Customer Reviews
Image and Reality - By: R. C. J. Stewart, 16 Apr 2008 
A remarkable book , you will never view Hitler's Germanyin the same light again.
A revelatory read - By: Teemacs, 29 Apr 2005 This fascinating study gives a whole new slant to what happenedin Germany between 1933 & 1945. The Germans, angry & hurt after the defeat of the Great War, bothered by unemployment, dissatisfied with party politics, fearful of Bolshevism & seeking a strong leader who would be above politics & who would restore Germany's rightful greatness, found himin the apparently unlikely person of an embittered, Jew- & Communist-hating, Austrian ex-corporal incapable of normal human warmth. The creation of the mythical Hitler to fulfil expectations, often standing the facts of Hitler's actual person on their head, was a masterpiece of Goebbels's propaganda (Goebbels personally regarded the creation of the Fuehrer Myth as his greatest achievement). As a result, Hitler's personal popularity was almost universal, even among sections of the population who detested Nazism itself. He was given the benefit of the doubt every time. "If only the Fuehrer knew," people would say, after the latest bout of Nazi excesses.
However, the Hitler Myth carried within it the seeds of its own destruction. For one thing, Hitler came to believe it himself, & as a result became ever more divorced from ever more uncomfortable reality. Moreover, its prolongation required a continual stream of triumphs & successes, & when they falteredin the early 1940s (beginning with the Stalingrad catastrophe), so did it. However, it maintained a considerable hold right to the very end, evenin the face of impending disaster. Professor Kershaw teases out the details of a complex storyin a scholarly yet highly readable & informative way, & ends with an excellent concluding review chapter. The book was writtenin 1987, before the fall of the Wall, the subsequent reunification of Germany & the upsurge of extremist right-wing sentiment as a result of high unemployment, poor economic performance & dissatisfaction with the current government - now, where have we heard this before? It would be hard to improve on Professor Kershaw's masterly final paragraph as a commentary on modern-day affairs - & not only those of Germany:
"Old myths are however replaced by new as the combination of modern technology & advanced marketing techniques produce ever more elaborate & sophisticated examples of political image building around minority personality cults, evenin western democracies, aimed at obfuscating reality among the ignorant & gullible. The price for abdicating democratic responsibilities & placing uncritical trustin the 'firm leadership' of seemingly well-intentioned political authority was paid dearly by Germans between 1933 & 1945. Even if a collapse into new forms of fascism is inherently unlikelyin any western democracy, the massive extension of the power of the modern State over its citizens isin itself more than sufficient cause to develop the highest level possible of educated cynicism & critical awareness as the only protection against the marketed images of present-day & future claimants to political 'leadership'".
Shattering Third Reich and Nazi Apologists' Myths - By: Dobester, 22 Jan 2003 The "myth" which Prof Kershaw exposes as a naked, squirming lie is the belief that hitler was above political intrigue & corruption, & was an innocent duped by self-serving, greedy, conniving underlings. This myth was very popularin Nazi Germany, where there was a general desire for a strong, single leader to clear away the messy, bickering mess that Weimar democracy had proved to be. The naive faithin the führer can still be seen on the faces of his former devoteesin TV documentaries such as "The Nazis - A Warning From History".
The book is a detailed, broad examination of the social values & motives of the vast majority of Germans & austriansin those years, from the early thirties right up to the final collapse & Soviet invasion of 1945. It reveals the self-delusion that otherwise intelligent, rational people will employ to deny that they are supporters - whether active or passive - of a criminal state bent on mass murder & the enslavement of nationsin their name.
Although the title might be misunderstood as an apologia for Hitler, perhaps seeming to be a defence of Hitler against anti-nazi, anti-aryan propaganda lies, this is to be welcomed. If even one confused potential nazi-supporter reads this & has their opinions overturned by Ian Kershaw's overwhelming evidence & arguments, the world will be a better, safer place.
A great book.
Another Kershaw masterpiece! - By: , 06 Sep 2000 Kershaw is the best & he reminds us of this again as he takes us through the propaganda machine that was so importantin Hitlers rise to power & the face of the Third Reich.
