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• Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis
Ian Kershaw

W. W. Norton & Company, 2000 - 832 pages

average customer review:based on 53 reviews
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   highly recommended  highly recommended




Working toward the Fuhrer

The second volume of Ian Kershaw's comprehensive biography of Adolf Hitler is quite different in focus than the first. Whereas "Hubris" was something of a character analysis of the Fuhrer and very much an attempt at "explaining Hitler," "Nemesis" is more an exposé of the Nazi state than a narrative of Hitler's wartime leadership.

Kershaw argues that the Third Reich was unique among totalitarian regimes. Other contemporary despots, such as Stalin or Mussolini, still had some semblance of a central decision making body to contend with, such as the Politburo or the Fascist Council. Nazi Germany had only one decision-making body: Adolf Hitler. A critical component of Hitler's grasp on power was the intense centralization of all authority in his person. Ministers weren't allowed to meet independently and Hitler encouraged competition among his underlings, which played to his strong belief in the benefits of Darwinian struggle for dominance. Nazi loyalists throughout the sprawling bureaucracy were encouraged to "work toward the Fuhrer" on their own. That is, Hitler was clear in articulating his general ideology and vision for the German state ("Mein Kampf" was encouraged as a guidebook), and it was up to individual party members and common Germans to do their part in making that future a reality. This "What Would Hitler Do?" mentality combined with the internal competitive dynamic inexorably led to a rapid radicalization of the regime. Kershaw maintains that Hitler entered the war very much intending to conquer and colonize the Soviet Union (the British colonial Raj in India was his inspiration and model), but with no definitive plans to exterminate the Jews, beyond a vague notion of shipping the whole race to Madagascar (literally). Rather, the Holocaust arose from "administrative cul-de-sacs of ethnic cleansing" as aggressive SS and Gaultiers moved into the occupied territory and independently began "working toward the Fuhrer" and competing with their internal rivals for Hitler's favor.

As the war dragged on and disasters mounted, Hitler became more and more aloof from the German people and his internal circle as well. This detachment is mirrored in the narrative in "Nemesis." Thus, there is relatively little about Hitler the man in this volume. For instance, the details of his relationship with Eva Braun are barely touched upon. Whereas Hitler comes alive in "Hubris" and remains a flesh-and-blood figure through the first third of "Nemesis," he seems to recede in the shadows as the reality of the impending collapse becomes clear. I'm not sure if Kershaw intended this affect or not, but it makes for an interesting approach.

In closing, "Nemesis" provides a lively and detailed account of the growth of Nazi power beyond the Reich and the vulgar descent of the regime to unprecedented acts of evil, but it could just as well serve as a history of Nazi Germany as a biography of Hitler. In fact, you could read "Nemesis" independent of "Hubris" (or vice versa) without any trouble.


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A Gruelling,Fascinating insight

Whatever what one thinks they know,heard or have read about Hitler will in no way prepare the reader for the portrayal assembled here of the Nazi Dictator.
While I've not read any other books about Hitler,this book by Ian Kershaw strikes me as being a painstakingly well researched, well wriitten,and highly detailed but accessable account.There were some complaints by fellow reviewers that there was not enough detail about the intricacies of the war.This is not what the book is about,and, in my view, is all the better for it.The book is about Adolf Hitler and the psychology that drove his incendiary,relentless hatred,and thirst for war,taking German society with him .Also included is detailed accounts of other leading Nazis and their part in the the Nazi regime,their role in "The Final Solution",and the "working towards the Fuhrer" thinking that underpinned their actions, like Goebbels,Himmler,Speer,Eichman,and the hapless Goring.
Kershaw makes you party to Hitler's "all night" tirades,the shouting,the screaming,the verbal assaults on his own Generals,the 2-3 hr monologues expounding his world views,and philosophies, such as the "virtues of intolerance",and the "jewish conspiracy".
This is what interested me,not military strategy or detail.Having said that Kershaw does also provide a background running account of the war,or more precisely,where the happenings of the Nazi regime fitted in to the war,their relationship to it......the desperation of the Nazi leaders as the Soviets,Americans,and the British closed in on Berlin,makes for a chilling read.
I found this book extremely hard to put down,and highly recommend it.It should be compulsory reading in all Colleges,and High Schools.Young people of today should know what happened,and why.There shouldn't be any excuse for the existence of white supremacist,skin-head,Ku Klux Kan,Neo Nazi groups and the accompanying ignorance,and mediocrity.Any young person who thinks Hitler is a hero is seriously misinformed.
This is a" must have","must read" book.
No question.

K.Rothko,Auckland,New Zealand


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IAN KERSHAW'S HITLER (VOLUMES 1 & 2) BY JOHN CHUCKMAN

This biography (actually two volumes, Hubris and Nemesis) is well worth reading. Kershaw is a sound, if not elegant, writer and tells a story you will want to finish, but the book has significant faults.

Historians still do not know exactly how to reckon with the phenomenon of Hitler. The man was like a giantic cyclonic storm that suddenly welled up and unleashed death and misery on a colossal scale.

And for that reason he stands as the most influential man of the 20th century, not the greatest or the most gifted, but the most influential.

His existence brought to life such memorable opponents as Churchill, his defeat established forty years of Soviet dominance over much of Europe, and his beastial acts unquestionably led to the founding of modern Israel, setting off great difficulties in the Middle East for decades.

The ironic thing about Kershaw's book is that the author says he does not understand Hitler. Hitler remains a mystery to him, and Kershaw even says that in some ways his book is not a biography of the man but of the era in Germany. This is not satisfying to the reader wishing to understand better.

Kershaw's thesis of Hitler as a an almost compulsive gambler who struck it lucky for a while is weak. Hitler's rise to lead a great nation of Europe and his years of early diplomatic and military victories call for a more insightful explanation than a heavy run of luck. Kershaw gives credit to Hitler as an instinctive propagandist (in advertising terms, a talented marketer), but that is about as far as he goes to explaining this eye of the greatest storm in human history.

Historians, naturally enough, are reluctant to write anything that could be interpreted as admiration, but other historians have managed a better job of dealing with Hitler's talents and personality, notably Alan Bullock, Joachim Fest, and William Shirer.

One new element that Kershaw brings is a focus on Hitler's being responsible for the Holocaust, not that any responsible historian ever has denied it, but naturally enough there is no paper trail. I think Shirer is better on the horrors Hitler inflicted. I also think a more insightful treatment of this kind of psychology is found in Gitta Sereny.

One of the great mysteries of Hitler's psychology is his anti-Semitism. There is just no accounting for its immensity, and Kershaw does little to enlighten us here.

Read this book and the other authors I have mentioned and decide whether you agree with me that the definitive biography of Hitler has yet to be written.





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Exhaustive, but spotty on the history of the war

This second volume of Ian Kershaw's biography of Adolf Hitler is very long, exhaustive, and seems complete as far as his political and philosophical career are concerned. The book concentrates a great deal on Hitler's personal appearances, his speeches and things he said in conversations, etc. While it does a good job of covering these things, and the parts of Hitler's personal life that remain at least partially in shadow, it does a less-than-complete job with the war.

A number of incidents are left out or only briefly touched upon. The sinking of the Graf Spee is ingored completely. In fact, the naval war in all of its facets is almost completely absent from the book, and various incidents (the various battles in the North Sea, for instance) are completely ignored. I don't think this is bias on Kershaw's part, as one other reviewer insists. For one thing, defeats on the part of the Germans are ignored, also. The Graf Spee, Tirpitz, and Scharnhorst sinkings aren't any of them successes for the Kriegsmarine. It's rather famous that Hitler ordered the surface fleet abandoned after various naval disasters in 1943, claiming that only the U-boat fleet was doing any damage to the Allies. This is ignored. Various other fiascoes (the invasion of Southern France, the He-177 bomber, much of the Battle of Britain, much of the campaign in North Africa, etc.) are either ignored or only referred to briefly and obliquely, without any mention of Hitler's opinion or influence. One famous anecdote that we've all read that didn't make it into the book is the story of Hitler intervening to have the Panzer III tank armed with an anti-tank gun, and then, six months later, noticing in a conference that his orders hadn't been followed, with the consequent expected explosion.

There's also the issue of writing style. This is one of the most verbose books I've ever read. The author repeats himself endlessly. In his defense, he's recounting each of Hitler's speeches and that sort of thing, and Hitler repeated himself also, but it still seems repetitive. There is a separate issue, though. Kershaw has some of the longest sentences on record here. Some of them seem to run on to eight or ten lines in the book, and it's hard at times to keep track of what the start of the sentence is. There are often phrases in the middle which include significant digressions which distract you from the point he's making with a particular sentence. Whatever else it was, this book isn't high literature in any sense of the word.

I did respect the level of the scholarship in terms of things like the German government and administration, and his description of the functioning of Hitler's regime. One of the author's central points is that the Nazi style of leadership was so haphazard and indistinct that if the war hadn't brought about the fall of the regime it probably would have collapsed of its own weight in a few years anyway. It was also, in the short run, horribly inefficient and wasteful, and very corrupt.

I can't say I enjoyed this book. I was informed by it though, and on the whole it's worthwhile. Recommended for anyone who's interested in Hitler, though of course with the first volume it's almost 2000 pages on the man, so be prepared to spend some time.


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Excellent

This two-volume work is perhaps the best current profile of Adolf Hitler. Kershaw provides a lucid, comprehensive, and convincing account of Hitler's origins, early unrequited search for respectability, commitment (with millions of others) to a WW1, disappointment in Versailles, utility in post war right wing politics, demagogic skills, opportunism, rise to power, ruthlessness, Darwinian authoritarian (ambiguous) rule, mystic cult and messianic attraction.

The second volume (Nemesis 1936-45) traces the mature Hitlerian state, and the world catastrophe it engendered.

Both volumes are most valuable to those who seek to find why, in the mid-20C, human civilisation seemed to be hijacked by a human virus that meant the death of 50+ million.

Hitler seems a man aware but not satisfied with Machiavellian precepts: he cared little for love or hate. Fear was better, but (perhaps) he really wanted to be worshipped as a God (like post Augustus emperors).

Kershaw's `The Hitler Myth' and `Making Friends with Hitler' are also useful.

Also highly recommended: Bullock's classic `Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (published 1953);' and Fest's `Hitler' (published 1974).


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