The Meaning of Hitler » (Reprint)

Ewald Osers is the distinguished translator of numerous works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from German and Czech, including the correspondence of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

This is a remarkable historical and psychological examination of the enigma of Adolf Hitler-who he was, how he wielded power, and why he was destined to fail.

Beginning with Hitler's early life, Haffner probes the historical, political, and emotional forces that molded his character. In examining the inhumanity of a man for whom politics became a substitute for life, he discusses Hitler's bizarre relationships with women, his arrested psychological development, his ideological misconceptions, his growing obsession with racial extermination, and the murderous rages of his distorted mind. Finally, Haffner confronts the most disturbing question of all: Could another Hitler rise to power in modern German?

The New Republic

Sebastian Haffner's book already has received recognition...as perhaps the best that has dealt with the phenomenon of Hitler and his impact on the 20th century. It is better than Trevor-Roper's best-seller, The Last Days of Hitler...a most penetrating analysis of what Hitler was up to in his astonishing career.

Life

Achievements

Successes

Misconceptions

Mistakes

Crimes

Betrayal