Hitler's First War.

[susan kitchen]

Just read about a new book in a books for christmas magazine. Hitler's First War by Thomas Weber £18.99 HB ISBN 9780199233205 The blurb says " Using a wealth of material never before seen this tells the story of Hitler's experiences as a soldier on the Western Front during WW1, examining how they shaped his life and asserts that he was unsure of his ideology when the War ended in 1918."

I wont be getting a copy myself. I know we read about Hitler in the second war. But i can't bring myself to read a book just about him. I'm probably narrow minded.

Anyway i thought i would mention it just in case someone was interested.

Susan.

[archangel9]

Susan,

Thanks for posting. I'm sure the book will be both intriguing and controversial. Might add that to my wish list.

Cheers

John

[Alan Tucker]

My understanding is that this book is about his regiment and sees Hitler in that context. Therefore it is of wider interest than just one man.

[Halder]

There's an interesting discussion on the book over at the Axis History Forum: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=170318

I say "interesting" because the author's stepped in...

[JMcCulloch]

I am reading the book and sadly my review will be mixed. It is well done in some ways and it is certainly destined for a paperback edition and maybe even a t.v. film. But there are serious flaws with the book's methodology, editing and historical interpretation. I was appalled that some basic 'primary sources" were not used and yet other, much weaker secondary sources were included.

Webers' fascination with the Christmas Truce is understandable, given that Hitler's regiment took part in the "festivities" and the book is about how the war "shaped Hitler's world view", but I was still taken aback at the length of discussion about this one incident.

I was also saddened by the lack of "post war" discussion of Hitlers' ostensible World War One career. While Weber goes to great lengths to discuss how members of BRIR16 were not all fervent Nazis and discusses to some degree how Hitlers' war was used as Nazi propaganda, the essential point I feel was missed.

Hitler's war experiences AND his winning of the prestigious iron cross FIRST CLASS mattered a LOT in Weimar Germany. They gave him valuable and needed "street cred" with other right wing paramilitary groups- notably the Stahlhelm and Freikorps. Also, his "Darwinist" experiences and world view slotted into the "Volkish" cultural notions held by millions of middle class Germans. His Iron Cross 1st class even made him 'accessible" as a "man of the people" to Socialists and Communists. Ernst Thalmann himself noted in a speech about Hitler in 1931 that "one can not disregard his war-time experiences as a trench fighter".

The footnotes are a nightmare and I am DEEPLY frustrated by the mention of some facts without footnotes. For example, he cites "a newspaper report from the summer of 1918" regarding iron cross awards, but nowhere is this specified.

Still, I GREATLY admire the young authors' pluck. Doing a book on Hitler could easily be a career killer for a modern academic. I would very much like to read Norman Stone or Nial Ferguson's review of the book. He seems to be well known to both men.

The writing style is long-winded and more "legalistic" than academic and flowing. The author takes great pains at precision, but I am a firm believer in the art of historical writing, rather than trying to be as exact in wording as one has to be in say, creating tax regulations.

The author could and should have used this forum for some background information on the List regiment's first battles with the BEF.

[honorfilms]

I am intrigued by this. I am currently editing my WWI novel a portion of which involves Adolf Hitler from his training in Munich to the end of December 1914 in the trenches.

I am pulling my facts from the source - a book called 'Das KB Reserve Infanterie Regiment Nr. 16, List" by author Fridolin Solleder, printed in 1933 (I think). It was written from the List Regiment actual records and is supposed to be as accurate as any can be.

Trouble is it is written in GERMAN. Not just German but that old script German that is difficult to read even if you are German literate. I have it as a PDF.

I need a translation of the first 93 pages. Does anyone know where I can get this translated into English so my account of the List Regiment is accurate in my novel?

Thanks

Julian

(living in Los Angeles)

[JMcCulloch]

Can you send it to me? I think I can have it done easily. Are you willing to pay a modest fee to have this done at all?