Hitler’s Tyranny

‘An urgent reminder of what happened the last time the world mistook a psychotic warmonger for a rational, power-hungry politician.’
James Hawes, author of The Shortest History of Germany

‘Even those who, like myself, disagree with some of this book, it provides an intriguing perspective on Hitler from one of Germany’s foremost experts on the subject.’
Brendan Simms, author of Hitler’s American Gamble: Pearl Harbour and Germany’s March to Global War

‘Exhaustively researched, exceptionally well-written, organised and presented’
Midwest Book Review

‘[An] interesting and unusual analysis of Hitler’s rule’
British Modern Military History Society

Despite a wealth of literature on the subject, the Nazi tyranny remains challenging to understand and interpret. In Hitler’s Tyranny, Ralf Georg Reuth examines ten aspects of Hitler’s dictatorship. Looking anew at familiar assumptions, he explores whether anti-Semitism was more pronounced in Germany than elsewhere in Europe; whether Versailles was really responsible for Hitler’s rise; and why so many Germans decided to follow a racial fanatic. The complex picture he paints is of a man propelled to absolute power by a combination of historical forces, brutal coercion, and shrewd manipulation.

Eschewing a conventional chronological approach in favour of a forensic analysis of Hitler’s actions — both as chancellor and military commander — Reuth shifts the focus to the mindset and modus operandi of the dictator himself. The portrait that emerges is one of a murderous fantasist and political opportunist driven by an all-embracing ideology of racial superiority, Reuth’s account of Hitler provides a challenging and fascinating counterpoint to much recent mainstream scholarship.

RALF GEORG REUTH is one of Germany’s foremost historians of the country’s turbulent twentieth century. His published works include biographies of Hitler, Goebbels, and Rommel.