Hitler (2012) by A. N. Wilson
What's good about this
book? Two things: it is a short biography (190 pages) and easy to read. But
what's bad about it? Well, Adolf Hitler is a complex and perplex figure, a
short biography will surely somehow reduce rich historical stories into some
oversimplified ones (probably that's why I love the large volume of Walter
Isaacson's Steve Jobs. One of the finest biographies). Having said that, I
enjoyed reading this book as a whole. I always wonder why and how Hitler rise
to power from unimpressive failed-artist to der Führer ("the leader") of German. This book -
briefly - explained it.
Hitler was born on 20th
April 1889 in a city named Braunau am Inn in the country of Austria. His family
moved around some, living a short while in Germany and then back to Austria.
Hitler did not have a happy childhood. Both his parents died fairly young and
many of his brothers and sisters died as well. He came from a broken family,
very few good relationships, and an average (almost to untalented, physically
weak) man. But he had few abilities and it was these which carried him along.
Wilson writes, "Chief and greatest
of his gifts was the capacity to speak in public, a gift which had laid dormant
throughout his tongue-tied youth." Along with that, he also has a "skill at political manipulation"
and a "taste for violence."
After he joined the Nazi he was elected Chancellor of Germany, and then after a
few years only, he became the Dictator. To the Germans, at first, he was
thought of as the saviour ✔
Hitler was responsible for
some of the most horrible crimes committed in human history, namely, the
Holocaust and ethnic cleansing. He hated Jewish people and wanted to
exterminate them from Germany. He forced Jewish people to go to concentration
camps where about 6 million Jews were killed during World War II. It was the
dark history of European anti-Semitism. He also had other people and races he
didn't like killed including handicapped people. He became more violent, and
thus created more enemies. At the end of his life, he has no peace and he died
as a failure. Nowadays, if you think evil, you'll think of Hitler. A false saviour
✖
[Ps: Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") is a 1925
autobiographical manifesto by Adolf Hitler. A bible for the Nazis. This is the
only complete book that he wrote. It is filled with anti-Semitism, meaning
"hostility toward or discrimination
against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group." It was the most
prevalent sentiment in Europe during his time. In 2016, Mein Kampf became a
best-seller. And guess what? Our own Popular Malaysia Bookstore is selling many
copies of this book... My question is this: Why Popular intentionally print
Mein Kampf, Hitler's book? And why Popular desire to sell to the masses? (If
Popular just sells the book, no problem. But why purposefully print it under
Popular?)] 😏😒😑
#ServeToLead #1Book1Week
#LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #LeadersAreReaders #AdolfHitler #Biography
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
