Incredible book, highly recommend for anyone interested in WWII. Excellent narrator too. Easy to read, too, not full of psycho-analytical jargon - author does comment on some theories of behavior but it's usually to either justify or deny someone else's theory of Hitler's behavior. The author pretty much tells the story of Hitler rather than the story of "why" Hitler did what he did; this makes the story all that much better because it doesn't try to claim any theories and then line up the evidence to the theory. It *mostly* just tells Hitler's story from childhood to death. One thing I particularly liked is that the book explained the violent and outrageous events going on before the war that made Hitler seem like more of an acceptable choice to lead. Certainly many people were aware how dangerous he was but this book also shows why many people thought Hitler could save Germany and so chose to accept him as "mein Fuhrer".

This is one long audiobook - it's kinda "all hitler, all the time" - but well worth the read if you like WWII info. Very engaging. ( )

Even for one who thinks that he or she already knows everything there is to know about Hitler, this book remains a fascinating biography. One quickly recognizes the crisp and illuminating style of John Toland, who is both a good writer and a good "read. The story of Adolf Hitler unfolds from an obscure Austrian birth to that afternoon fifty-six years later, when the limp bodies of both Der Fuhrer and his wife of one day were doused with gasoline and torched by his faithful servants. The time span between these two dates provides a dynamic backdrop against which the reader sees the rise of an extraordinary person. What stands this book apart from the many volumes written about Hitler since 1945, is the source material. Published in 1976, after more than twenty years of research and interviews with many of Hitler's relatives, friends, and associates--both inside and outside of the Third Reich, this book provides a lot of little-known information about Hitler and gives a rare glimpse of the personal traits and quirks of one of history's most ruthless monsters. The biography provides an excellent "Glossary" that identifies and defines a number of German terms as well as terms specific to the Nazi Party. Also included is a "Table of Ranks," giving the German Army ranks and their equivalent ranks in the SS and the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Outstanding work. ( )

Toland’s research provided one of the final opportunities for a historian to conduct personal interviews with over two hundred individuals intimately associated with Hitler. At a certain distance yet still with access to many of the people who enabled and who opposed the führer and his Third Reich, Toland strove to treat this life as if Hitler lived and died a hundred years before instead of within his own memory. From childhood and obscurity to his desperate end, Adolf Hitler emerges as, in Toland’s words, “far more complex and contradictory . . . obsessed by his dream of cleansing Europe Jews . . . a hybrid of Prometheus and Lucifer.” ( )

All the facts are here, and Hitler is portrayed as aware of the Holocaust. So Mr. Toland is a competent stylist, and the book is readable. ( )

This book is really long, over 1200 pages. But it gives a great, in depth look at the life of Hitler. I would recommend it to anybody interested in reading about him, he is really interesting to read about. Also shows a lot about what was going on in German politics and government from his rise and fall. ( )