How to Read Hitler

Everyone even vaguely interested in the history of the Nazis and the Second World War is convinced that they fully understand the Nazi phenomenon, and Hitler's political thought, but only a very small fraction of them have ever even tried to read Hitler's Mein Kampf, or his posthumously published Second Book. Even fewer have finished either volume or plowed their way through Hitler's turgid and mind-numbingly repetitive ranting to actually gain real understanding. Fortunately Neil Gregor has, and this short volume is an excellent exposition of Hitler's thought and self-proclaimed philosophy. It deserves wide reading and study. Mein Kampf was a very curious book, part autobiography, part political polemic, and part history and science lecture by a deluded and sick but by no means stupid man. That his philosophical reasoning was not especially deep, his understanding of his broad reading of history and politics incomplete and undigested, his prejudices vile, and the solutions to the problems identified criminal, does not mean the man did not have a more or less comprehensive world-view that is worth study and analysis, if only to be well-armed in refuting it. Gregor uses numerous excerpts from both books to highlight Hitler's thought in several discrete but related areas. He prizes out what strains of thought made Hitler a fascist (a term here well defined, when generally it is used carelessly and imprecisely); he discusses the perverse Darwinian views Hitler held on race and eugenics; and he notes in many cases that these ideas were hardly unique to Hitler at the time of writing, but were simply combined or utilized in new and more pernicious ways. The twin keys to Hitler's proposed program, of regeneration and revitalization at home in his domestic policies, and the drive to balance and growing population with land and soil abroad through foreign policy, are well explored, succinctly summarized. Gregor's book is an excellent and penetrating discussion of what Hitler believed, and the commentary on policies actually pursued once he reached power makes for a chilling read.