Sebastian Haffner

?Gewissermaßen in Widerlegung des bekannten Wortes von Karl Kraus, daß ihm zu Hitler nichts mehr einfalle, legt der deutsch-britische Publizist Sebastian Haffner ein neues unorthodoxes Buch über den deutschen Diktator vor, in welchem der Autor demonstriert, daß man sehr wohl noch in ganz anderer Weise an das Hitler-Phänomen herangehen kann, als das in der Literaturflut der letzten Jahre geschehen ist.? Mit diesen Worten eröffnete die Neue Zürcher Zeitung ihren Kommentar zum Erscheinen des weithin aufsehenerregenden Hitler-Buches. Kaum ein herausragender Rezensent ließ es sich nehmen, den Band demonstrativ ausführlich zu besprechen. Monatelang führten die Anmerkungen des kenntnisreichen Außenseiters die Bestsellerlisten an. In sieben eigenständigen Kapiteln mit den Titeln 'Leben', 'Leistungen', 'Erfolge', 'Irrtümer', 'Fehler', 'Verbrechen' und 'Verrat' versucht der Autor, das Phänomen Hitler von verschiedenen Seiten, unter verschiedenen Aspekten und an verschiedenen Schlüsselstellen seiner Lebenskonstellation zu erhellen - einer Lebenskonstellation, die uns mit ihren abrupten Brüchen und Sprüngen und ihren politischen Erlösungs- und Rettungsmythen noch immer Rätsel aufgibt.

A remarkable historical and psychological study of the enigma of Adolf Hitler and his impact on the twentieth century - by the bestselling author of DEFYING HITLER. 'Dazzlingly brilliant' OBSERVER

An absolute classic of autobiography and history - one of the few books to explore how and why the Germans were seduced by Hitler and Nazism. 'If you have never read a book about Nazi Germany before, or if you have already read a thousand, I would urge you to read DEFYING HITLER. It sings with wisdom and understanding' DAILY MAIL

A few years ago, Sebastian Haffner's DEFYING HITLER, a memoir about growing up in interwar Germany, sold over forty thousand copies. After he moved to Britain in the 1930s Haffner became so shocked about the situation in his native country that he wrote this book, GERMANY: JEKYLL AND HYDE, in an effort to help people understand the danger Hitler presented to the world. An incredibly accessible book, it is packed with acute analysis of both Hitler and the German people - from the Nazi leaders all the way down to those who opposed them - and is a must-read for anyone interested in the literature of the Second World War.

Both works in this volume - a play by Carl Zuckmayer (1896-1977) and an unusual contemporary study of Nazi Germany by Sebastian Haffner (1907-99) - bear testimony to the disturbing events that were to change German history in the aftermath of World War I. The abridged translation of The Devil's General, which was approved by Zuckmayer himself, is about a World War I flier who commits suicide as he comes to realize the unintended havoc he has wrought in his obsession to fly. Sebastian Haffner, whose real name was Raimund Pretzel (which was changed with the publication of Germany: Jekyll and Hyde), remained a controversial journalist all his life, working for both left-wing and right-wing journals. The work excerpted here was written in 1940 when Haffner, reared in a liberal tradition, was in a British detention camp as an enemy alien.

A memoir on the rise of Nazism in Germany and the lives of ordinary German citizens between the two world wars finds the author witnessing such developments as the rise of the First Free Corps, the Hitler Youth movement and Stresemann years, and Hitler's coming to power. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

When Churchill died, one might have thought that it was not a man who was being borne to his grave, but British history itself - a resplendent, fortunate history whose last illustrious chapter Churchill himself had written almost a quarter of a century before.

Sebastian Haffners Churchill-Biographie gilt unter Kennern und Laien als brillant erzähltes Stück Zeitgeschichte. Analyse und Anekdoten mischen sich zu anregender Lektüre; die Persönlichkeit des Mannes, der 1940 seinem Land "Blut und Tränen" abverlangte, gewinnt im scharfen Blick Haffners überraschende Konturen.

Wie kaum ein anderer hat Sebastian Haffner (1907-1999) die politische Lage Deutschlands kommentiert. Seine "Anmerkungen zu Hitler", nach Erscheinen 1978 monatelang auf den Bestsellerlisten,haben ihn weltweit bekannt gemacht. In sieben Kapiteln analysiert er das Phänomen Hitler: "Ein geistvolles, originelles und klärendes Buch", urteilte Golo Mann. 1979 las Haffner seine "Anmerkungen" für den SFB ein. Seine Stimme zieht auch den heutigen Zuhörer sofort in den Bann, seine Argumentationskraft und stilistische Brillanz machen das Zuhören zu einem Ereignis. Der hervorragende Text wird durch die Lesung zu einem außergewöhnlichen Tondokument. "Es gibt in dieser Kürze, dieser Dichte nichts Besseres." Süddeutsche Zeitung "Haffner klingt, wie er schreibt: klar, konzentriert." Leipziger Volkszeitung

This is a remarkable historical and psychological examination of the enigma of Adolf Hitler--who he was, how he wielded power, and why he was destined to fail.Beginning with Hitler's early life, Sebastian Haffner probes the historical, political, and emotional forces that molded his character. In examining the inhumanity of a man for whom politics became a substitute for life, he discusses Hitler's bizarre relationships with women, his arrested psychological development, his ideological misconceptions, his growing obsession with racial extermination, and the murderous rages of his distorted mind. Finally, Haffner confronts the most disturbing question of all: Could another Hitler rise to power in modern Germany?