The War Path: Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939

David Irving has painted an original portrait of pre-war Nazi Germany. He delved deeply into German archives to come up with a picture of Hitler and Germany that is off center compared to others. Irving's style is also original. He focuses on what Hitler knew and when he knew it and foregoes the omnipotence of most historians. For example, if this book were our only source of knowledge on Hitler and World War II we wouldn't know who won the war. Irving's Hitler is an exteme nationalist and demagogue, virulent in his anti-Jewish and anti-Slavic opinions and actions, and consciously and enthusiastically in pursuit of a renewed European war. That conforms to the conventional view, but Irving's Hitler is a more complex character than the simple-minded, foaming-at-the-mouth maniac portrayed by most historians. On the positive side, Irving's Hitler is an artist and a visionary who brought Germany out of the Great Depression far earlier than did the New Deal in the U.S. and embarked on innovative construction projects such as the Autobahn. On the negative side, Irving sees Hitler as lazy and dreamy, often ineffective in his dealing with strong-minded subordinates, and inflicted with a range of psychosomatic ills and complexes. There is more of Hitler's personal life in Irving than in most books. Whether Irving is correct in his assessment of Hitler I can't say -- not being familiar with his sources or able to evaluate them. I don't, however, find his views objectionable or beyond the pale of scholarly thought. I wouldn't recommend this book as the primary source of information about 1930s Germany, but rather as a slightly divergent and interesting view. "The War Path" is also published in one volume with Irving's book about World War II "Hitler's War." Smallchief