Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 in Voo reviews

adolf-hitlerThis edition is a reprint of the 1976 original that dominated bestseller lists for what seemed like an age.

What makes it so special and why would someone unrelated to the author or, seemingly, its original publication pay for a review?  Easy.  It’s by far the best work on its topic.

Reading this, you not only feel that you knew Hitler, you come away feeling unclean.  You learn that Germany was as much a victim of Hitler as the rest of Europe.  You learn the circumstances of The Fuhrer’s parentage and education.  His failed attempt at being a commercial artist and drifting into the First World War are laid bare.

The chaos of the Munich putsch and the way children seemed drawn to him are presented.  The narrative confuses and enchants.  The build-up to the seizure of power in 1933 and Second World War happen.  Suddenly, after feeling that you lived the war yourself from the safety of Berlin, you begin to smile your way through the last chapters dealing with the collapse of the Third Reich and you salaciously enjoy the monster the monster created being devoured.

Toland didn’t find his Pulitzer Prize in a lucky draw, he earned it with a use of the English language most novelists who think they’re pretty good can only envy and the kind of research skills doctorate students would fly through their studies with if they could half-emulate.  The most disturbing part is that Hitler comes through as human, even normal in many circumstances.

The most predictable traits of his character are his love of violence (complete with ability to switch off the outside world if it conflicts with his own understanding of reality), absolute captivation with fake Wagnerian-esque mythology and hatred of anything to do with Judaism.  Combine the three, as Toland illustrates, and what happened to Europe is explained.

The Final Solution in all its depravity becomes the central theme of the work and an inescapable horror.  Maybe that’s why someone paid for this review.  This book should be read by everyone, especially the lowest forms of human intellect and history, those that deny the Holocaust.

This review was written by Matt Jameson (an independent reviewer for Vooworks).

Facts

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