Hitler

Hitler'...this short book ought to be read by everybody with any interest, whether

general or specialized, in Hitler and the Third Reich.'             History  Adolf Hitler has left a lasting mark on the twentieth-century, as the dictator of Germany and instigator of a genocidal war, culminating in the ruin of much of Europe and the globe. This innovative best-seller explores the nature and mechanics of Hitler's power, and how he used it. On the face of it, Adolf Hitler was an unlikely candidate for dictatorial power. Why, of all the fanatics in Germany after the First World War, was it

Hitler  who found such mass appeal?How did such an unimpressive figure come to take control of the machinery of a complex modern state?Why - contrary to all expectations - was his authority not curtailed by

the traditional ruling classes and constitutional constraints?What did his personal role in the shaping of policy amount to?Was he personally taking the key decisions, right to the very end? Professor Kershaw answers these questions to provide a lucid introduction to the character and exercise of Hitler's dictatorial power. Ian Kershaw is Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield. He has written widely on Hitler and the Third Reich and is author of the now definitive comprehensive biography Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris (1998) and a second volume due in 2000.  In addition to his publications, he was consultant to the BAFTA-winning BBC-TV series The Nazis: A Warning from History, to the BBC2 programme War of the Century,  to ZDF's Hitler: eine Bilanz and to ZDF's series in preparation on the Holocaust.

Reprint of a 1991 work. Kershaw (modern history, U. of Sheffield, UK) discusses why, of all the fanatics in Germany after the First World War, was it Hitler who found such mass appeal? How did such an unimpressive figure come to take control of the machinery of a complex modern state? Why, contrary to all expectations, was his authority not curtailed by the traditional ruling classes and constitutional constraints? What did his personal role in the shaping of policy amount to? and was he personally making the key decisions, right to the very end?
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 198-204) and index.

Preface

Introduction

I. POWER OF THE 'IDEA'

II. GETTING POWER

1. The movement

2. The masses

3. The elites

III.REPRESSION AND POWER

4. The atomisation of opposition

5. The subjugation of legality inthe Fuhrer state

IV.PLEBISCITARY POWER

6. The underlying consensus

7. Agencies of acclamation

8. Fuhrer acclamation and regime dynamism

V. EXPANSION OF POWER

9. The erosion of collective government

10. The seizure of opportunity

VI.ABSOLUTE POWER

11. The disintegration of the state

12. The 'idea' becomes reality

VII. HUBRIS OF POWER

Conclusion

Further Reading

Chronology

Abbreviations

Index