The Unmaking of Adolf Hitler - Hardcover

Davidson, Eugene

3.8

10 ratings by Goodreads

9780826210456: The Unmaking of Adolf Hitler

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826210457 ISBN 13: 9780826210456

Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr, 1996

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A new contribution to the baffling history of Adolph Hitler seeking to explain how a foreign-born, uneducated, and marginal politician could reach such heights of power and inflict such devastation on the world. Davidson maintains that Hitler's ascent was due largely to Germany's economic and political malfunctioning and that the leader's ability to revive morale and outmaneuver opposition facilitated his rise. However, the ruthless character of the man also manifested itself in fateful errors of judgment that led to his destruction. The sequel to The Making of Adolf Hitler continues the author's careful scholarship and attention to detail. Includes photographs. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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About the Author:

Eugene Davidson is President Emeritus of the Conference on European History and former President of the Foundation for Foreign Affairs.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A valuable contribution to the ever-growing library on Hitler and National Socialism. Davidson, president emeritus of the Conference on European History and a former president of the Foundation for Foreign Affairs, picks up where his previous work, The Making of Adolf Hitler (1977), left off. From Hitler's first moves hours after being sworn in as chancellor on January 30, 1933, until the final G”tterd„mmerung in the Berlin bunker, Davidson presents a clearly written and cohesive narrative. The focus here is mostly on political and diplomatic history, and some may lament the absence of information on economic and social conditions under the Third Reich. The title is somewhat misleading, since almost 400 pages are devoted to Hitler's unbroken string of successes, from the moment when he gained power until the tide of war finally began to turn against the Germans. In fact, the reader might be astounded by the combination of skill and luck that accompanied Hitler both before and during the war. It was only after the failure to subdue England, when Hitler turned his armies toward the Soviet Union, that his fortunes began to decline. Davidson's study of diplomacy in the 1930s persuasively demonstrates that French and British politicians and diplomats were totally at a loss when dealing with Hitler. Curiously, there is little discussion concerning anti- Semitism, racism, or the Holocaust; since it has been argued that these ideas and events represent the very heart of the Nazi ideology, this is a serious shortcoming, even if the work is concerned primarily with diplomatic and political history, for what is more ``political'' than genocide? A student unfamiliar with the past might conclude that euthanasia, political terror, the glorification of war, and the Holocaust were merely sidelines to the story. Most of what is here is not new, yet it is presented in a manner that will benefit specialists; for students and others, the book offers only one facet of the larger picture. (50 illustrations, not seen.) -- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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