Adding to the enormous literature on Hitler, prolific British biographer and novelist Wilson (Dante in Love) focuses as much on the man and his relationships as on his actions and times, for instance, devoting as much attention to the Führer’s friendship with British aristocrat Diana Mitford as to the 1935 Nuremberg Laws. Similarly, Wilson devotes more space to the years 1924–1929, when the Nazi Party was in eclipse, than to the WWII years. Wilson engages in some facile comparative history that lends a measure of ordinariness to Hitler. In one case, he makes the untenable statement that Hitler “in his racial discrimination was simply being normal”—this because the U.S. and Britain were “racist through and through”—and that Hitler “was an embodiment, albeit an exaggerated embodiment, of the beliefs of the average modern person.” Wilson uses Hitler as an excuse for a backhanded slap at the Enlightenment—the godless age that gave birth to the “modern scientific” outlook that, Wilson believes, led in turn to Hitler. Given the monumental impact of Hitler on modern history, this far too short, superficial biography fails to measure up to its subject. (Apr.)
Tucson Citizen
“This well-crafted book cuts to the chase and reveals surprising facts about one of the most reviled figures in history…. A fascinating book that underscores the fact that even in a modern era enamored with progress and rationality, the darkest elements of society can sometimes fester and become the most seductive.”
Express (London)
“Wilson has opted for brevity and sharp metal, skewering and brilliantly dissecting Hitler bare in a book you can almost read in a sitting. Wilson cuts to the dark heart of the matter…. A stimulating triumph of the mind.”
The American Prospect
“A.N. Wilson's biography provides a succinct, quick-reading introduction to Hitler that deftly manages the essentials, and, in its truly terrifying accomplishment, begins to bring the human being behind the monstrous Führer back to life.”
Mail on Sunday
“[An] entertaining, short biography…. [Wilson] bring[s] a witty, novelist's insight into what made Hitler tick. He seems to understand Hitler's character in a way many historians never could.”
Providence Journal
“Hitler is a slender but insightful volume about the evil instigator of World War II and the murderer of millions.”
Boston Globe
“Distilling his own career-long study into a tight, rapid-fire volume that is both portrait and warning, Wilson delivers a statement on Hitler that is insightful.”
Wall Street Journal
“Provocative…. Noting how much Hitler depended on his speeches (even ‘Mein Kampf' was dictated), Mr. Wilson calls him the ‘most hypnotic artist of post-literacy.' Like today's radio talk-show ‘entertainers,' Hitler knew there was something about the spoken word that could galvanize millions. Rather than focus on Hitler's ideology, the biographer brilliantly singles out his subject's style of attack.”
Booklist
“[A] sharply focused capsule biography…. A portrait as disturbing as it is succinct.”
Kirkus Reviews
“[Wilson] provides a useful, even entertaining, life of Hitler. He revisits the expected events—his rise, his incarceration, Mein Kampf, his vicious henchman, his anti-Semitism, his enormous prewar popularity (not just in Germany), his poor military judgment, his women, his fall and death—and adds some nasty details (he couldn't control his farting; he was lazy and dressed oddly).
Is a new Hitler biography necessary? This short volume's "Select Bibliography"—listing 17 earlier biographies—would suggest not. Even the half-awake history student has absorbed at least the outline of this tale: failed art student and layabout becomes the 20th century's "ultimate horror-tyrant," as Wilson puts it. Wilson (Tolstoy: A Biography), a journalist and prolific biographer and novelist, has erected a bare scaffolding of the much-considered life of this "Demon King of history" in order to offer some incisive judgments. For instance, he argues that Hitler and Goebbels each derived from their Catholic upbringing a "system of control" on which the entire Nazi edifice was modeled. Atop this scaffolding sits a provocative final chapter in which Wilson confronts readers with the notion that Hitler might not have been such an utter anomaly. Hitler, Wilson says, "believed himself to be enlightened and forward-looking, non-smoking, vegetarian, opposed to hunting, in favor of abortion and euthanasia." Sound like anyone you know? VERDICT Wilson does not uncover new facts about Hitler's life. He provides instead a brisk overview capped by a "Final Verdict," the title of his unsettling last chapter—one that may raise discussion among its readers.—Sebastian Stockman, Emerson Coll., Boston, MA
The award-winning journalist, biographer and novelist offers a short, often-pugnacious biography of the Führer. Wilson (Dante in Love, 2011, etc.)--who has written a novel about Hitler (Winnie and Wolf, 2008) and who in 2009 announced his return to the Christian faith he'd abandoned for atheism--finds in Hitler an avatar for a century that turned away from God and embraced Darwin. "He believed in a crude Darwinism," writes the author, "as do nearly all scientists today, and as do almost all ‘sensible' sociologists, political commentators and journalistic wiseacres." Wilson concludes his otherwise sensible biography with the observation that Hitler was just like the rest of us--only more so. The author appears to attribute to atheists and "the liberal intelligentsia who control the West" most of the blame for World War II--and for the perils of today--though he never gets around to mentioning the wars and other horrors visited on people because of religion. His tendentiousness aside, he provides a useful, even entertaining, life of Hitler. He revisits the expected events--his rise, his incarceration, Mein Kampf, his vicious henchman, his anti-Semitism, his enormous prewar popularity (not just in Germany), his poor military judgment, his women, his fall and death--and adds some nasty details (he couldn't control his farting; he was lazy and dressed oddly). He has few kind words for Churchill (crediting him with a "brutal mind") and also takes some shots at Americans, noting that we named one climactic action the Battle of the Bulge because we didn't bother to learn local place names. Wilson declares that Hitler's greatest gift was his ability to dazzle and motivate crowds (and, of course, his mad ambition), and he traces our current fondness for political pageantry to the Nazis' mass gatherings. The author's salty certainty both enlivens and diminishes his work.
This short history of Adolf Hitler focuses on large and small aspects of the man's life. Most fascinating is the emphasis on the many failures Hitler encountered, which make his eventual success seem even more grotesque. Narrator Ralph Cosham's delivery is as unemotional as the part of the text that recounts Hitler's mediocrity until his rise to power. His relationships with women, particularly very young ones, and with Winifred Wagner (composer Richard Wagner's wife) are disturbing. In addition to Cosham's matchless pronunciation, his delivery captures the author’s tone of irony regarding the ordinariness of parts of Hitler’s life. The author’s belief that the world is still fascinated by this madman makes hearing his life story vital. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
