Description
Book SynopsisThe fateful story of Adolf Hitler''s transformation from awkward, feckless loner to lethal, charismatic demagogue.The story of the making of Adolf Hitler that we are all familiar with is the one Hitler himself wove in his 1924 trial, and then expanded upon in Mein Kampf. It tells of his rapid emergence as National Socialist leader in 1919, and of how he successfully rallied most of Munich and the majority of Bavaria''s establishment to support the famous beer-hall putsch of 1923. It is an account which has largely been taken at face value for over ninety years. Yet, on closer examination, Hitler''s account of his experiences in the years immediately following the First World War turns out to be every bit as unreliable as his account of his experiences as a soldier during the war itself.In Becoming Hitler, Thomas Weber continues from where he left off in his previous book, Hitler''s First War, stripping away the layers of myth and fabrication in Hitler''s own tale to tell the real story
Trade ReviewThis book is hugely important: it is a genuine contribution to our understanding of one of history's ogres. * Roger Moorhouse, BBC History Magazine *
A thoroughly researched book and a must for scholars of history, Hitler, National Socialism and the Twentieth Century. * Paul Donnelley, express.co.uk *
[In Becoming Hitler], Weber helps us to better understand the circumstances that can lead to the radicalization of otherwise ordinary human beings. * Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, DAPIM: Studies on the Holocaust *
Vital, revolutionary, groundbreaking... Weber forces us to rethink what we know about Hitler and charts his metamorphosis into a hated demagogue. * CG, All About History *
Thomas Weber is one of the foremost world authorities on Hitler. He refuted the mantra that there was nothing more to say about the German dictator and no new sources to be found with his path-breaking study of Hitler's First War. In Becoming Hitler, he takes the story into the turbulent period after the end of the conflict and excelled himself. This new book shows that Hitler was by no means a product of his environment but swum against the Bavarian mainstream and was nearly drowned by it. The argument is once again supported by an array of fresh sources and conveyed in compelling prose. * Brendan Simms, author of Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, 1453 to the Present *
This is the most important book on Hitler and National Socialism since Ian Kershaw's monumental biography. It is amazing how much new information and documentation Thomas Weber has used to show precisely when, how, and why Hitler's world view was shaped, and precisely where the intellectual, emotional, and social origins of genocide and of the Holocaust lay. He has precisely recreated the world of Munich in the early 1920s, to show how a burning hostility to internationalism - we would say today globalism - emerged. * Harold James, Professor of History, Princeton University *
The book is well written, and [...] the work is a welcome addition to the creation of a complete portrait of Hilter. * Paul Bookbinder, European History Quarterly *
This study is revelatory ... It is highly recommended. * Duncan Bowie, Chartist *
Brilliant. * Gavriel D. Rosenfield, Counterfactual History Review *
Table of ContentsPrelude PART I: STRAY DOG 1: Coup d'état (20 November - 5 December 1918) 2: A Good Soldier amongst Lazy Undisciplined Peers (6 December 1918 - February 1919) 3: A Cog in the Machine of Socialism (February - early April 1919) 4: Arrested (early April - 1 May 1919) PART II: ONE OF THE PACK 5: An Almost Aimless Dog (early May 1919) 6: Turncoat (mid-May to September 1919) 7: Hitler's Damascus Street Experience (mid-July to September 1919) 8: A New Home at Last (September to October 1919) 9: A Family Dispute (October 1919 - March 1920) 10: Hitler's Tool (March - August 1920) 11: Genius (August - December 1920) 12: Hitler's Pivot to the East (January - July 1921) PART III: LEADER OF THE PACK 13: The Bavarian Mussolini (July 1921 - spring 1923) 14: (summer 1923 - 1925) Epilogue Bibliography
