Book Review - THE book to read on Adolf Hitler

A quick word of warning: do NOT get intimidated by the size of the book, which runs into well past a thousand pages - it is even sometimes available in two volumes! This is a big, massive book, but you know what: if you are interested in Hitler, you are actually going to race through this one. The reason is Toland's style of writing. He is direct, keeps things simple and sticks to facts rather than get muddled in analysis. Now, this might annoy some folks who would want to know more about Germany in Hitler's time (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is tailormade for them), but it keeps the book very sharply focused on its subject. And Toland seems to have done tonnes of research for you are going to be surprised at just about every page by some information about the man. For instance, although he was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery in the First World War, he was not recommended for promotion to officer. The reason? It was felt he lacked "leadership qualities." Oh yeah?

Unlike some biographers who tend to treat Hitler as a "loony who got lucky," Toland actually portrays him as a person of considerable ability and talent. No, he does not admire him, but his Hitler is not the common thug who could speak that many portray him to be. He clearly had a way with people, could inspire loyalty and contrary to what many believed, he actually worked very hard at presenting his speeches and was not the spontaneous orator so many say he was. Best of all, Toland generally does not let his own opinions cloud the narrative - he serves up facts and lets people draw conclusions.

Toland takes you through Hitler's childhood, his artistic ambitions in Austria, his closeness to his mother, and of course, the event that perhaps changed his world, the First World War and Germany's defeat in it. What is striking about Toland's narrative is his stress on documentation - there is very little idle speculation here. Every claim is backed by evidence of some sort. Childhood incidents, arguments with his father...they are all there in detail. This is a definitive biography indeed.

While its handling of Hitler's early life is impressive, the book really comes into its own from the period of the infamous Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler's failed, and almost embarrassing attempt to grab power in 1923. It almost gets into a thriller-like zone, with events following in quick succession. Again, Toland deserves credit for retaining detail without ever getting dull. You literally see Hitler evolving from a relatively small politician to a major one, in spite of not having a popular mandate.

This is perhaps my favourite part of the book, because it shows how Hitler developed into the person he ultimately became, and how he got his sense of destiny - the man blindly believed that things would work out for him, and for a while they did. In 1923, no one would have believed that the man who ran away after a failed coup attempt would be Chancellor in 1933. But that is exactly what Hitler did and Toland's narration of this period is perhaps the most fascinating part of the book. This is also the period where one reads about Hitler's tempestuous relationship with his niece, Geliu Raubal and her death, and the beginning of his romance with Eva Braun, whom he eventually married.

Of course, most people reading the book would have a rough idea of what happened once Hitler got power in 1933 - the Berlin Olympics, the Anschluss of Austria, the alliance with Stalin, the attack on Poland, the Second World War...and so on until Hitler's own death in 1945. But even on this 'familiar ground,' Toland unearths several gems. The most striking of these are Hitler's relationships with his generals and associates, which you can literally see changing as he starts playing a bigger role in key military decisions - everyone hails him as a genius when he succeeds initially, but as things start to go wrong, he is seen as a madman who does not understand what he is doing, and in the end as a liability as most people try to work out their own escapes, leaving him with the loyal-till-the-end Goebbels and a few others.

It is a dramatic fall, and Toland documents it very objectively and in detail, without taking any sides. He does not attempt to stir up any controversy about his death either. You also get to see Hitler's desperate attempts to hang on to some deluded sense of power, especially after an attempt to assassinate him. His contempt for most of his contemporaries from Churchill to Stalin keeps increasing, even as he keeps losing.

If smooth narration, detail and objectivity are the strengths of Toland's book, its refusal to get dragged into too many controversies might disappoint some. Toland does talk of some contentious issues (was Hitler directly involved in the final solution, how did he die, Geli Raubal's death, et al) but by and large, leaves readers with information and lets them draw their own conclusions. Which is what makes this book the best biography of Hitler I have read. It tells you about a man in great detail - almost too much detail at times - and allows you to figure out what he was like. Two people could read this book and come to totally different conclusions about Adolf Hitler. Toland overwhelms you with information, but leaves you with enough space to make up your own mind about the man they called Der Fuhrer. Want to know about Hitler the person? No book comes close to this one.