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Young Hitler: The Making of the Führer
When Adolf Hitler went to war in 1914, he was just 25 years old. It was a time he would later call the “most stupendous experience of my life.”
That war ended with Hitler in a hospital bed, temporarily blinded by mustard gas. The world he eventually opened his newly healed eyes to was new and it was terrible: Germany had been defeated, the Kaiser had fled, and the army had been resolutely humbled.
Hitler never accepted these facts. Out of his fury rose a white-hot hatred, an unquenchable thirst for revenge against the “criminals” who had signed the armistice, the socialists he accused of stabbing the army in the back, and, most violently, the Jews—a direct threat to the master race of his imagination—on whose shoulders he would pile all of Germany’s woes.
By peeling back the layers of Hitler’s childhood, his war record, and his early political career, Paul Ham’s Young Hitler: The Making of the Fu¨hrer seeks the man behind the myth. More broadly, Paul Ham seeks to answer the question: Was Hitler’s rise to power an extreme example of a recurring type of demagogue—a politician who will do and say anything to seize power; who thrives on chaos; and who personifies, in his words and in his actions, the darkest prejudices of humankind?
That war ended with Hitler in a hospital bed, temporarily blinded by mustard gas. The world he eventually opened his newly healed eyes to was new and it was terrible: Germany had been defeated, the Kaiser had fled, and the army had been resolutely humbled.
Hitler never accepted these facts. Out of his fury rose a white-hot hatred, an unquenchable thirst for revenge against the “criminals” who had signed the armistice, the socialists he accused of stabbing the army in the back, and, most violently, the Jews—a direct threat to the master race of his imagination—on whose shoulders he would pile all of Germany’s woes.
By peeling back the layers of Hitler’s childhood, his war record, and his early political career, Paul Ham’s Young Hitler: The Making of the Fu¨hrer seeks the man behind the myth. More broadly, Paul Ham seeks to answer the question: Was Hitler’s rise to power an extreme example of a recurring type of demagogue—a politician who will do and say anything to seize power; who thrives on chaos; and who personifies, in his words and in his actions, the darkest prejudices of humankind?
320 pages, Hardcover
Published June 5, 2018
59 people are currently reading
1511 people want to read
About the author
Paul Ham
27 books150 followersPAUL HAM is a historian specialising in 20th century conflict, war and politics. Born and raised in Sydney, Paul has spent his working life in London, Sydney and Paris. He teaches narrative non-fiction at SciencesPo in Reims and English at l'École de guerre in Paris. His books have been published to critical acclaim in Australia, Britain and the United States, and include: 'Hiroshima Nagasaki', a controversial new history of the atomic bombings (HarperCollins Australia 2010, Penguin Random House UK 2011, & Pan Macmillan USA 2014-15); '1914: The Year The World Ended' (Penguin Random House 2013); 'Sandakan' (Penguin Random House 2011); 'Vietnam: The Australian War' and 'Kokoda' (both published by HarperCollins, 2007 and 2004). Paul has co-written two ABC documentaries based on his work: 'Kokoda' (2010), a 2-part series on the defeat of the Japanese army in Papua in 1942 (shortlisted for the New York Documentary prize); and 'All the Way' (2012), about Australia's difficult alliance with America during the Vietnam War, which he also narrated and presented (it won the UN's Media Peace prize). Paul is the founding director of Hampress, an independent ebook publisher, and a regular contributor to Kindle Single, Amazon's new 'short book' publishing platform, for which he has written '1913: The Eve of War' and 'Young Hitler', co-written 'Honey, We Forgot the Kids', and published several titles by other authors. Hampress welcomes your ideas! A former Australia correspondent for The Sunday Times (1998-2012), Paul has a Masters degree in Economic History from London School of Economics. He lives in Sydney and Paris, and takes time off now and then to organise the Big Fat Poetry Pig-Out, an annual poetry recital, for charity.
Some relevant links:
http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Ham/e/B001...
https://www.hampress.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ham
http://us.macmillan.com/hiroshimanaga...
http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/hir...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...
http://www.amazon.com/Sandakan-Paul-H...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42...
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors...
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/97807...
Some relevant links:
http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Ham/e/B001...
https://www.hampress.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ham
http://us.macmillan.com/hiroshimanaga...
http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/hir...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...
http://www.amazon.com/Sandakan-Paul-H...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42...
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors...
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/97807...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 20, 2025
Paul Ham found nothing unusual in Adolf Hitler’s childhood to signal that he would be someone who would carry out large scale carnage. Ham builds the case that Hitler’s WWI experience shaped him. His world was shattered that Germany did not prevail. He latched on to conspiracy theories and half truths. He needed to assign blame for his failing political career, as well as for himself, and found an easy target in the Jews.
Hitler was part of a blended family and the only surviving child of his doting mother, his father’s third wife. His father, a mid-level bureaucrat in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was a brute, but Ham expects he was no more of a brute than other fathers of the time. He denied the young Hitler’s artistic abilities.
His father died when Hitler was a young teen. His mother died a few years later. Ham doesn’t explain how Hitler, after his mother’s death, blew an inheritance of (est. in today’s currency) $70,000-$90,000 in one year, such that he became homeless and lived with the degrading circumstances that come with it. In this stage of his life there is no real evidence of antisemitism, but there is for a disdain for the multi-cultural Austro-Hungarian administration.
After having been twice rejected at art school, Ham shows how WWI saved Hitler from the downward spiral of his life. Through the stages of the war, Ham’s description of life in the trenches and Hitler’s role as a courier, you see his growing fanaticism. To Hitler, Germany is great, the war is just and suffering irrelevant. He was brave, committed (later decorated) and ready to do even more for the war effort when others were spent and demoralized.
Germany’s loss was crushing to young Hitler…. Someone had to be blamed.
Ham summarizes Mein Kampf (so you don’t have to read it) noting its relevance, melodrama and self-centeredness. He shows how Hitler builds public support through his oratorical skills, helping people to nurse their grudges by blaming others for their very real and painful losses in the war. He uses his crowd pleasing skills to co-opt right wing office holders, whom he later betrays.
Ham gives the clearest description of the Beer Hall Putsch and its aftermath that I have seen.
The last section on the relevance for today seems rushed. It focuses more on Steve Bannon than Donald Trump, but the ideas of eliminating the “other” and the lack of appreciation for a free press and the rule of law are paralleled. Ham is optimistic that this will pass. He sees the situation from which it spawned as not desperate as was defeated Germany’s and the division between rich and poor not as great.
This is a good readable introduction, recommended for general readers who know little about this early period.
Hitler was part of a blended family and the only surviving child of his doting mother, his father’s third wife. His father, a mid-level bureaucrat in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was a brute, but Ham expects he was no more of a brute than other fathers of the time. He denied the young Hitler’s artistic abilities.
His father died when Hitler was a young teen. His mother died a few years later. Ham doesn’t explain how Hitler, after his mother’s death, blew an inheritance of (est. in today’s currency) $70,000-$90,000 in one year, such that he became homeless and lived with the degrading circumstances that come with it. In this stage of his life there is no real evidence of antisemitism, but there is for a disdain for the multi-cultural Austro-Hungarian administration.
After having been twice rejected at art school, Ham shows how WWI saved Hitler from the downward spiral of his life. Through the stages of the war, Ham’s description of life in the trenches and Hitler’s role as a courier, you see his growing fanaticism. To Hitler, Germany is great, the war is just and suffering irrelevant. He was brave, committed (later decorated) and ready to do even more for the war effort when others were spent and demoralized.
Germany’s loss was crushing to young Hitler…. Someone had to be blamed.
Ham summarizes Mein Kampf (so you don’t have to read it) noting its relevance, melodrama and self-centeredness. He shows how Hitler builds public support through his oratorical skills, helping people to nurse their grudges by blaming others for their very real and painful losses in the war. He uses his crowd pleasing skills to co-opt right wing office holders, whom he later betrays.
Ham gives the clearest description of the Beer Hall Putsch and its aftermath that I have seen.
The last section on the relevance for today seems rushed. It focuses more on Steve Bannon than Donald Trump, but the ideas of eliminating the “other” and the lack of appreciation for a free press and the rule of law are paralleled. Ham is optimistic that this will pass. He sees the situation from which it spawned as not desperate as was defeated Germany’s and the division between rich and poor not as great.
This is a good readable introduction, recommended for general readers who know little about this early period.
July 27, 2018
How did a young man who wanted to be an artist end up one of the most reviled, evil men of recent history? As a mother, I have often wondered what horrible mistakes his family must have made to raise a son that ordered the deaths of millions of people. It turns out the answer really isn't as simple as a bad childhood or abuse or whatever go-to reason we might ascribe to it today. Paul Ham's book on the youth and young adulthood of Adolph Hitler is well researched and points out some pivotal times in the creation of a monster.
The book not only includes information about Hitler's upbringing and young life, but also the history of politics and social upheaval in Germany, Austria and Europe at the time. All of those historical elements set the scene for Hitler to develop into the dictator he became. His life moving from soldier to revolutionary to political leader to dictator is fascinating and sad at the same time. I wonder what would have become of Hitler had he been accepted into art school as a young man, instead of being rejected? In the end, I guess it really doesn't matter what "might have been'' as history can't be changed. But it is thought provoking to think that one or two small changes in this man's life might have prevented the deaths of millions across Europe.
Ham obviously put much research and thought into his book. He did say that tracing facts about family lineage and youth of the Fuhrer is difficult because many of the records were destroyed by the Nazi party so they could build him up as a perfect leader. They created lies and propaganda to cover up the illegitimacy and questionable background of one of his parents and anything deemed less than stellar in his background. The author does not present Hitler in a totally negative light. He shares the good and bad that he discovered about Hitler as a young man. He was not born totally evil. He morphed into it over years. And, as we all know, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
All in all, a very interesting book and I learned a lot that I didn't know. It is a hard subject to read about as I had family members who fought in the war, and extended family in Germany who were killed. I read the book in small doses....when it got to be too much, I would take a break and come back after a rest from it. As a mother I'm glad I read this book. It shows that the sum of a man's adult decisions do not necessarily stem from his upbringing, but as a total of his life experiences, environment, outside influences and other factors. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the parent of a evil, murderous person. Hitler's mother died in 1907 way before her son killed anyone. I'm glad that she never knew what her little boy would grow up to become. And, I'm sorry that little boy ended up the way he did. Nobody is born evil. It's unfortunate that he made the life choices that he did. Not out of concern for him.....but for the millions of people that he had murdered. My family members....and the family of so many, many others. Sad.
Great book! Very well documented. The facts are presented in an interesting fashion without becoming dry, tedious or repetitive as some non-fiction books can be. I'm definitely going to read more non-fiction by this author!
**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Pegasus Books/W.W. Norton via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
The book not only includes information about Hitler's upbringing and young life, but also the history of politics and social upheaval in Germany, Austria and Europe at the time. All of those historical elements set the scene for Hitler to develop into the dictator he became. His life moving from soldier to revolutionary to political leader to dictator is fascinating and sad at the same time. I wonder what would have become of Hitler had he been accepted into art school as a young man, instead of being rejected? In the end, I guess it really doesn't matter what "might have been'' as history can't be changed. But it is thought provoking to think that one or two small changes in this man's life might have prevented the deaths of millions across Europe.
Ham obviously put much research and thought into his book. He did say that tracing facts about family lineage and youth of the Fuhrer is difficult because many of the records were destroyed by the Nazi party so they could build him up as a perfect leader. They created lies and propaganda to cover up the illegitimacy and questionable background of one of his parents and anything deemed less than stellar in his background. The author does not present Hitler in a totally negative light. He shares the good and bad that he discovered about Hitler as a young man. He was not born totally evil. He morphed into it over years. And, as we all know, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
All in all, a very interesting book and I learned a lot that I didn't know. It is a hard subject to read about as I had family members who fought in the war, and extended family in Germany who were killed. I read the book in small doses....when it got to be too much, I would take a break and come back after a rest from it. As a mother I'm glad I read this book. It shows that the sum of a man's adult decisions do not necessarily stem from his upbringing, but as a total of his life experiences, environment, outside influences and other factors. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the parent of a evil, murderous person. Hitler's mother died in 1907 way before her son killed anyone. I'm glad that she never knew what her little boy would grow up to become. And, I'm sorry that little boy ended up the way he did. Nobody is born evil. It's unfortunate that he made the life choices that he did. Not out of concern for him.....but for the millions of people that he had murdered. My family members....and the family of so many, many others. Sad.
Great book! Very well documented. The facts are presented in an interesting fashion without becoming dry, tedious or repetitive as some non-fiction books can be. I'm definitely going to read more non-fiction by this author!
**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Pegasus Books/W.W. Norton via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
October 20, 2018
Honestly, I was expecting to rate this book higher than I did. I don't feel like there's a lot out there about Hitler's formative years and the environment that shaped him into a genocidal megalomaniac; or, if there is, I haven't found it yet (part of this is due to Nazi censors, who went through and tried to get rid of all evidence that contracted the man and myth that Hitler portrayed to the German people). And the author did present a good deal of information that was new to me.
My main problem with the book was that the author editorialized way too much in the text. I never felt like I could immerse myself in the history that the book covered; instead, the author insisted upon injecting his own thoughts about things, some only tangentially related to Hitler, in what felt like every other paragraph. One example: the author felt the need to denigrate Hitler's vegetarianism and made an aside comment about how poor Hitler's plate must have looked compared to his dining companions', which were loaded with slabs of meat (gross). I was much more interested in learning how Hitler could reconcile the beliefs that he obviously held that influenced him to becoming a vegetarian with the ones that made him think exterminating the Jewish people was acceptable (not to be found in this book, unfortunately).
The epilogue tries to tie Hitler's early life to the current political environment. He's obviously trying to make the book relevant to today's interests, but it automatically puts the book into a more "current events" position than an enduring historical text. In ten years, this book is going to feel incredibly dated and old.
If you can get through the author's attempts to continually insert himself and his opinions and beliefs into the book, it's a decent book.
My main problem with the book was that the author editorialized way too much in the text. I never felt like I could immerse myself in the history that the book covered; instead, the author insisted upon injecting his own thoughts about things, some only tangentially related to Hitler, in what felt like every other paragraph. One example: the author felt the need to denigrate Hitler's vegetarianism and made an aside comment about how poor Hitler's plate must have looked compared to his dining companions', which were loaded with slabs of meat (gross). I was much more interested in learning how Hitler could reconcile the beliefs that he obviously held that influenced him to becoming a vegetarian with the ones that made him think exterminating the Jewish people was acceptable (not to be found in this book, unfortunately).
The epilogue tries to tie Hitler's early life to the current political environment. He's obviously trying to make the book relevant to today's interests, but it automatically puts the book into a more "current events" position than an enduring historical text. In ten years, this book is going to feel incredibly dated and old.
If you can get through the author's attempts to continually insert himself and his opinions and beliefs into the book, it's a decent book.
January 19, 2019
Πολλά πράγματα ήδη γνωστά για όποιον έχει ασχοληθεί λίγο παραπάνω με τον Β' παγκόσμιο πόλεμο και τον Χίτλερ. Συνεχίζει όμως να αποτελεί ένα ενδιαφέρον ανάγνωσμα καθώς είναι ένα καλογραμμένο βιβλίο με ενδιαφέρουσες πληροφορίες και πολύ καλή μετάφραση. Στον επίλογο του βιβλίου υπάρχει και μία προσπάθεια εξήγησης των νεοναζιστικών κινημάτων, η οποία σίγουρα θα μπορούσε να είναι μεγαλύτερη και πληρέστερη καθώς είναι ένα από τα ζητήματα που συνεχώς κερδίζει έδαφος...
November 17, 2014
This is an important book which tries to put the human element back into the monster and evil Hitler who has been judged as solely responsible for the death of millions in Europe. Hitler has emerged as a reclusive youth who managed to confront his youth armed with illusions of grandeur. With no family of his own he adopted his regiment and his beloved German people as his own. He also started off his political career as most other politicians, just looking from recognition from wherever, with no specific goals of his own to start with. And why is it important to humanify Hitler? Because if he was produced once, he can be produced again, which makes this study invaluable.
June 8, 2020
Everybody knows Hitler, the adult. This covers the early years and how he became that man. I knew he was a painter and a soldier in WWI, but up until now had never read any accounts of people he interacted with during those phases of his early life. That was eye-opening.
When wondering how could Hitler happen, there was one sentence in the Epilogue that summed it all up, "The tragedy is that Hitler and the Nazis acted with appeasement, or the complicity, of the world."
When wondering how could Hitler happen, there was one sentence in the Epilogue that summed it all up, "The tragedy is that Hitler and the Nazis acted with appeasement, or the complicity, of the world."
May 14, 2018
I enjoyed the factual stuff...but didn't need the Guardian-editorial concluding chapter/epilogue...in which Ham parades his clear-and-present political bias...in a wishy-washy polemic worthy of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'!...even down to use of vituperative epithets (he's an Aussie!) & wild conjectures (ball-tampering?!) the possible dire consequences of dismaying elections around polyglot Europe in 2016-17....To blithely equate 1918-onwards with 2018-onwards is a poor judgement...as a history graduate
of L.S.E...like me!...he should know better than to speculate so pompously on the future!!
Who saw Donald Trump riding into the White House 2 years ago? Paul Ham?! And who imagined the Five-Star movement holding power in Italy? Me!
of L.S.E...like me!...he should know better than to speculate so pompously on the future!!
Who saw Donald Trump riding into the White House 2 years ago? Paul Ham?! And who imagined the Five-Star movement holding power in Italy? Me!
November 14, 2016
Not much new here, but still interesting.
June 4, 2018
Paul Ham takes us through Hitler's life, right from its very beginning, until he leaves prison after the failed putsch and he's ready to unleash hell. The book is very well researched and has an excellent balance of trivia (e.g. the state of Hitler's teeth), myth debunking (Hitler had one testicle) and deeper analysis of the sociopolitical context. It is not a heavy read and not academic at all, although there's a lot of bibliography documented. The tone is serious, but highly enjoyable.
Ham tries to answers not only the when and how, but why a character like Hitler was able to rise and sink the whole world into the largest war in history. Stage by stage, starting with the last part of the XIX century, Ham carefully explains all the events that would shape Europe, Germany and the Fuhrer. Germany's consolidation as a modern state, social Darwinism, WWI, anti-antisemitism, the great depression, etc. He also does an analysis of Mein Kampf from various points of view: writing style, points made, etc. He makes it clear that no one can say they didn't know what Hitler was about when it is all there in his book.
I liked how Ham constantly uses the term 'projecting back' when he debunks Nazi propaganda that tried to assign Hitler ideas and motivations that he did not appear to have at the moment and that was carefully crafted to create the living myth.
There is an awful lot to learn in this book. I found myself reading for ten minutes, and then spending an hour online looking for more info about a small bit of the book.
At the end, Ham goes off the rails and, when trying to bring the lessons from the Third Reich into modern times, starts talking about the alt-right, Stephen Bannon, Douglas Murray, etc. He completely changes the style and sounds more like a Huffington Post writer looking for clicks than a serious historian. He's careful not to mention Donald Trump directly and avoids doing a Hitler-Trump twitter-worthy comparison, but he's cleaver enough to do it discreetly. This is just a small fraction of the book and can be skipped.
Ham tries to answers not only the when and how, but why a character like Hitler was able to rise and sink the whole world into the largest war in history. Stage by stage, starting with the last part of the XIX century, Ham carefully explains all the events that would shape Europe, Germany and the Fuhrer. Germany's consolidation as a modern state, social Darwinism, WWI, anti-antisemitism, the great depression, etc. He also does an analysis of Mein Kampf from various points of view: writing style, points made, etc. He makes it clear that no one can say they didn't know what Hitler was about when it is all there in his book.
I liked how Ham constantly uses the term 'projecting back' when he debunks Nazi propaganda that tried to assign Hitler ideas and motivations that he did not appear to have at the moment and that was carefully crafted to create the living myth.
There is an awful lot to learn in this book. I found myself reading for ten minutes, and then spending an hour online looking for more info about a small bit of the book.
At the end, Ham goes off the rails and, when trying to bring the lessons from the Third Reich into modern times, starts talking about the alt-right, Stephen Bannon, Douglas Murray, etc. He completely changes the style and sounds more like a Huffington Post writer looking for clicks than a serious historian. He's careful not to mention Donald Trump directly and avoids doing a Hitler-Trump twitter-worthy comparison, but he's cleaver enough to do it discreetly. This is just a small fraction of the book and can be skipped.
May 13, 2018
This should be required reading for everyone, because it not only tells the story of Hitler's childhood, growing up, early days and war service, it also traces how he formulated his policies and came to power. This gives us the lessons to avoid it happening again and although the author goes to great pains to point out the extraordinary time that Hitler lived through in terms of the economic and political dislocation of German society in the aftermath of the first World War I am not so sure as we see the politicians and leaders of countries' today demonising minorities in a grab for power. The famous quote “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” is as true today as when it was first uttered over 100 years ago.
June 30, 2018
The author unfortunately has a political agenda which undermines my confidence in his research and conclusions. The epilogue, in particular, squanders all his good work. It's a shame because he's a good writer and did, from what I can tell, first rate research. It's an important topic but this is not the book to learn about the monster who loved his mother, his dog and war.
March 1, 2020
My big takeaway was that Hitler was a big time megalomaniac his entire life. Everyone knows that he didn't get into art school, but he didn't even try. He just assumed he was a great artist and didn't need to prepare for the entrance exam. Once he played the lottery, and when he lost, he thought the German government was conspiring against him.
His hatred for the Jews came almost entirely after WWI. It was inconceivable to him the Germany could have lost the war, and he thought the only possible explanation was "invisible enemies" within Germany. He eventually placed this blame squarely on the shoulders of the Jews, in part because that was easy for the public to accept and he used it to gain power and influence.
The author did a really good job sticking mostly to facts and not inserting personal bias. He addressed a lot of the inconsistencies between what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf and what we can clearly piece together from other historical sources to show that Mein Kampf was a ton of bologna written to make himself seem like this superman.
His hatred for the Jews came almost entirely after WWI. It was inconceivable to him the Germany could have lost the war, and he thought the only possible explanation was "invisible enemies" within Germany. He eventually placed this blame squarely on the shoulders of the Jews, in part because that was easy for the public to accept and he used it to gain power and influence.
The author did a really good job sticking mostly to facts and not inserting personal bias. He addressed a lot of the inconsistencies between what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf and what we can clearly piece together from other historical sources to show that Mein Kampf was a ton of bologna written to make himself seem like this superman.
July 21, 2019
A book that should be required reading for all budding do-gooders and reactionaries on the planet. This treatise very adequately explains the conditions that lead to the rise of the biggest mass murderer in modern history and the pitfalls of appeasement and apparent credibility. It delves deeply into the mindset of an embittered young man who finds himself rejected constantly whilst trying to fulfill his dreams. It tells of a person with great courage and possessed of an iron will finding his niche in the greatest test of manhood in the twentieth century, and it also spells out how the conditions impinging the vacuum of direction in men's lives after this event can influence and shape a mind that just cannot and will not accept what is fact. And also how oratory can influence others even though the content may be baseless, irrational and shallow. A book I really enjoyed reading giving me a look at the side of Hitler very seldom discussed.
April 7, 2020
A different look at personality
A short but very good book on how the first world war helped shape Hitler's personality as a person and a politician
A short but very good book on how the first world war helped shape Hitler's personality as a person and a politician
December 21, 2019
I liked learning about what Hitler's early life was really like, as opposed to the version he promoted. It was hard to end the book right when Hitler was coming in to power. Some parts were exciting, but other parts of the story got a bit tedious.
November 4, 2022
The author focused more on the history surrounding Hitler than Hitler's personal history in his early years and rise to power. The story also abruptly stopped after Hitler's prison stay and writing of Mein Kampf which I found odd. The author also went on random tangents about other historical figures and didn't go into enough detail about Hitler's life throughout these events. The information was all fine but was presented in an odd order and with strange priorities. If you don't already know a lot about his backstory, it might be worth it to pick this up. Otherwise, you might want to skip this one.
December 7, 2022
Despite the sudden dereviation in the end, it is very interesting book. very informative and it is definitely worth to read. 5/10
May 5, 2018
written very well. was interesting to learn of Hitler's experiences as a youth and young man. moments in the book where you actually feel compassion for him as he loses his mother.
August 27, 2020
Like others have mentioned, this is generally very engaging, especially early on, but the constant chipping away and finger-waving of the author becomes a little hard to bear. We all know Hitler is the embodiment of evil, there is no need to tut-tut and remind us that we aren't supposed to like him. Just tell us how it was - the history. The events speak for themselves. When it sticks to the history, it's a great book. The epilogue is rather embarrassing, but I assume Ham stands by it.
August 28, 2019
Intriguing read and what a warning sign for times to come
March 30, 2021
Οι περισσότεροι άνθρωποι σήμερα πιστεύουν ότι για το ξέσπασμα του Δεύτερου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου ευθύνεται ένα άτομο: ένα τέρας, ένας ψυχοπαθής, που άκουγε στο όνομα Αδόλφος Χίτλερ.
Κι όμως, οι ιστορικοί γνωρίζουν ότι η υπεραπλουστευμένη αυτή εκδοχή δεν είναι διόλου ακριβής. Ούτε ένα μόνο άτομο μπορεί ποτέ να ευθύνεται για το ξέσπασμα ενός παγκοσμίου πολέμου- χωρίς βέβαια να ισχύει ότι ο Αδόλφος απαλλάσσεται του μεριδίου των ευθυνών του γι' αυτό,- ούτε ήταν το ψυχοπαθές τέρας που συνήθως παρουσιάζεται.
Τους μύθους, επομένως, που συνδέουν το πρόσωπό του Φύρερ, έρχεται να καταρρίψει μία άψογη ιστορική μελέτη με τίτλο "Ο νεαρός Χίτλερ", γραμμένη σε γλώσσα απλή και ρέουσα, ενός ιστορικού ειδικευμένου στον 20ο αιώνα, του Αυστραλού Paul Ham.
Όποιος είναι ενημερωμένος με το θέμα του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, είτε είναι ιστορικός, είτε ερασιτέχνης, ήδη από την πρώτη σελίδα του βιβλίου θα διαπιστώσει την εκτεταμένη έρευνα του συγγραφέα σχετικά με το πρόσωπο του Αδόλφου Χίτλερ και την κομψή αφήγηση, η οποία έχει σκοπό να φωτίσει το θέμα απ' όλες τις πλευρές του και να καταρρίψει παγιωμένους μύθους που έχουν επιβάλει ερασιτέχνες στη σύγχρονη ιστοριογραφία.
Ο συγγραφέας παίρνει ως αφετηρία τα παιδικά χρόνια του Χίτλερ στην Αυστρία, επισημαίνοντας τη μυστηριώδη καταγωγή του παππού του Χίτλερ, κάτι που σημαίνει ότι ο Φύρερ δεν ήταν-απαραίτητα- Εβραίος, όπως συνήθως πιστεύεται. Απεναντίας, η υπόθεση αυτή στερείται ιστορικής απόδειξης, όπως και η άποψη ότι ο Φύρερ είχε ιδιαίτερα αυστηρό πατέρα, περισσότερο απ' ότι ήταν άλλοι πατεράδες εκείνη την εποχή.
Ο Paul Ham μέσα από μαρτυρίες ανθρώπων που συνάντησαν τον ιδιόρρυθμο Αδόλφο ως παιδί και ως έφηβο, προσπαθεί να διεισδύσει στην ανεξιχνίαστη πολλές φορές ιδιαίτερη ψυχοσύνθεσή του και να ξεδιαλύνει τα σημεία τα οποία η μεταγενέστερη προπαγάνδα των ναζί παρουσίασε με τρόπο που ταίριαζε στην εικόνα που ήθελε να δείχνει τότε ο Φύρερ στον γερμανικό λαό και όχι σε αυτήν που ανταποκρινόταν στην πραγματικότητα.
Μετά την εξερεύνηση των παιδικών του χρόνων στέκεται στα χρόνια της Βιέννης, στις επιρροές που δέχτηκε από πρόσωπα που συνάντησε εκεί και από τα αναγνώσματά του, καθώς και στο πόσο τελικά τον στιγμάτισε η διπλή αποτυχία του να γίνει δεκτός στη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών της Βιέννης. Ακολούθως επισημαίνει τη σταδιακή του μεταμόρφωση σε αντισημίτη και στέκεται στο καταλυτικό γεγονός που σφράγισε την προσωπικότητά του και ανέδειξε τον ηγέτη Φύρερ: τον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο και την ακραία ταπείνωση που υπέστη η Γερμανία, η οποία επέτρεψε στον γερμανικό λαό να δώσει την εξουσία στους Ναζί.
Εδώ καταρρίπτεται επίσης ο μύθος ότι ο Χίτλερ ήταν δειλός στρατιώτης. Αντιθέτως μαθαίνουμε ότι είχε παρασημοφορηθεί δύο φορές για τη δράση του ως αγγελιοφόρος στο πεδίο της μάχης. Αυτό δεν σημαίνει φυσικά ότι σαν άνθρωπος ο Χίτλερ δεν είχε τις ιδιορρυθμίες του. Απεναντίας μάλιστα, ήταν άπονος και σκληρός, εγωκεντρικός και εγωιστής, διέθετε όμως από μικρός το χάρισμα εκείνο που του έδωσε την ηγεσία του ναζιστικού κόμματος: ήταν ένας χαρισματικός και φλογερός ρήτορας, ο οποίος ανεξαρτήτως από το περιεχό��ενο των λόγων του- που πολλές φορές ήταν ασυνάρτητο- μαγνήτιζε τα πλήθη.
Παρακολουθούμε λοιπόν βήμα βήμα την πορεία του νεαρού Χίλτερ από τη Βιέννη και την υπηρεσία του στον στρατό στα χρόνια του Πρώτου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Κατόπιν, την ένταξή του μεταπολεμικά στο εθνικοσοσιαλιστικό κόμμα, λόγω της φρικτής απογοήτευσης που ένιωσε-όχι μόνον αυτός, αλλά εκατομμύρια άλλοι Γερμανοί- από την "προδοσία," όπως τη θεωρούσαν, των πολιτικών της Βαϊμάρης που ήταν υπεύθυνη για την οικτρή κατάσταση της χώρας.
Έτσι φτάνουμε στο περίφημο πραξικόπημα της μπυραρίας το 1923, το οποίο περιγράφεται διεξοδικά και στη συγγραφή του πολιτικού και προσωπικού μανιφέστου του Χίτλερ, του Mein Kampf.
O συγγραφέας καταλήγει ότι δεν είναι να απορούμε που ένας τέτοιος άνθρωπος- απολύτως φυσιολογικός και όχι άρρωστος ψυχικά όπως αρέσει σε κάποιους να λένε- κατάφερε να πάρει την εξουσία υπό τέτοιες συνθήκες και κρούει τον κώδωνα του κινδύνου για τους κινδύνους που ενέχουν τα νεοναζιστικά κόμματα στην Ευρώπη.
Το βιβλίο αυτό επιτρέπει στον αναγνώστη όχι μόνο να μελετήσει σε βάθος την προσωπικότητα του Χίτλερ, αλλά και να γνωρίσει από πρώτο χέρι τη φρίκη του Α΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου και την κατάσταση που επικράτησε στη Γερμανία μεταπολεμικά, κάτι που οι περισσότεροι από εμάς αγνοούν. Στο σύνολό του πρόκειται για ένα πολύ ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα που, απευθυνόμενο σε όλους, υπόσχεται να μας αφήσει πλουσιότερους σε γνώσεις για την ιστορία του 20ου αιώνα.
Κι όμως, οι ιστορικοί γνωρίζουν ότι η υπεραπλουστευμένη αυτή εκδοχή δεν είναι διόλου ακριβής. Ούτε ένα μόνο άτομο μπορεί ποτέ να ευθύνεται για το ξέσπασμα ενός παγκοσμίου πολέμου- χωρίς βέβαια να ισχύει ότι ο Αδόλφος απαλλάσσεται του μεριδίου των ευθυνών του γι' αυτό,- ούτε ήταν το ψυχοπαθές τέρας που συνήθως παρουσιάζεται.
Τους μύθους, επομένως, που συνδέουν το πρόσωπό του Φύρερ, έρχεται να καταρρίψει μία άψογη ιστορική μελέτη με τίτλο "Ο νεαρός Χίτλερ", γραμμένη σε γλώσσα απλή και ρέουσα, ενός ιστορικού ειδικευμένου στον 20ο αιώνα, του Αυστραλού Paul Ham.
Όποιος είναι ενημερωμένος με το θέμα του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, είτε είναι ιστορικός, είτε ερασιτέχνης, ήδη από την πρώτη σελίδα του βιβλίου θα διαπιστώσει την εκτεταμένη έρευνα του συγγραφέα σχετικά με το πρόσωπο του Αδόλφου Χίτλερ και την κομψή αφήγηση, η οποία έχει σκοπό να φωτίσει το θέμα απ' όλες τις πλευρές του και να καταρρίψει παγιωμένους μύθους που έχουν επιβάλει ερασιτέχνες στη σύγχρονη ιστοριογραφία.
Ο συγγραφέας παίρνει ως αφετηρία τα παιδικά χρόνια του Χίτλερ στην Αυστρία, επισημαίνοντας τη μυστηριώδη καταγωγή του παππού του Χίτλερ, κάτι που σημαίνει ότι ο Φύρερ δεν ήταν-απαραίτητα- Εβραίος, όπως συνήθως πιστεύεται. Απεναντίας, η υπόθεση αυτή στερείται ιστορικής απόδειξης, όπως και η άποψη ότι ο Φύρερ είχε ιδιαίτερα αυστηρό πατέρα, περισσότερο απ' ότι ήταν άλλοι πατεράδες εκείνη την εποχή.
Ο Paul Ham μέσα από μαρτυρίες ανθρώπων που συνάντησαν τον ιδιόρρυθμο Αδόλφο ως παιδί και ως έφηβο, προσπαθεί να διεισδύσει στην ανεξιχνίαστη πολλές φορές ιδιαίτερη ψυχοσύνθεσή του και να ξεδιαλύνει τα σημεία τα οποία η μεταγενέστερη προπαγάνδα των ναζί παρουσίασε με τρόπο που ταίριαζε στην εικόνα που ήθελε να δείχνει τότε ο Φύρερ στον γερμανικό λαό και όχι σε αυτήν που ανταποκρινόταν στην πραγματικότητα.
Μετά την εξερεύνηση των παιδικών του χρόνων στέκεται στα χρόνια της Βιέννης, στις επιρροές που δέχτηκε από πρόσωπα που συνάντησε εκεί και από τα αναγνώσματά του, καθώς και στο πόσο τελικά τον στιγμάτισε η διπλή αποτυχία του να γίνει δεκτός στη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών της Βιέννης. Ακολούθως επισημαίνει τη σταδιακή του μεταμόρφωση σε αντισημίτη και στέκεται στο καταλυτικό γεγονός που σφράγισε την προσωπικότητά του και ανέδειξε τον ηγέτη Φύρερ: τον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο και την ακραία ταπείνωση που υπέστη η Γερμανία, η οποία επέτρεψε στον γερμανικό λαό να δώσει την εξουσία στους Ναζί.
Εδώ καταρρίπτεται επίσης ο μύθος ότι ο Χίτλερ ήταν δειλός στρατιώτης. Αντιθέτως μαθαίνουμε ότι είχε παρασημοφορηθεί δύο φορές για τη δράση του ως αγγελιοφόρος στο πεδίο της μάχης. Αυτό δεν σημαίνει φυσικά ότι σαν άνθρωπος ο Χίτλερ δεν είχε τις ιδιορρυθμίες του. Απεναντίας μάλιστα, ήταν άπονος και σκληρός, εγωκεντρικός και εγωιστής, διέθετε όμως από μικρός το χάρισμα εκείνο που του έδωσε την ηγεσία του ναζιστικού κόμματος: ήταν ένας χαρισματικός και φλογερός ρήτορας, ο οποίος ανεξαρτήτως από το περιεχό��ενο των λόγων του- που πολλές φορές ήταν ασυνάρτητο- μαγνήτιζε τα πλήθη.
Παρακολουθούμε λοιπόν βήμα βήμα την πορεία του νεαρού Χίλτερ από τη Βιέννη και την υπηρεσία του στον στρατό στα χρόνια του Πρώτου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Κατόπιν, την ένταξή του μεταπολεμικά στο εθνικοσοσιαλιστικό κόμμα, λόγω της φρικτής απογοήτευσης που ένιωσε-όχι μόνον αυτός, αλλά εκατομμύρια άλλοι Γερμανοί- από την "προδοσία," όπως τη θεωρούσαν, των πολιτικών της Βαϊμάρης που ήταν υπεύθυνη για την οικτρή κατάσταση της χώρας.
Έτσι φτάνουμε στο περίφημο πραξικόπημα της μπυραρίας το 1923, το οποίο περιγράφεται διεξοδικά και στη συγγραφή του πολιτικού και προσωπικού μανιφέστου του Χίτλερ, του Mein Kampf.
O συγγραφέας καταλήγει ότι δεν είναι να απορούμε που ένας τέτοιος άνθρωπος- απολύτως φυσιολογικός και όχι άρρωστος ψυχικά όπως αρέσει σε κάποιους να λένε- κατάφερε να πάρει την εξουσία υπό τέτοιες συνθήκες και κρούει τον κώδωνα του κινδύνου για τους κινδύνους που ενέχουν τα νεοναζιστικά κόμματα στην Ευρώπη.
Το βιβλίο αυτό επιτρέπει στον αναγνώστη όχι μόνο να μελετήσει σε βάθος την προσωπικότητα του Χίτλερ, αλλά και να γνωρίσει από πρώτο χέρι τη φρίκη του Α΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου και την κατάσταση που επικράτησε στη Γερμανία μεταπολεμικά, κάτι που οι περισσότεροι από εμάς αγνοούν. Στο σύνολό του πρόκειται για ένα πολύ ευχάριστο ανάγνωσμα που, απευθυνόμενο σε όλους, υπόσχεται να μας αφήσει πλουσιότερους σε γνώσεις για την ιστορία του 20ου αιώνα.
December 17, 2024
The book started off pretty objectively but grew increasingly hostile toward its subject as if by continuing to read we were urging him on to editorialize unchecked. We've grown accustomed to authors feeling free to demonize every single action of Hitler's and to presume they know without question how he thought. However, I completely soured when this author minimized the threat of murderous communists in Russia moving in for the kill in Germany. Was Hitler exaggerating about what was going on there, and this author correct in claiming a mere "three million would die under Lenin ?” That's a low estimate of the Red Terror. And it was followed by his tag team buddy, Stalin who years before the Nazi's Holocaust, had inflicted the Ukrainian Holodomor - starving untold millions of Ukranians alone! Was Hitler so wrong about the menace to the east or actually prescient about how brutal it was to play out? Haven't more people died under the communists than by Fascists? Yep. Hasn't Mr. Ham ever heard about the Gulags? Was there just one devil loose during those years? Is Communism not bad but Fascism pure evil? Let's be fair if comparing as this author does.
The bottom completely fell out of any hint of objectivity when this author's epilogue fell into a complete leftist rant about more recent events. He basically claims Trump followers and any and ALL non-left leaning movements aren't just Hitlerian, but even worse because now history has proven where that leads. Give it a break.
The bottom completely fell out of any hint of objectivity when this author's epilogue fell into a complete leftist rant about more recent events. He basically claims Trump followers and any and ALL non-left leaning movements aren't just Hitlerian, but even worse because now history has proven where that leads. Give it a break.
September 13, 2022
"Ernst Hanfstaengl, who observed him closely over fifteen years, described Hitler as 'impotent, the repressed, masturbating type.'"
Don't expect more than a few references to Hitler's strange disposition towards sexuality in Paul Ham's Young Hitler, but count on countless fascinating details about Hitler's youth and rise to power.
Drawn to the UK edition cover, I picked this up over the summer while passing through Rome. Not knowing what to expect from the sole nonfiction, English-language book available in a random, Italian used book store, I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed, well-researched dive into Hitler's early years. I often wonder what makes monsters of men and am frequently tempted to write off individuals like Hitler as one-off villains who were born evil. Ham's vivid portrait of young Hitler's environment, influences, and personal development not only debunks Nazi myths surrounding Hitler's early years but invites the reader into a more complicated assessment of the making of the Führer. A professor of narrative non-fiction, Ham's style reads less dramatic than The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, which I appreciated.
3.5 rounded up to 4
Don't expect more than a few references to Hitler's strange disposition towards sexuality in Paul Ham's Young Hitler, but count on countless fascinating details about Hitler's youth and rise to power.
Drawn to the UK edition cover, I picked this up over the summer while passing through Rome. Not knowing what to expect from the sole nonfiction, English-language book available in a random, Italian used book store, I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed, well-researched dive into Hitler's early years. I often wonder what makes monsters of men and am frequently tempted to write off individuals like Hitler as one-off villains who were born evil. Ham's vivid portrait of young Hitler's environment, influences, and personal development not only debunks Nazi myths surrounding Hitler's early years but invites the reader into a more complicated assessment of the making of the Führer. A professor of narrative non-fiction, Ham's style reads less dramatic than The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, which I appreciated.
3.5 rounded up to 4
December 19, 2018
Interesting book, filling in some blanks and attempting to rectify past misconceptions about Hitler and his rise to power. The author puts forth a credible view that Hitler's service in World War I was a major influence on his actions after. The $$ and resources that Germany expended to wage the war, the number of those killed, the sanctions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, the shame of the surrender -- all coincided with Hitler's increasing feelings that Germany was destined to rise again, be purified and that he was to play a major part. Evidently, he was quite a public speaker and the times were ripe for people to turn to someone who said what they wanted to hear. The author used the epilogue to ask whether a second Hitler could come to power in present times, and presents the case that the economic differences, the political divisions, could all contribute to a Hitler happening again. I have asked the same thing.
March 27, 2020
"Young" is stretching things a bit. Ham covers Hitler's life up to the point that Mein Kampf was published the year after his imprisonment for the Beer Hall Putsch, when he was 35.
Still, Ham's focus is on Hitler's youth. In particular, he focuses on his service in World War I, pointing out the irony that Hitler found himself in Munich in 1914 partly because he was dodging the draft of his native country, Austria-Hungary. Yet he was transformed by his military service which fed into ideas of pan-Germanism that he had adapted during very difficult years of homelessness and hand-to-mouth existence in Vienna.
Ham also tries to trace the rise of Hitler's antisemitism, which is hard because of regular interactions he had with Jews in his childhood home of Linz, through his down and out years in Vienna, and even among those in his army regiment (one of Hitler's medals of valor was recommended by a Jewish officer).
An altogether fascinating look. Highly recommended.
Still, Ham's focus is on Hitler's youth. In particular, he focuses on his service in World War I, pointing out the irony that Hitler found himself in Munich in 1914 partly because he was dodging the draft of his native country, Austria-Hungary. Yet he was transformed by his military service which fed into ideas of pan-Germanism that he had adapted during very difficult years of homelessness and hand-to-mouth existence in Vienna.
Ham also tries to trace the rise of Hitler's antisemitism, which is hard because of regular interactions he had with Jews in his childhood home of Linz, through his down and out years in Vienna, and even among those in his army regiment (one of Hitler's medals of valor was recommended by a Jewish officer).
An altogether fascinating look. Highly recommended.
October 1, 2019
OK, but no more. No fantastic revelations, just a general overview that Hitler didn't come fully into anti-semitism until after the end of World War I.
No major errors, but some stuff around the margins.
Ham seems to believe in a "Germany caused it all" version of why WWI happened.
He also, laughingly, on page 160, implies that Lutheranism (Evangelicalism) was the majority religion in Bavaria, which would stun any good Catholic. (And the Evangelical church? I don't know about Bavaria, but post-Prussian Union in North Germany, it was as Calvinist as it was Lutheran.)
His bibliography is a bit sketchy, too, including some of the WWI related sources. See above.
No major errors, but some stuff around the margins.
Ham seems to believe in a "Germany caused it all" version of why WWI happened.
He also, laughingly, on page 160, implies that Lutheranism (Evangelicalism) was the majority religion in Bavaria, which would stun any good Catholic. (And the Evangelical church? I don't know about Bavaria, but post-Prussian Union in North Germany, it was as Calvinist as it was Lutheran.)
His bibliography is a bit sketchy, too, including some of the WWI related sources. See above.
January 22, 2021
If you've never read much about Hitler before this might be a good introduction but I don't think I learned a single new thing. I was hoping for some fun tales of everyone's favourite Nazi torturing kittens as a 6-year-old but it pretty much just skims through his childhood in record time and mostly focuses on his time in WWI through to the failed coup, imprisonment and the writing of Mein Kampf. It also doesn't help that the author feels the need to add his opinion at every opportunity. Do we really need to be constantly told that Hitler was a fuckwit con-artist? Actually, I take that back, recent history tells me that a lot of people have struggled figuring that one out...
November 20, 2023
So much of Adolf Hitler's personality and adulthood can be gleamed from his youth. Some really interesting facts and arguments are given by Paul Ham, who relied on more detailed and scholarly books on Hitler's youth to write this shorter, easy to read version.
It would suprise many to know that Hitler showed no signs of anti-Semitism before joining the Nazi party; he actually good relationships with Jews, and he even allowed his Austrian Jewish family doctor to flee with his family to America during the height of the holocaust.
There are more interesting tidbits to learn of Hitler from this book as well.
It would suprise many to know that Hitler showed no signs of anti-Semitism before joining the Nazi party; he actually good relationships with Jews, and he even allowed his Austrian Jewish family doctor to flee with his family to America during the height of the holocaust.
There are more interesting tidbits to learn of Hitler from this book as well.
May 17, 2017
A very short analysis into the impact of Hitler's experience during WWI on his subsequent "career". The focus was on Hitler's personality and behaviour. What is explained, is that during WWI Hitler was a loner, lacked connection to his family and pre-War friends, was nationalistic, passionate about winning, bizarre in his rantings, brave on the battlefield and shattered when Germany lost the war. I wanted more analysis but it is hard for the historians when so much of the original documentation has been lost or represents a certain political view.
June 15, 2018
Thought provoking. Definitely has some parallels to what is happening in the American society today. As individuals we are responsible for assessing what we are being told by politicians and the media. We need to be humble, compassionate and helpful to others. Accepting of diversity and valuing each other as humans.
Hitler used race to stir the Germans and help him attain ultimate power and authority. With unquestionable devotion and thinking only he knows best.
Is America using religion to divide people? Is this making America great again? I think not. Be watchful!
Hitler used race to stir the Germans and help him attain ultimate power and authority. With unquestionable devotion and thinking only he knows best.
Is America using religion to divide people? Is this making America great again? I think not. Be watchful!
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