[pplassm]

Flashback to 1933: US ad industry digs Hitler - Boing Boing

GERMANY: Man of the Year, 1938 - TIME

 

[bluehawk1]

Hitler

So, what did the little sh:t have to say that was so compelling?

Actually it was what he did, and the way he did it that is of greater interest. We are all familiar with the vilified image of Hitler after his infamous attempt to rule the world with his "master race". With hundreds of books about the man, perhaps the most definitive are by Ian Kershaw--the two shown below, divided historically from 1889-1936 and from 1936-1945.

Perhaps in today's terminology the man had some self esteem issues. But the world in which we now live was largely shaped by his maniacal ambitions and the resulting war which ended it all.

 

[seruzawa]

I've been sort of interested in reading that actually. Amazing as it seems now, it was a HUGE bestseller in the 1930's worldwide. Intellectuals, politicians, ordinary citizens were all buying it, reading it, and arguing over it. One old US government sponsored movie I was watching was intended to debunk it. So, what did the little sh:t have to say that was so compelling?

I have a 1936 copy of Mein Kampf. I've tried to read it twice. But the rambling and frankly insane structure made me give up both times. Too much disjointed talk of blood and race and lebensraum, it's really an exercise in insanity as it leaps around from subject to subject. Unfortunately too many modern politicians make about as much logical sense as Hitler did.

 

[seruzawa]

Perhaps in today's terminology the man had some self esteem issues.

I think you get today's understatement prize.

 

[bluehawk1]

Mein Kampf

I have a 1936 copy of Mein Kampf.

This might be worth some bucks among the collectors. I assume that your 1936 copy is the English version. Who is the publisher?

 

[seruzawa]

This might be worth some bucks among the collectors. I assume that your 1936 copy is the English version. Who is the publisher?

It was part of a special printing of books in English that were distributed free in an attempt to alert the world of the dangers of Hitler. I can read German after a fashion but too slowly to be of much value. There's a frontispiece that is signed by a lot of the respected people of the time... Churchill, Somerset Maugham, etc. It's even in the original dust jacket.

 

[bluehawk1]

Mein Kampf

There's a frontispiece that is signed by a lot of the respected people of the time... Churchill, Somerset Maugham, etc. It's even in the original dust jacket.

Those signatures make it especially valuable. Did you ever have it appraised by a reputable book dealer?

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

It was part of a special printing of books in English that were distributed free in an attempt to alert the world of the dangers of Hitler. I can read German after a fashion but too slowly to be of much value. There's a frontispiece that is signed by a lot of the respected people of the time... Churchill, Somerset Maugham, etc. It's even in the original dust jacket.

Can I borrow it for a couple of weeks?