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Hitler: Only the World Was Enough
Este libro ofrece una biografía política e intelectual de Hitler, desde su primera concepción de la historia de Alemania y su papel en el mundo a raíz de la derrota en la Primera Guerra Mundial, hasta el convencimiento de que el principal enemigo no era ni el comunismo ni la Unión Soviética, ni tampoco el judaísmo internacional, como se ha repetido hasta ahora, sino el capitalismo anglosajón y, principalmente, Estados Unidos. Mientras que la mayoría de los historiadores han argumentado que Hitler subestimó la amenaza estadounidense, Simms muestra que Hitler se embarcó en una guerra preventiva contra Estados Unidos precisamente porque lo consideraba el principal adversario y el único que podía destruir Alemania. El dominio nazi sobre la práctica totalidad de Europa, la guerra contra la URSS y la aniquilación de los judíos europeos eran capítulos de una carrera contrarreloj para convertir al III Reich en una potencia capaz de enfrentarse al liderazgo anglosajón y, si no vencerlo, llegar al menos a un mundo bipolar equilibrado entre el descarnado capitalismo financiero anglosajón y el Reich alemán enraizado en la tradición racial germánica. Hitler es una lectura poderosamente argumentada y definitiva que permite comprender la mente de un tirano asesino del que pensábamos que ya lo sabíamos todo.
Este libro ofrece una biografía política e intelectual de Hitler, desde su primera concepción de la historia de Alemania y su papel en el mundo a raíz de la derrota en la Primera Guerra Mundial, hasta el convencimiento de que el principal enemigo no era ni el comunismo ni la Unión Soviética, ni tampoco el judaísmo internacional, como se ha repetido hasta ahora, sino el capitalismo anglosajón y, principalmente, Estados Unidos. Mientras que la mayoría de los historiadores han argumentado que Hitler subestimó la amenaza estadounidense, Simms muestra que Hitler se embarcó en una guerra preventiva contra Estados Unidos precisamente porque lo consideraba el principal adversario y el único que podía destruir Alemania. El dominio nazi sobre la práctica totalidad de Europa, la guerra contra la URSS y la aniquilación de los judíos europeos eran capítulos de una carrera contrarreloj para convertir al III Reich en una potencia capaz de enfrentarse al liderazgo anglosajón y, si no vencerlo, llegar al menos a un mundo bipolar equilibrado entre el descarnado capitalismo financiero anglosajón y el Reich alemán enraizado en la tradición racial germánica. Hitler es una lectura poderosamente argumentada y definitiva que permite comprender la mente de un tirano asesino del que pensábamos que ya lo sabíamos todo.
Este libro ofrece una biografía política e intelectual de Hitler, desde su primera concepción de la historia de Alemania y su papel en el mundo a raíz de la derrota en la Primera Guerra Mundial, hasta el convencimiento de que el principal enemigo no era ni el comunismo ni la Unión Soviética, ni tampoco el judaísmo internacional, como se ha repetido hasta ahora, sino el capitalismo anglosajón y, principalmente, Estados Unidos. Mientras que la mayoría de los historiadores han argumentado que Hitler subestimó la amenaza estadounidense, Simms muestra que Hitler se embarcó en una guerra preventiva contra Estados Unidos precisamente porque lo consideraba el principal adversario y el único que podía destruir Alemania. El dominio nazi sobre la práctica totalidad de Europa, la guerra contra la URSS y la aniquilación de los judíos europeos eran capítulos de una carrera contrarreloj para convertir al III Reich en una potencia capaz de enfrentarse al liderazgo anglosajón y, si no vencerlo, llegar al menos a un mundo bipolar equilibrado entre el descarnado capitalismo financiero anglosajón y el Reich alemán enraizado en la tradición racial germánica. Hitler es una lectura poderosamente argumentada y definitiva que permite comprender la mente de un tirano asesino del que pensábamos que ya lo sabíamos todo.
600 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2019
25 people are currently reading
318 people want to read
About the author
Brendan Simms
33 books65 followersBrendan Peter Simms is Professor of the History of International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Simms studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a scholar in history in 1986, before completing his doctoral dissertation, Anglo-Prussian relations, 1804-1806: The Napoleonic Threat, at Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Tim Blanning in 1993. A Fellow of Peterhouse, he lectures and leads seminars on international history since 1945
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 1, 2025
3,50 ⭐️
October 11, 2019
A heavy propaganda for history dummies. Shame.
August 15, 2022
This book is packed with details around Hitler and the growth of his ideology, it's expansion through Germany and then the actions he and his followers took to using the machine of war to spread it to countries who weren't captured by his oral zest before ending his life in depressed misery when his dreams did not manifest as reality. In short, it doesn't do much that any other biography on Hitler hasn't already done before.
However, where this book does stand out is its bravery to challenge the accepted consensus (pioneered by the likes of Glantz, McDonough, Evans and Kershaw) that Nazism's greatest enemy was Bolshevism, specifically the "Judeo-Bolshevik menace" that had nested and sprouted within Stalin's Soviet Russia.
Instead, Simms dares to say it was actually America (yes, America!) whom Hitler and his followers wished to see fall. Now, on the surface, there is some merit to this claim. Yes, Hitler was certainly against America and their alliance with Britain during the war and did spout that they had been manipulated by the "Judeo menace", not least in Roosevelt and his actions to convince the American people war with Germany was a necessary as was fighting Hirohito and Imperial Japan.
However, to say America was Hitler's main enemy from the beginning does stretch the truth in a way that evidence simply can't support. While there is a case that Hitler was inspired by America and their success in conquering the Native Americans and converting an entire landmass into an imperial superpower over the course of 150 years, inspiration is not the same as forthright hatred. The evidence disproportionately demonstrates that Hitler deemed Stalin and his brand of Bolshevism as the ultimate enemy, both ideologically, racially and geographically.
There is a mountain of evidence proving this but the most critical one is this: Hitler was stuck in a war against Britain after the Fall of France in 1940 and Churchill's insistence to keep fighting after ousting the appeasers in Chamberlain and Halifax. Yet, Hitler and his generals pushed to ignore Britain by 1941 and open up an entirely new and unnecessary front against Stalin and Russia, even though they didn't have to because of the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact.
Why? Why in any sense of the word would they dare attack Russia when the logical thing to do was to focus on defeating Britain or at least convincing them to settle for peace? The answer is simple: because fighting Britain and, by extension, America through economic aid, was the wrong war in Hitler's eyes. He did not want to fight Anglo-America, the ones whom he privately admired and placed at the top of the pedestal in his racial hierarchy alongside the idealised Aryan Germans. No. The ones Hitler and his ardent followers despised and craved war with was the "Judeo-Bolshevik menace" that lay within Soviet Russia. The Soviets were, in Hitler's warped view, everything he despised: racially inferior, hoarding rich resources they didn't deserve, adhering to Marxist-Leninism, and living in the land Hitler greatly wanted to achieve his 'lebensraum' dream.
Yes, Hitler did fight against Britain and America during WW2. No, they were not his desired No.1 enemy. Soviet Russia was, so much so that he risked everything on one of the greatest gambles in military history in launching Operation Barbarossa against them. Simms even admits this in his book, contradicting some 300 pages where he crafted a narrative framing America as Hitler's No.1 enemy.
To summarise, this book could have been an amazing biography on Germany's darkest shadow, but it instead becomes a mouth piece spouting something that historiography simply doesn't agree with because it isn't true. Take out the author's opinions regarding Hitler and America and this book is well researched, clear and, for the most part, a good read about Hitler's life. However, with the other stuff thrown in, it becomes a frustrating read for anyone who knows better.
Richard Evans summarised it best: "In the end, Simms hasn’t written a biography in any meaningful sense of the word; he has written a tract that instrumentalises the past for present-day political purposes. As such, his book can be safely ignored by serious students of the Nazi era."
However, where this book does stand out is its bravery to challenge the accepted consensus (pioneered by the likes of Glantz, McDonough, Evans and Kershaw) that Nazism's greatest enemy was Bolshevism, specifically the "Judeo-Bolshevik menace" that had nested and sprouted within Stalin's Soviet Russia.
Instead, Simms dares to say it was actually America (yes, America!) whom Hitler and his followers wished to see fall. Now, on the surface, there is some merit to this claim. Yes, Hitler was certainly against America and their alliance with Britain during the war and did spout that they had been manipulated by the "Judeo menace", not least in Roosevelt and his actions to convince the American people war with Germany was a necessary as was fighting Hirohito and Imperial Japan.
However, to say America was Hitler's main enemy from the beginning does stretch the truth in a way that evidence simply can't support. While there is a case that Hitler was inspired by America and their success in conquering the Native Americans and converting an entire landmass into an imperial superpower over the course of 150 years, inspiration is not the same as forthright hatred. The evidence disproportionately demonstrates that Hitler deemed Stalin and his brand of Bolshevism as the ultimate enemy, both ideologically, racially and geographically.
There is a mountain of evidence proving this but the most critical one is this: Hitler was stuck in a war against Britain after the Fall of France in 1940 and Churchill's insistence to keep fighting after ousting the appeasers in Chamberlain and Halifax. Yet, Hitler and his generals pushed to ignore Britain by 1941 and open up an entirely new and unnecessary front against Stalin and Russia, even though they didn't have to because of the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact.
Why? Why in any sense of the word would they dare attack Russia when the logical thing to do was to focus on defeating Britain or at least convincing them to settle for peace? The answer is simple: because fighting Britain and, by extension, America through economic aid, was the wrong war in Hitler's eyes. He did not want to fight Anglo-America, the ones whom he privately admired and placed at the top of the pedestal in his racial hierarchy alongside the idealised Aryan Germans. No. The ones Hitler and his ardent followers despised and craved war with was the "Judeo-Bolshevik menace" that lay within Soviet Russia. The Soviets were, in Hitler's warped view, everything he despised: racially inferior, hoarding rich resources they didn't deserve, adhering to Marxist-Leninism, and living in the land Hitler greatly wanted to achieve his 'lebensraum' dream.
Yes, Hitler did fight against Britain and America during WW2. No, they were not his desired No.1 enemy. Soviet Russia was, so much so that he risked everything on one of the greatest gambles in military history in launching Operation Barbarossa against them. Simms even admits this in his book, contradicting some 300 pages where he crafted a narrative framing America as Hitler's No.1 enemy.
To summarise, this book could have been an amazing biography on Germany's darkest shadow, but it instead becomes a mouth piece spouting something that historiography simply doesn't agree with because it isn't true. Take out the author's opinions regarding Hitler and America and this book is well researched, clear and, for the most part, a good read about Hitler's life. However, with the other stuff thrown in, it becomes a frustrating read for anyone who knows better.
Richard Evans summarised it best: "In the end, Simms hasn’t written a biography in any meaningful sense of the word; he has written a tract that instrumentalises the past for present-day political purposes. As such, his book can be safely ignored by serious students of the Nazi era."
September 15, 2020
This is not a good Hitler biography, and the small dividends of Simms's venture into such a research project while not being an expert of the Third Reich are quickly apparent. While somewhat intriguing, one of the main arguments of the book - that the Holocaust was a way of getting back at the US, rather than rooted fundamentally in Hitler's racial worldview - has rightly been condemned by historians of the subject. At best, this is lengthy, uneeded historical revisionism... Let's leave it there. I wouldn't read this book if I were you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2019
A truly unique book that provides a comprehensive understanding of the ideology that underpinned Adolph Hitler's Third Reich. This book corrects many myths and misunderstandings about Hitler, his rise to power and his objectives. I've read countless books about WW2, but only this book allowed me to truly stitch together the pieces of the puzzle that is Hitler's ideology.
I also enjoyed the unfamiliar and fascinating details of Hitler's conquests in Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Poland.
Rarely do I give a book 5 stars. In this case, however, I would give 6 stars if only it were possible.
I also enjoyed the unfamiliar and fascinating details of Hitler's conquests in Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Poland.
Rarely do I give a book 5 stars. In this case, however, I would give 6 stars if only it were possible.
January 26, 2020
A very, very long read. Detailed narrative on Hitler, his upbringing and his life events that shaped him as the madman and genocidal maniac that he was. He suggests and provides an incredibly convincing argument that Hitlers primary enemies were not Russia and the Jews, instead the US, UK and the Jews. Fascinating and horrifying depiction of one of the most evil people to walk the face of the earth.
June 16, 2020
Interesting biography of Hitler, focusing on Simms central idea that the real focus of Hitler's ideology was anti-capitalist and anti-Anglo-Saxon, rather than the tradition anti-Bolshevism he's supposed to have espoused.
It is somewhat sparse as a biography, focusing instead on a series of specific ideas about Hitler, though that is more a problem of the book's marketing than a failure on its own terms.
It is somewhat sparse as a biography, focusing instead on a series of specific ideas about Hitler, though that is more a problem of the book's marketing than a failure on its own terms.
December 20, 2019
God bog, dog er det ikke rigtig en biografi om manden men mere en bog baseret på politiske teorier forelagt af forfatteren.
January 30, 2025
Goede biografie, zeker met een aantal vernieuwende inzichten.
October 16, 2020
I have always doubted the sincerity of Hitler’s peace offer to Britain after the collapse of France in 1940. To me, he was gloating after his already victorious rampage through Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland, following his effective annihilation of Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1939.
However, after reading Brendan Simms new analysis of the Fuhrer - ‘Hitler: Only The World Was Big Enough’ – I feel that it’s quite possible that Hitler’s peace offer may have been genuine. Simms argues that forming an alliance with Britain and America was crucial to Hitler’s plans for territorial expansion. The agreement he hoped to conclude was that Germany would respect the British Empire and areas of American influence, in return for guaranteeing him the freedom to continue to secure territory in Europe.
Hitler envied the vast land areas occupied by America and the British Empire, compared with which Germany’s land area was comparatively insignificant. He also envied the high standard of living of both countries and hoped to match it in Germany, and win back the high number of Germans who were continuously emigrating to America.
Brendan Simms believes that Hitler sought to gain the critical territorial mass and resources to balance Anglo-America. It was when he saw that an alliance with Britain and America was never going to happen – that he decided his ‘lebensraum would have to rely on taking over Russia. So he began preparations for ‘Operation Barbarossa’.
Hitler still feared Britain and he still feared America, and Brendan Simms argues that that he also ultimately realised that removing the combined power of Britain and America was only achievable with world dominance.
So at the end of 1941, he declared war on America, having already invaded the Soviet Union in June of that year. His deputy, Hermann Goering likened it to’ fighting the whole world.’
Were other members of the Nazi hierarchy similarly uneasy? Rudolph Hess flew himself to England in 1941 in a crazed attempt to secure peace between Britain and Germany. There may have been others, but this aspect of the Third Reich is not included in Brendan Simms’ book.
But this omission is more than compensated by a lot of interesting new thinking on Hitler’s character and political philosophies. The book contains evidence that there was much he admired in both Britain and America. He admired the vast empire the British had created, he admired their military skills, and he even admired their public schools, which he believed nurtured a tough youth. His racism reared its ugly head when he claimed that both countries were significantly Jewish controlled - in particular America, with its big Jewish presence in the New York Stock Exchange and of course Hollywood.
He hoped to make Hamburg as impressive as New York, he wanted Berlin to be more impressive architecturally than Washington, and he hoped the Volkswagen project would bring motor cars within reach of every German.
Churchill described Hitler as ‘a maniac of ferocious genius’s, That genius apparently included foresight because Simms has evidence that Hitler predicted mega problems would ensue when what became known as ‘third world’ countries developed industrially and technologically. Amongst other things, such problems today include the US/China trade war, worker exploitation in poorer third world countries, and the escalating output of coal in both China and India, which account for 62% of global electricity generated by the polluting fuel.
Any student of recent European history will find Richard Simms’ research and observations more than interesting. For those who say ‘not another book on Hitler’ be assured, this one is well worth the money.
However, after reading Brendan Simms new analysis of the Fuhrer - ‘Hitler: Only The World Was Big Enough’ – I feel that it’s quite possible that Hitler’s peace offer may have been genuine. Simms argues that forming an alliance with Britain and America was crucial to Hitler’s plans for territorial expansion. The agreement he hoped to conclude was that Germany would respect the British Empire and areas of American influence, in return for guaranteeing him the freedom to continue to secure territory in Europe.
Hitler envied the vast land areas occupied by America and the British Empire, compared with which Germany’s land area was comparatively insignificant. He also envied the high standard of living of both countries and hoped to match it in Germany, and win back the high number of Germans who were continuously emigrating to America.
Brendan Simms believes that Hitler sought to gain the critical territorial mass and resources to balance Anglo-America. It was when he saw that an alliance with Britain and America was never going to happen – that he decided his ‘lebensraum would have to rely on taking over Russia. So he began preparations for ‘Operation Barbarossa’.
Hitler still feared Britain and he still feared America, and Brendan Simms argues that that he also ultimately realised that removing the combined power of Britain and America was only achievable with world dominance.
So at the end of 1941, he declared war on America, having already invaded the Soviet Union in June of that year. His deputy, Hermann Goering likened it to’ fighting the whole world.’
Were other members of the Nazi hierarchy similarly uneasy? Rudolph Hess flew himself to England in 1941 in a crazed attempt to secure peace between Britain and Germany. There may have been others, but this aspect of the Third Reich is not included in Brendan Simms’ book.
But this omission is more than compensated by a lot of interesting new thinking on Hitler’s character and political philosophies. The book contains evidence that there was much he admired in both Britain and America. He admired the vast empire the British had created, he admired their military skills, and he even admired their public schools, which he believed nurtured a tough youth. His racism reared its ugly head when he claimed that both countries were significantly Jewish controlled - in particular America, with its big Jewish presence in the New York Stock Exchange and of course Hollywood.
He hoped to make Hamburg as impressive as New York, he wanted Berlin to be more impressive architecturally than Washington, and he hoped the Volkswagen project would bring motor cars within reach of every German.
Churchill described Hitler as ‘a maniac of ferocious genius’s, That genius apparently included foresight because Simms has evidence that Hitler predicted mega problems would ensue when what became known as ‘third world’ countries developed industrially and technologically. Amongst other things, such problems today include the US/China trade war, worker exploitation in poorer third world countries, and the escalating output of coal in both China and India, which account for 62% of global electricity generated by the polluting fuel.
Any student of recent European history will find Richard Simms’ research and observations more than interesting. For those who say ‘not another book on Hitler’ be assured, this one is well worth the money.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews