Friday, October 21, 2016

More on Hitler and Nazi Germany [BUMPED]

I mentioned I was surprised by the publication of a major new Hitler biography, Volker Ullrich's, Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939.

Mainly that's because there's been so much first rate research on the Nazi leader that I'm surprised historians came up with anything new.

When I was finishing grad school, Ian Kershaw published a two-volume biography that reviewers at the time said was unlikely to be surpassed. See, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris, and Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis. (I don't think I need to read too much more beyond Kershaw's work, but that's me.)

Then there's the famous biography from Joachim Fest, Hitler.

And also John Toland's bestseller, Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography.

Not to mention, Alan Bullock's Hitler: A Study in Tyranny.

I also linked Michael Burleigh the other day. See his masterful work, The Third Reich: A New History.

I'm interested in reading Richard Evans' work on the Nazi regime, in three volumes, The Coming of the Third Reich; The Third Reich in Power; and The Third Reich at War.

I was interested as well in Timothy Snyder's recent book, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, but he argues the Holocaust is analogous to the threat of global climate change, which even reviewers thought wacky. He's lost me on that. I think I'll pass.

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