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

By David Irving

Book Overview

From the third of February 1933, when he told his generals in the secret of his ultimate ambition to invade and conquer the East, to the third of September 1939, when he left the Berlin Chancellery for the Polish front, Adolf Hitler had one obsessive goal - to wage war and achieve German revenge and hegemony.

It was, as the world knows, to be a war that would leave forty million dead, lay waste most of Europe and half of Asia, and destroy the Third Reich.

As he did in his celebrated and controversial Hitler's War, David Irving sets forth the events from behind Hitler's desk, as it were, to see and understand each episode through his eyes. His use of original and unpublished firsthand material has led him across Europe searching for documents and correspondence.

As a result, he rewards his readers with a fuller picture of both the political preparation for the war and the intricate network of personal relationships on which Hitler's Reich eventually foundered. He uncovered extensive records of wiretaps made on British and French embassies in Berlin during 1938-39.

In his assiduous detective work, he also located the private papers of Weizs cker, Ribbentrop's state secretary, and the diaries of Walther Hewel, Ribbentrop's liaison with Hitler. Many pages of photographs from private collections provide new views of Hitler and those who surrounded him.

Thus, Irving draws from the journals and letters of Hitler's subordinates, creating an immediate and authentic atmosphere. As a result, what have previously seemed inexplicable actions on Hitler's part are illuminated and new light is shed on Nazi Germany in the six years before the war.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1872197361
• ISBN13: 9781872197364
• Release Date: June 2013
• Publisher: Focal Point Publications
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

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