Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
PART ONE—THE ROAD TO POWER
1. Discovering a Mission
2. Making a Connection
3. Searching for a Hero
4. Developing a Vision
5. Offering Hope in a Crisis
6. Being Certain
PART TWO—JOURNEY TO WAR
7. The Man Who Will Come
8. The Importance of Enemies
9. The Lure of the Radical
10. The Thrill of Release
11. Turning Vision Into Reality
PART THREE—RISK AND REWARD
12. The Great Gamble
13. Charisma and Overconfidence
14. False Hope and the Murder Of Millions
PART FOUR—BLOOD AND DEATH
15. Last Chance
16. The Death of Charisma
PHOTO SECTION CREDITS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTES
INDEX

About the Author

Laurence Rees is the writer, director and producer of the BBC TV series The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. The former head of BBC Television History programs, he has specialized for the last twenty years in writing books and making television documentaries about the Nazis and World War II. Previous projects that were both series and books include Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution and World War II Behind Closed Doors.
 
In 2006 Rees won the British Book Award for History Book of the Year for Auschwitz. Educated at Oxford University, he was appointed in 2009 a senior visiting fellow in the International History Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2010 he launched the multimedia website WW2History.com, which won best in class awards in the education and reference categories at the 2011 Interactive Media Awards. He lives in London.

Reviews

“Laurence Rees asks, as always, the right questions, and provides excellent answers. Blending oral testimony of contemporaries with documentary evidence, he offers sharp insight into the adulation of Hitler by millions of Germans that underpinned his ‘charismatic rule.’ At the same time, he vividly illustrates the bonds of Germany’s elites with Hitler—bonds which led to world war and genocide, and ensured that the dictator’s power remained unbroken until the end.”
—Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: A Biography
 
 “Offering acerbic insight into Hitler’s ‘charismatic rule,’ this is an arresting account, which asks and answers all the right questions.”
—The Telegraph (London)
 
“A useful vehicle for many of the first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses and participants . . . The book flows briskly and provides some illuminating perspectives along the way.”
—The Independent on Sunday (London)
 
“A fascinating study.”
—Antony Beevor, author of The Second World War

“So how did Hitler convince his generals to invade Russia and his subjects to ignore the genocide around them? This readable, fascinating book, a worthy addition to the vast literature surrounding Hitler, has plausible answers.” –Kirkus   

“Rees moves easily from the broad themes of German politics and economics to the individual voices of those who supported and opposed Hitler. Incorporating most of the latest scholarship on Hitler, Rees provides valuable insights here into a topic that is not new.” –Library Journal 

“Rees's spotlight on charisma forces us to think hard about what it means to persuade, to argue, to reason—or simply to assert one's will.” –The Chronicle of Higher Education  

Rees (former creative director, history programs, BBC; WW2History.com; Auschwitz: A New History) builds on his earlier BBC television documentaries and their companion books, also authored by him, to reflect on why so many Germans willingly followed Hitler to destruction. This book also accompanies a BBC documentary. Rees adroitly points out that prior to 1918 few would regard Hitler as possessing charisma; he was not good at debating politics (preferring instead to yell at those who disagreed with him) and lacked the ability to connect emotionally. Yet by 1933 Hitler's intransigence was depicted as visionary political principle, while his inability to form emotional bonds was now described as one of the qualities of an inspired leader whose complete devotion to his people placed him above ordinary human connections. Rees situates this transformation from lost soul to charismatic leader both in Hitler's own innate political sense and in the unique circumstances of the Weimar Germany in which the dictator evolved. Rees moves easily from the broad themes of German politics and economics to the individual voices of those who supported and opposed Hitler. VERDICT Incorporating most of the latest scholarship on Hitler, Rees provides valuable insights here into a topic that is not new. For all readers who study the Nazi era.-Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll., OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.