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Hitler's First War
Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War
Thomas Weber
464 pages
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8pp black and white plates
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234x156mm
978-0-19-923320-5
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Hardback
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16 September 2010
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- The story of Hitler's formative experiences as a soldier on the Western Front - now told in full for the first time
- Presents a radical revision of the Private Hitler portrayed in Mein Kampf - a period of his life that Hitler claimed had made him into the person he later became
- Uses a wealth of material never before seen, including the stories of Hitler's fellow soldiers, from people who later became convinced Nazis to Jewish veterans of the regiment
- Challenges the commonly accepted notion that the First World War was a seminal catastrophe in German history
Hitler claimed that his years as a soldier in the First World War were the most formative years of his life. However, for the six decades since his death in the ruins of Berlin, Hitler's time as a soldier on the Western Front has, remarkably, remained a blank spot. Until now, all that we knew about Hitler's life in these years and the regiment in which he served came from his own account in Mein Kampf and the equally mythical accounts of his comrades.
Hitler's First War for the first time looks at what really happened to Private Hitler and the men of the Bavarian List
Regiment of which he was a member. It is a radical revision of the period of Hitler's life that is said to have made him. Through the stories of the veterans of the regiment - an officer who became Hitler's personal adjutant in the 1930s but then offered himself to British intelligence, a soldier-turned-Concentration Camp Commander, Jewish veterans who fell victim to the Holocaust, or of veterans who simply returned to their lives in Bavaria - Thomas Weber presents a Private Hitler very different from the one portrayed in his own mythical account. Instead, we find a Hitler who was shunned by the frontline soldiers of his regiment as a 'rear area pig' and who was still unsure of his political ideology even at the end of the war in 1918.
In looking at the post-war
lives of Hitler's fellow veterans back in Bavaria, Thomas Weber also challenges the commonly accepted notion that the First World War was somehow a 'seminal catastrophe' in twentieth century German history and even questions just how deep-seated Nazi ideology really was in its home state.Readership: All those interested in Hitler, the rise of the Nazis, and Germany during the First World War
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Thomas Weber, Reader in European and International History, University of Aberdeen Thomas Weber teaches European and international history at the University of Aberdeen and directs the Centre for Global Security and Governance. Since earning his DPhil from the University of Oxford, he has held fellowships or has taught at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and the University of Glasgow. His first book, The Lodz Ghetto Album, won a 2004 Golden Light Award and a 2005 Infinity Award. His second book, Our Friend "The Enemy" is the recipient of the 2008 Duc d'Arenberg History Prize for the best book of a general
nature, intended for a wide public, on the history and culture of the European continent.
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"important and revealing...this is the best book yet on an under-reported period" - History Today "an intelligent, informative and absorbing book that has to be required reading for anyone seriously interested in the history of modern Germany, or in the effects of war on politics in general." - Richard J. Evans, Globe and Mail "Formidably impressive" - Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement "Fans of 20th-century history and specifically World War I will love this book" - Canadian Jewish News "[A] superb new work of history...eye-opening material." - Andrew Roberts, Commentary Magazine, "An enterprising and thoughful new
study based on skilful research in the archives and elsewhere." - The Spectator "Weber's discoveries have enabled him to write a very informative and readable new analysis." - The Spectator "A triumph of original research." - Norman Stone, Wall Street Journal "He fundamentally alters our understanding of one of the most studied figures of the 20th century." - Norman Stone, Wall Street Journal "Groundbreaking and minutely detailed study." - Military Times "An impressive piece of detective work." - Sunday Times,
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Part I
1: A Crowd in Odeonsplatz
2: Baptism of Fire
3: Two Tales of One Christmas
4: Dreams About a New World
5: Of Frontline Soldiers and 'Rear Area Pigs'
6: Towards the Somme
7: Exhaustion
8: Delusion and Doom
Part II
9: A Field Wide Open
10: Divided They Stand
11: Private Hitler's Reich
Conclusion
Further Reading
Index
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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