as well as anyone can, how he became bad and how his evil was allowed to ferment, verily to thrive, when others in power could have squashed him.
The first volume traces Hitler's life up to and including the German reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1937, a daring but bloodless military foray that left both the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations in tatters. One might suspect that Hitler's flaunting of...

United States on May 23, 2004