Hitler: Ascent: 1889-1939NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This landmark biography of Hitler puts an emphasis on the man himself: his personality, his temperament, and his beliefs. “[A] fascinating Shakespearean parable about how the confluence of circumstance, chance, a ruthless individual and the willful blindness of others can transform a country — and, in Hitler’s case, lead to an unimaginable nightmare for the world.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Volker Ullrich's Hitler, the first in a two-volume biography, has changed the way scholars and laypeople alike understand the man who has become the personification of evil. Drawing on previously unseen papers and new scholarly research, Ullrich charts Hitler's life from his childhood through his experiences in the First World War and his subsequent rise as a far-right leader. Focusing on the personality behind the policies, Ullrich creates a vivid portrait of a man and his megalomania, political skill, and horrifying worldview. Hitler is an essential historical biography with unsettling resonance in contemporary times. |
Contents
| 13 | |
| 30 | |
| 50 | |
The Leap into Politics | 73 |
The King of Munich | 92 |
Putsch and Prosecution | 131 |
Landsberg Prison and Mein Kampf | 165 |
Führer on Standby | 185 |
Totalitarian Revolution | 412 |
Eviscerating Versailles | 477 |
Cult and Community | 513 |
Dictatorship by Division | 567 |
The Berghof Society | 608 |
Hitler and the Churches | 636 |
2O Prelude to Genocide | 657 |
2i The Way to War | 682 |
Dark Star Rising | 222 |
Hitler and Women | 267 |
Bids and Bluffs | 290 |
January 1933 | 348 |
Hitler as Human Being | 380 |
Notes | 759 |
| 947 | |
Acknowledgements | 971 |
Common terms and phrases
Adolf Hitler Albert Speer Anordnungen anti-Semitic April August Austria BA Berlin-Lichterfelde BA Koblenz Bavarian BayHStA München Berghof Berlin Braunem Haus Brüning cabinet chancellor Christa Schroeder dated declared Deutschland diary Dietrich Domarus Dritten Reich election entry for 15 Erinnerungen Ernst Eva Braun February foreign Frankfurt am Main Führer German Germany's Geschichte Goebbels noted Göring Gregor Strasser Hamburg Hanfstaeng Heinrich Hindenburg Hoffmann Hugenberg Ibid IfZ München Jahre January Jewish Jews Joachim Fest Joachimsthaler July June Kahr Kampf Kershaw Koblenz Kubizek Landsberg leader leadership Longerich Machtergreifung March Mein Kampf military minister Munich National Socialists Nazi November NSDAP Nuremberg Obersalzberg organisation Otto Papen party police political propaganda putsch quotation Quoted Raubal Reden Regierung Hitler Reichstag Reichswehr reported Röhm Rudolf Hess Schacht Schleicher Schriften Sept social speech Strasser Stuttgart Tagebücher Third Reich Vienna Völkischer Beobachter Wehrmacht Weimar Wiedemann Wilhelm Winifred Wagner wrote