Hitler: A Biography

Kershaw gives us more on the pre-Vienna, pre-art school rejection, Hitler than the normal biography. It's clear, clear indeed that the acorn didn't fall far from the parent tree, in the sense of "parent" being his mother more than his father. Overindulged by a mother who lost some of her children, with a distant father about old enough to be his grandfather, we can see the roots of a "spoiled" Hitler start early. Add to that an unchallenging primary school, with Hitler then suddenly brought up short when the high school/secondary school in Linz showed that he couldn't cut the mustard academically without serious study and diligence, which Hitler simply refused to do, and it's clear the juvenile was indeed father to the man. After this, Kershaw carefully researches how Hitler's antisemitism developed over the years in Vienna, and was certainly not something that emerged early on. After we get past the time of the 1923 putsch, Kershaw falls into a wide stream of biography. But, he certainly presents new insights into Hitler's early years. Note: This review is based on my reading the combined one-volume "Hitler" by Kershaw.

Hitler: A Biography is a weighty, definitive guide for any history collection seeking more than a light biography. From Hitler's origins as a failed artist in Vienna to his last days, this offers a view of how Hitler's power evolved, adding in historical analysis and German history to make for an outstanding presentation for any serious World War II history collection.

This is the first of two volumes. The research includes papers that Russia seized at the end of WWII. I hope they release Vol. 2 Nemesis soon. The abridged version is an insult to Mr. Kershaw's hard work.

This excellent biography fills in gaps of history information earlier read. Painstakingly researched and detailed, voluminous enough to include full, necessary accounts of Hitler and his cohorts, this book leaves me with the realization that all I have read about the Holocaust (much) has been needful of this chronicling. Ian Kershaw has touched the contours of Naziism with careful fingers. I recommend this book.

Ian Kershaw is the premier historian on Hitler and Nazi Germany and this book from the Profiles in Power series is an excellent study on the roots, success, and ultimate destruction of the "Fuehrercult." Two schools of thought are used by historians to understand the power of Nazism. "Intentionalists" see the Nazi regime as the embodiment of Hitler as the totalitarian leader. "Structuralists," however, believe the policies and, ultimately, the crimes of Nazi Germany were stumbled upon by underlings working under a loose framework rather than a deliberate program. As one would expect, Kershaw takes from both these theories to develop his comprehensive profile.Kershaw examines Hitler's worldview of racial struggle, anti-Semitism, and living space for the German empire--how these ideas developed (Hitler's background) and how Hitler used them to create his leadership image. This Fuehrercult unified a fractional party, helped repress opposition, and created a mass following. Through Hitler's charismatic leadership the German people would be prepared to fight the Nazi fight (inevitably WWII). Kershaw also looks at the feudal-like power relations inside the Third Reich; a regime of open-ended decrees that left no "smoking gun" pointing at Hitler for the Final Solution. Finally, Kershaw examines the destruction of Hitler's power during which the irrational optimism that "Providence" (i.e. Hitler's will) would prevail was still believed by many (particularly the 'court' of Hitler's bunker). I recommend this book especially to advanced history students who want an in-depth examination of Hitler's power in a compact 230-page book. The book includes footnotes, an index, a chapter on further readings, and a chronology of events.