Hitler: A Study in Tyranny [Paperback]

 

 

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No study of World War II is complete without an understanding of the man most responsible for its origin and its course, Adoph Hitler. "Hitler: A Study in Tyranny" by Alan Bullock is the best source I have found on this topic thus far. This book examines its subject from his inconspicuous Austrian birth to his world changing death in the bunker in Berlin. As indicated by the subtitle, "Hitler" is truly a study, not merely a biography. It tells the story of his life and examines his beliefs, hopes and fears as well as the environments that formed them.

Growing up in the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hitler became a German nationalist who resented the upstart Czechs and other races who were demanding their place in the Hapsburg sun. We read of the indifferent student who lived the vagabond life of an unsuccessful artist in Vienna before becoming a Bavarian sergeant who was shot and gassed in World War I. It was out of the disillusionment with the post-war world and Germany's place in it that Hitler found a purpose and a cause to devote his life to. This Hitler the politician and author would attract collaborators who would be his liege men for life before drawing a major world power into his grasp.

On these pages the reader becomes acquainted with the Beer Hall Putsch, his involvement with political movements, his rise in those organizations and the milieu in which he worked his way to supreme power. Here we meet the magnificent politician who could outmaneuver his domestic rivals and outguess his generals in predicting the reactions of foreign leaders to his aggressive advances. In the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia Hitler knew that Britain and France would not march. In these bloodless victories he laid the groundwork for his ultimate goals outlined in his book, "Mein Kampf": all German people united in one Reich with Lebensraum, living space for all. Hitler saw the role of Eastern Europeans as that of workers for their German masters. Ultimately the confidence built up over years of conquest would be his undoing when his luck ran out in the snows of Russia and the forests of the Ardennes.

The Hitler who emerges is a man with a vision, a plan to achieve it and the energy and talent to almost bring it about. His dreams and his hatreds are depicted as true beliefs, not mere political opportunism. He is seen as a man who went into politics to do something, more than to be somebody.

The world in which Hitler lived is a different one from that which we know. He lived in a world in which a public speaker could openly speak of an ethnic group as a problem without veiling it in coded language and in which a demagogue could openly denigrate democracy rather than redefine it in his image.

The book is well written and skillfully utilizes a wide range of sources. One thing I particularly like about this work is that it permits the reader to sample selections from Mein Kampf without the need to plod through the whole book. Before reading this book I knew a lot about World War II, but now I also understand a lot more about its paramount villain. "Hitler" is indispensible to any serious study of World War II.

In "Hitler: A Study in Tyranny," Alan Bullock stated that, as an author, he has no axe to grind. He adhered to that statement. Bullock offered a very balanced and plausible account of Hitler's life atempting to understand the dictator not as a demon but as a human being.

Readers interested in tantalizing controversy will be disappointed with this book. Bullock chose not to assert blame for such things as the Reichstag fire. Bullock dismissed the popular claim that Hitler changed his name from Schicklgruber (man, I got tired of my teachers reiterating that bit of misinformation) and the myth that Hitler resorted to astrology in decision-making. As for Geli Raubel, Bullock finds her best to be left as "a mystery." Bullock took a conservative stance in his analysis focusing only on the known fact's about Hitler's life.

Bullock offers a thorough study of Hitler's days in Vienna before the First World War and the ways in which this experience formed his political views. Hitler is presented not as the originator of future Nazi principles but as a product of the anti-rational, anti-intellectual, and anti-Semetic ideas that had been circulating in Europe for the previous hundred years. His understanding of propaganda, oratory skills, and pratical exposure to street politics helped Hitler gain a following. Ultimately, it was Hitler's determination that prompted him to turn down enticing offers of political position by Franz von Papen and Bruening that were less than what he sought: the Chancellory. During the Second World War, Hitler's "warlord" image was transformed: "the human being disappears, absorbed into the historical figure of the Fuehrer." Bullock also pointed out that this devotion to power led eventually to Hitler's downfall.

Although this book may be a little burdensome for pleasure reading (I doubt I will read it again), it is a very readable biography that would be appropriate for the college student who needs to learn places, events, etc. The lack of an index in this edition does pose a problem when one is trying to find information, however. Another criticism I have is its title "A Study in Tyranny." I was expecting the work to go more into an analysis of Hitler's tyrannical personality and the susceptibility of the German people to it. Maybe I was expecting a little psychology. This book, however, is a straight foward biography with not a lot of interpretation. The works of Ian Kershaw may be consulted if a reader wants more depth.

The unabridged version was the first major work dealing with Hitler in the English speaking world. As such it was widely read for years and made compulsory for many university students.

Hitler is not that difficult a person to write a biography of. This can be contrasted with figures such as Stalin who was able to control the materials about his life and manufacture a range of untruths. The defeat of Germany and the discrediting of Nazism meant that little was hidden.

Despite that there are some things which have occurred since this book came out which date it a little. Kershaws recent book on Hitler is thus superior simply because of this but Bullocks work is by no means badly dated.

These are to some extent a matter of emphasis but they include.

(a) Hitler seems to have falsified some aspects of his background. He exaggerated his poverty in Mein Kampf which was the source of Bullers material. (b) Hitlers rise to power depended more on the circumstances around him rather than his own actions. Hitler seemed to be rather lazy (c) During his last years Hitler spent most of his time with military personal. They portrayed him as a man who was the archetypal mad dictator. A good deal of this seems to have been made up to shield military leaders from their own actions.

Despite that Bullers work is readable and comprehensive

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4.0 out of 5 stars A quick overview of the Nazi Era and Adolf Hitler's life
Having read several books about the Nazis, I was interested in picking this title up for a couple of reasons. First of all, in William L. Read more

Published on Jan 3 2001 by Old account of ChristianBk

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding for its time
Contemporary readers may not be as impressed with this biography as they ought to be, as it has been so influential that its conclusions have been widely adopted by subsequent... Read more

Published on July 13 2000 by Jussi Bjorling

2.0 out of 5 stars Extremely dated and at times inaccurate: He's bettered this
I'll be brief here because this is more of a warning than an admonition. Alan Bullock's Hitler: A Study Of Tyranny was, at the time of its release (let's cast all the way back... Read more

Published on April 27 2000 by Jeffrey Blehar

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the Facts
This is the basic book that the "WWII" industry has standardized in the field. It provides a great deal of factual information, moving beyond esoteric analyses of... Read more

Published on Jun 22 1999 by carries_bulldog@usa.net

4.0 out of 5 stars Accurate depiction of Hitler
I studied this book in high school; this is a history book.

This is by no means a complete depiction of Hitler's life and generally focuses on historical events rather than... Read more

Published on Dec 11 1998 by Conrad Hoss

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent biography on Hitler by a British author.
A well researched book. I would have given it a higher mark but the anti-nazi comes out a little too strong from this author. Read more

Published on May 29 1998 by B. Magnus (tiamat88@hotmail.com)

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