Hitler

Imported from Britain, with its penetrating use of relatively new source material, its well sustained narrative, its deep concentration on the man, this book should prove one of the best studies to date. The author has a fine record as an Oxford historian—he is now Censor of St. Catherine's—and states as his aim the determination of Hitler's fantastic wielding of power. He does this chronologically and with a sense of episode that makes every word readable and that brings the historical background into clear relief. The survey of Hitler's parentage is explicit as the possible emotional causes of his fanaticism, his utterly frustrative attitude toward the Germanic status quo that made him into the lying, brutal conniver who "acknowledged no masters". A lengthy follow-up takes him and his generating, generated causes through first post-WWI attempts, failure in the twenties, the depression in 1930 that swung the balance needle in his favor and allowed him successes by putsch, chancellorship, speech, extermination and invasion. Intensive examination of roles played by his henchmen, military and economic factions, and foreign negligence further clarify the techniques of lie and propaganda. A familiar period that deserves the re-emphasis and reinterpretation it gets here. A must for workers in the field. Kirkus Reviews