This is the biography of Adolph Hitler, from his young life with an abusive father to his rise to leader of the Nazi Party and Germany.
This is definitely a readable book for young adults. The subject is someone who interest not only young adults, but adults of all ages as well, because Hitler was so evil and insane, yet was able to come to power and convince millions of people to follow him. The language is at an appropriate level for young adults. Marrin doesn't talk down to the reader, but explains and defines terms they may not know. For instance, he describes and defines what a �panzer� is and how it got its name (Marrin 108). The book reads like fiction, though it's a biography. Chapters are ended with these one liners that help create the suspenseful mood. At the end of the first chapter, Marrin quotes Hitler as saying �I decided to become a politician.� Marrin then says �Seldom has one person's desire been filled with so much danger for humanity� (Marrin 31). The writing is descriptive and sometimes awe inspiring because Marrin so vividly describes what is going on. In describing the White Rose, a group of German youths who opposed Hitler, Marrin says �They knew the risks they'd be running... Yet they knew something else, something far more important: that to love one's country, really to love it, means opposing it when it is wrong� (Marrin 186).
The book is balanced well between narration and direct quotes from firsthand accounts or journals. When Hitler invaded Poland, he said to his troops, �Close your hearts to pity! ... The stronger man is right... Be harsh and remorseless! Be steeled against all signs of compassion� (Marrin 106). Marrin does a good job of showing Hitler's pure evil, but also brings up some of the things that added to it, some beyond Hitler's control. He had an abusive father. He was rejected from art school. He had an obvious clinical psychological problem. He was paranoid and maybe even schizophrenic. He was afraid to be alone in the dark and made his security guards search his room each night to make sure �he� wasn't there, but Hitler never said who �he� was (Marrin 86). Hitler was also being shot full of all kinds of drugs by his doctor. There were stimulants to keep him awake and depressants to put him to sleep at night. These drugs were obviously not good for his physical or mental health.
The book is arranged chronologically from Hitler's childhood to death, which makes sense. There's a table of contents and index. There's also a large list of other books of readers interested in learning more about Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, the Nazi party, etc. �Marrin brings to this biography a wealth of background information. The author is scrupulous in mentioning sources, and he makes liberal use of quotations, statistics, popular sayings, and other factual material� (School Library Journal 1987). Marrin is a well respected writer and historian who is head of a university history department. The book is a bit outdated and there are some factual errors. �For example, the Bolsheviks overthrew Kerensky and the Provisional Government, not the Tsar� (Publishers Weekly 1987). Marrin points out at the end that Germany is still divided today, but we know that several years after this book was published, the Berlin Wall was torn down and East and West Germany were united.
The visuals are appropriate. Each have captions underneath them. There are photos of Hitler, his soldiers and his prisoners. There are also maps that show the routes several of the armies took in different military campaigns. One particularly striking photograph is of a group of men sleeping on shelves in a concentration camp. You can see how crammed in they were. They are practically lying on top of one another. You can also see from their sunken in cheeks and exposed ribs that they are starving to death (Marrin 76).
Publishers Weekly. 1987. Publishers Weekly. In Books in Print [database online]. Available from
http://www.booksinprint.com/bip. Accessed 22 November 2004.
School Library Journal. 1987. School Library Journal. In Books in Print [database online]. Available
from http://www.booksinprint.com/bip. Accessed 22 November 2004.
