Hitler

Professor Ian Kershaw has produced a work of definitive scholarship that will be the standard for years to come. It was badly needed; since Alan Bullock's 1952 classic Hitler: A Study In Tyranny and Joachim Fest's Hitler (originally published in 1973) there has been much valuable research, all of which Kershaw seems to have read (there are 200 pages of notes). Add to this the media (and, by extension, public) fascination with the nature of evil, and a resurgent interest in right-wing groups, and this book becomes long overdue.

Kershaw deals rigorously with the bones of his subject's life. He has no truck with psychological padding, and calmly demolishes most of the quasi-facts that have sprung up--if in doubt, he allows space within the chronology. His description of the path to the Chancellorship, which was always more messy than messianic, is painful to behold but gripping to follow, and concludes in 1936 with Hitler at the height of his "Hubris".

This is an important study of the character of power, as clearly written as it is intellectually engaging. --David Vincent

V.A.Kouts


The (currently) definitive Hitler biography.   November 16, 2000
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

As well as being a compellingly readable narrative, Kershaw's analysis is thorough, sophisticated and convincing. To be recommended to anyone with an interest in this period, and vastly superior to its predecessors (Bullock et al) in almost every way.


Surely the greatest book ever written about Adolf Hitler   June 21, 1999
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Having always been interested in the myth of Hitler and German Nazism, I approached this book with a great deal of interest and, above all, expectation. I had read a highly favourable review commending Kershaw for producing not only a highly informative piece, but a highly readable one too. I was not disappointed. Quite simply, Hitler - Hubris is one of the best books I have ever read, if not the best. The fact that I compare it - for sheer entertainment and fluidity of writing - to things like Lord of the Rings and To Kill A Mockingbird is, to me, high praise indeed. Kershaw doesn't simply inform here. He GRIPS like a vice. It must surely be as indispensible a guide to Adolf Hitler (and as important an historical document for generations to come) as the film Schindler's List was in chronicling for our children and grand-children the horrors of the holocaust. Majestic and awe-inspiring.


A feat of historicism   May 14, 1999
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The critique that Hubris is too complete with detail by some readers seems to miss the point; this is a scholarly work that is both well written and engrossing. Those seeking specifics from the book should not be afraid to do so via use of the index. Kershaw's aim to integrate Hitler with a structual analysis derserves credit.


Complex and Thorough   March 1, 1999
It is somewhat sobering to learn of Hitler's humble beginnings and the effect his leadership would have on mankind. Kershaw's book is sometimes complex and tests the powers of concentration as he plots the path of post 1st World War German politics culminating in the opportunities that were presented to Hitler and his subsequent rise to power.

Taken at face value the book illustrates that the atrocities that were to follow, were down to the actions, or in many cases inactions of individuals other than Hitler himself.