Mein Kampf from a history lovers point of view, is a great read. However, if your not a fan of the history subject you may find this book to be increadibly boring, a continuous flow of long words and sentences before our time. Understanding the complete facts about the second World War, is to understand both sides. If you only keep yourself to a one sided story, your no better than any of those critics or movie makers that produce films that slander our country. Such as Ferinhight 9/11. Excuse my spelling as I'm sure I mis-spelled quite a few words in this writing. If you plan on reading this book, understand what your getting yourself into. Yes, you may find some chapters to be increadibly obscene and stupid. Yes, I had to force myself through a couple of chapters. But, I promiss if you read this book, it may very well bring you to a better understanding of what was happening politicly and personaly to the people of Germany the few years before the second World War. All in All. I felt it was a good read. Do I believe everything and agree with him on everything he has to say???.......No.....

[...]

What I read so far is fascinating so I guess I'll have to order another version of this book so I can finish reading it.

Jeff Marzano

The Mind of Adolf Hitler the Secret Wartime Report

The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956

First Circle

AN AUTOBIGRAPHICAL BOOK OF HITLER.
A PRICELESS MANUSCRIPT OF A MANS DESIRE TO CREATE A WORLD IN WHICH HE ALONE WILL RULE,A MILLION MAD MEN WILL HAVE WRITTEN BOOKS LIKE THIS AN NO ONE WILL TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY YET HE CAME CLOSE TO ACHIEVEING HIS VISION,HOW EVER DELUDED HE WAS, HOWEVER EVIL HE WAS ,THIS BOOK IS A TEMPLATE OF HIS VISION AND VIEWS.

From my point of view this is probably one of the most important books written. This is one of those books that changes history. Yes, this means I completely disagree with what Hitler said about books. He mentioned that books don't change history, but a good speaker/leader does. While this is very true, books usually exist in conjunction with this. I think you need both because the book is far more timeless than the speaker and often times a book precedes a major turning point for a movement. Look at texts like "The Bible", "The Principia," or Euclid's "The Thirteen Elements". All these texts were turning points in history and changed the way we look at the world. "Mein Kampf" would forever change the way we looked at the world as well. It literally moved nations to act... in opposition of such a major power struggle.

I do not advocate Hitler's methodology in what he did, but I do acknowledge the profound impact it has left on the world and the major advancements we were all forced to make in realms such as technology. Now that this book is part of history you can't help but think of the "what if..." scenarios as I read through this massive text, I'll play into these concepts as I touch upon specific areas. Now I'm not a World War II or World War I historian by any means, so it was a hard book for me to read some of the more minute details Hitler referenced in this book. However, I read it more for the prospects in philosophy.

This particular edition is split into two different volumes with an excellent introduction by the translator. Volume I was printed in 1925 and then Volume II came out in the year 1926, so they were written very close together. The first was mostly philosophical and recounts his childhood growing up. The second was more a general history of the political party and how to deal with foreign nations. It's interesting that Hitler didn't put out any other books after these two and I assume it's because his involvement in politics took up much more of his time and no longer had the free time to write. However, they did find another book he was working on after the fall of the Reich and is now published as "Hitler's Second Book". This edition is great because it compared the first printing with the second printing and footnotes the discrepancies. It also adds in details on the people Hitler named specifically in this book who would be relatively unknown to the rest of the world outside Nazi Germany and especially helpful to me because I haven't read that much about this period in history to know the extreme details. In Volume's I and II Hitler specifically references incidents in World War I that really helped shape the beliefs he has here.

Anyway the introduction that prefaces this edition is rather lengthy, but well worth the read. It adds more of the historical background into the text you are about to dig into. It has interesting anecdotes about Hitler's involvement with the party, like in the text he states he was the seventh member of the DAP, but later it was found out he was 555th and this was corroborated with an unsent letter from Drexler, one of the founders. In fact when historian's looked at the membership items that were left behind after the war they could see that Hitler's had been altered physically. Also the introduction has an excellent overview of the printing of this book. Such as how it is not allowed to be printed in certain countries. Luckily in my country no such restrictions apply to any printed document, so I am free to read and review whatever I wish, regardless of how inaccurate a printed document is. I'm definitely glad there was an introduction even though it added another twenty pages onto an already daunting read. The introduction also forewarns us that Hitler can have a tendency to ramble in forms that eventually make little sense. I'm glad this warning was stated because when reading this book it was quite clear when Hitler felt particularly passionate about the subject he started to go off on these ridiculous tangents and tirades, often times in run on sentence form.

In the spirit of this book, I will review Volume I separately from Volume II. So first we discuss Hitler's philosophy and growing up. Personally, I think Hitler should have stuck with the philosophical approach and left politics to the politicians (regardless of the fact this didn't mesh with his philosophy). Hitler's main point in doing the things he believed in was to change society for the better. It's very clear that he truly thought he would be saving the world and putting Germany in the forefront of being that savior. Hitler's conclusion was that it would most easily be changed through moving into the political realm. He specifically outlined his plan for getting access to the political realm and the backing of the people through propaganda. He even spells out that the propaganda doesn't always have to be true; it just needs to draw a person's attention. Realistically, when we look back on what he was planning on doing and how he did it, none of the world should have been shocked that this is what would happen. He pretty clearly outlines where his prejudices are and why he has them.

Hitler starts his story as a young boy growing up and becoming disillusioned with the world around him. His father wouldn't let him do what he really wanted to do, which was art. He doesn't seem like the over confident Hitler that history portrays today. In fact I would say the movie "Max" starring Noah Taylor as Hitler did a pretty good portrayal of that possibility, only that movie was not about Hitler in his High School years, so it was a little unrealistic. When World War I started Hitler joined the military and I think this is where his confidence in himself really started to take root. This is also where he became convinced that propaganda was the key to winning the war because upon viewing the enemy's propaganda it was better than what Germany was putting out. It would appear his assumption was correct; since via propaganda he got many crowds gathered to listen to him speak.

Probably the most well known facet of his beliefs is the anti-Semitism that brought on the Holocaust. He eventually ended up in Vienna and I think this is where his prejudice became firm. You can see where his theory turns into some sort of paranoid dementia, because before you knew it he was calling everyone on the street a Jew in disgust. This was mostly based on looking at the person and guessing. He believed they had penetrated the newspaper industry and were completely lying to everyone in the world. As Volume I continues you find that eventually this belief grows into him thinking that they also controlled the governments. I think a lot of this stemmed from one other text, which he mentions in this book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." This is a hoax that has existed for a while and first started getting published in 1897. I believe the global conspiracy outlined in that book only solidified what Hitler suspected with his newspaper theory. I was surprised that Hitler had originally wanted to start out as an artist and actually held a few gallery viewings of his work. I wonder at this point if there is any Hitler original art around. If I remember correctly I heard actually wasn't a very good artist. It's interesting to note that as Hitler continues with his tirades I this book, you can tell he has a special soft spot for art because he wants more of that industries presence in Germany.

Overall I was surprised at how little anti-Semitism there was in the book in comparison to the length of the text. I was actually expecting a lot more. Don't mistake me, he took jabs wherever he possibly could and there was an entire chapter dedicated to the subject. However, I felt like in the first volume he spent more time criticizing the Slavs and the Austrians as being a much more immediate problem. It's almost as if the first and foremost problem was his own government and Austria; the issue of the Jewish population was a more of a global problem and probably seemed to be less immediate. You get a wholly different feel by the time we reach Volume II though.

I was also very surprised at the countries he referenced as being respectable, specifically England and America. He must have been greatly disappointed in England when they refused to side with him during World War II and he must have felt doubly wrong about his initial assessment of America when we funded a lot of his enemies. Being an American I found some of his comments curious since it seems he felt we had a dominant German aspect of our country. I found this odd since it was essentially founded by England and France mostly. I couldn't help but think that Hitler was misinterpreting his history or the books he was reading were just plain wrong.

For the most part Hitler is a pretty good writer. I found that he appears very intelligent and very well read, also very arrogant. He has sections that discuss the part of his life where he was looking into the political arena and when he came across the German Workers' Party. He doesn't hesitate to point out how superior his ideas were or how much better things worked when done his way. From the point of view of a leader, this seems counter to what you would want. Since his ability to elevate his own status seems to be his main underlying motive rather than helping his people, despite what he actually says. There is one instance when he was recounting the first speeches given for the party and how the first speaker was rather boring, but when he spoke the crowd became excited and into the words, they stood up and cheered even. History recounts Hitler as a very excellent speaker and I have no doubt this is true, but it's curious to see that he puts himself over his own party members constantly in this book. There were also sections where he got very passionate about a topic that became very confusing, as I explained above. I don't think this speaks to his inability to write, but rather his inability to write clearly when he is really trying to get his point across on a topic he believes as a core problem.

Either way you looked at it, I couldn't help but think by the end of Volume I that Hitler would have been one of the world's most celebrated leaders if he had just put his prejudice aside. This was the case... at least until I read Volume II. Through Volume I he seems to genuinely want to help his people and the world around him. The one major crux in his argument is that he believed in some overly prejudice driven conspiracy. I think Hitler really had to start struggling in the end when it was becoming even clearer that the Jews weren't as well off in Germany as he believed they were, especially during the great depression. I was surprised at his focus on helping the middle class and a seemingly focal point on intelligence and action. It appeared his main push to change the nation was centered on elevating the knowledge of the German peoples as well as moving them to the desire for action to help their nation. I think this is a great point and he's most certainly not wrong about it being needed. However, my interpretation of this concept would be dashed by Volume II...

Volume II made it incredibly clear to me that Hitler had no place in becoming a leader and especially no place on deciding education reform. Shortly into Volume II he has a lengthy chapter on what he plans to do with education to bolster a more national spirit for young Germans and to create what he refers to as a "folkish state". The concept of the "folkish state" is discussed in great length throughout Volume II and seems to be the main focus. One of the first things he was going to do was decrease the amount of time in classrooms and increase the amount of time for exercise. Following this he would decrease the amount of subjects being taught in school. This completely conflicts with his desire for an intelligent Germany, and he also discusses at length how the intelligentsia of the area are all weaklings and spineless. He notes that many students learn quite a bit of frivolous subjects in High School, which is true, but I personally believe that being a well rounded student is far better. I do agree that people need more exercise, this is painfully clear to me living in America, but to sacrifice the access to knowledge is not a viable solution! He complains at length that too many people complain about certain political actions, but being spineless professors they never actually do anything about it. Hitler sought to change this and part of this included that right after High School the population (men) would go directly into the military. Hitler being a Veteran clearly thought his experience taught him strength, so he thought that what was good for him would be good for everyone else. If only such things were true, this is clearly something that cannot be put into practice. A lot of these crazy ideas may have seemed plausible on paper, but realistically they are a fool's errand... an errand Hitler was intent on running! After a citizens completion of Army service they were then allowed into the community to pursue whatever higher level career they saw fit to pursue. His purpose in High School was to expose the students to enough generalities for them to make a choice, which is a good idea, but his plan of execution was fairly far fetched and unrealistic. Personally, in 2008, I don't think High Schools are teaching students enough to prepare them for college or to perform in the working world. So it would seem less education on academics is not the answer, but the world really does need to find some kind of a balance on this subject, even Hitler recognized that and he lived in a vastly different era from our own.

Volume II also takes a drastic turn in terms of anti-Semitism and his foreign relations outlook. England seems to have been demoted into a nation that they could possibly not ally with due to the financial control of the Jewish empire. The United States was also seen as a victim of this disease, but his knowledge of American finance seems to have been quite limited. Granted there were some major firms in the U.S. that were founded by German Jews, namely Goldman Sachs, but what about firms like J.P. Morgan? In terms of the major American firms there was a balance and in the 1930's Goldman Sachs nearly went out of business in the Great Depression, so clearly this racial favoring of economic power was quite unfounded. I think Hitler spoke on these foreign nations rather out of turn because it was pretty clear he didn't know all that much about the nations and had gotten all of his knowledge from books, which may have been biased. For he terms Ford as one of the only free American business men, but in the second printing he no longer names Ford specifically, I felt this was curious. This was a drastic change from my perspective after reading Volume I, where he praised America. So even within his own book he is very contradictory. Also the focal point of being against the Slavs and Austrians has been replaced by Germany's mortal enemy... France. This sort of came out of nowhere, since in Volume I they were not "mortal enemies" just the regular kind. Hitler must have read a lot more on the subject and decided the French were far worse than they once appeared. I find all this curious because he prefaces Volume II, with saying that it's going to be about the party history and formation. The above topics have nothing to do with the party history or its formation, rather Hitler's own pet peeves about the problems that he saw after World War I.

Most of this Volume is spent complaining about current (1920's) Bourgeoisie decision making and discussing what Hitler plans to do to fix that. I personally wasn't buying it, but then again, his book is so long that I doubt many of the general workers ever actually read what he wrote. He did spell out in Volume I that he was essentially going to dupe the masses into following him by creating the best propaganda to get people to go to the meetings. At that point he probably understood the concept of mob madness and let that do the rest for him. He recounts his early involvement with the party as becoming the head of propaganda, which is what he wanted because he believed propaganda, first and foremost, was the fulcrum to a party's success. Hitler even points out that it doesn't matter if the party is well organized at that time if the propaganda doesn't bring the masses in, they will have nothing to organize in the first place. He also discusses at length the rarity of a man who can organize and lead well; I couldn't help but feel that he thought himself to be such a man. He was a brilliant strategist and acutely aware of the power of the threat of violence on the general populace, especially after a major war that was still fresh in peoples memories. One of his main points was that he believed that it didn't matter what the people knew as long as an intelligent leader was looking out for them, and it's clear he believed that he was the person that could truly help the most and should be leader. This is regardless of the violence he would have to inflict; besides he only wanted strong people to be German anyway, so a show of strength went a long way with him.

It's interesting to also note that he clearly wanted to rewrite some of the annals of history to favor the German people. In his long winded explanation of the Folkish State he points out that he believes the Aryan's are the only ones who could ever develop culture. No, he wasn't referring to the peoples belonging to the nation of India, but rather the Germanic peoples. See, the term Aryan comes from India, and I have no idea if Hitler knew this or not, but that's its origin. Indians clearly wouldn't have been high on his list, and certainly didn't qualify as those being able to create culture despite their history of creating that vast nation. Rather, it appears the legend and concept of the Aryan survived and came down to Hitler as the superior race. For some reason he equated that with the Germanic peoples. His whole concept of the white population being the only force intelligent enough to create culture is clearly unfounded. He gets even more contradictory in this concept since he was well aware that Germany was vastly tribal up until the Roman invasions. He states the reason was that "we were a young people". This is just foolishness because it was trade in technology that eventually brought what we call "civilization" today to the Germanic tribes. It has nothing to do with them being the only creative force in the world. He completely ignores the fact that Egypt existed long before as a civilization. I question whether he knew of the Arab city-states of Sumer, but it doesn't explain Egypt. I think Hitler merely viewed them as "uncivilized" or "not a cultured" or whatever other twisted elaboration he wanted to thrust upon them. Either way, he does not explain his reasoning in detail, and just states matter of factly that only Aryans harbor the creative force to develop culture and no one else.

Overall I walked away with reading a superb book, in my opinion. At times it was very hard to read and I will be the first to admit that not everyone will struggle through this thing. There are too many sections of rambling that don't drive home the main points. It all sounds very smart at first glance, but when you sit down and analyze what he's saying inherent contradictions come to the surface. Then it occurs to the reader that most of his language use is merely superfluous for the sake of sounding intelligent (much like this sentence). No one wants an incredibly inconsistent leader (however, I feel like that's all we get at times!). Despite the racial hatred, I am glad I read this book, it gives me a great historical perspective and I now understand where Hitler was coming from. On a philosophical note, it really makes me think of the concept of evil and how that plays into perspectives. From Hitler's perspective he thought he was saving his people. He thought he was actually saving the world from the greatest threat and he really thought the other nations would see the truth that he saw and back him up. Alas, for Hitler he was chasing after rumors and ghosts that didn't actually exist.

In reading this I also couldn't help but wonder about what the world is like today. Lots of "what if" questions come to mind. Despite the incredible tragedy that Hitler wrought on so many lives, it was really the need to ramp up production of war elements that brought the world out of the great depression. So Hitler really did end up helping the world in this sense by provoking everyone to action. He also motivated the world to increase production and research into massive amounts of technology. Atomic energy might not have come to us as soon as it has without this provocation. I can't deny this factor. Also, I have to look at the historical perspective that the country I now reside in is the major world power because of Hitler's actions against Europe! Many people will probably consider these horrible thoughts, but I can't deny the reality of the situation and it leaves me to wonder that if Hitler had become the artist he always wanted to be, would we be in the same situation? Would Israel exist today if he never came to power? After World War II the Cold War went quickly into effect and I wonder if I would even have the internet to relay my ideas if World War II had never taken place, since that also forced us to ramp up production and research in technology. As a philosophical perspective these are all very profound concepts and questions. Despite all the horror that was wrought in the war, if you step back with the utilitarian perspective of Mills and look at all that has come out of the war that has elevated our lives and the economy as a whole.

On the reverse side, what if Hitler had actually succeeded in what he wanted to do? Israel surely wouldn't exist today. Would Christianity be the same? Since he seemed to respect Christianity and he was surely no atheist, so would his disdain for the Jewish people provoke him to edit the Bible down to just the New Testament? I've already said before that he clearly sought to rewrite history and I don't think anything would be out of his grasp. I do know one thing for sure though, I wouldn't have been able to read all the books I have under a reign like that, and I most surely would not have been able to criticize this book as I have in such a society. Thankfully his party was not in power for a long time, but apparently long enough to change the world.

From my point of view this is probably one of the most important books written. This is one of those books that changes history. Yes, this means I completely disagree with what Hitler said about books. He mentioned that books don't change history, but a good speaker/leader does. While this is very true, books usually exist in conjunction with this. I think you need both because the book is far more timeless than the speaker and often times a book precedes a major turning point for a movement. Look at texts like "The Bible", "The Principia," or "Euclid's Thirteen Elements". All these texts were turning points in history and changed the way we look at the world. "Mein Kampf" would forever change the way we looked at the world as well. It literally moved nations to act... in opposition of such a major power struggle.

I do not advocate Hitler's methodology in what he did, but I do acknowledge the profound impact it has left on the world and the major advancements we were all forced to make in realms such as technology. Now that this book is part of history you can't help but think of the "what if..." scenarios as I read through this massive text, I'll play into these concepts as I touch upon specific areas. Now I'm not a World War II or World War I historian by any means, so it was a hard book for me to read some of the more minute details Hitler referenced in this book. However, I read it more for the prospects in philosophy.

This particular edition is split into two different volumes with an excellent introduction by the translator. Volume I was printed in 1925 and then Volume II came out in the year 1926, so they were written very close together. The first was mostly philosophical and recounts his childhood growing up. The second was more a general history of the political party and how to deal with foreign nations. It's interesting that Hitler didn't put out any other books after these two and I assume it's because his involvement in politics took up much more of his time and no longer had the free time to write. However, they did find another book he was working on after the fall of the Reich and is now published as "Hitler's Second Book". This edition is great because it compared the first printing with the second printing and footnotes the discrepancies. It also adds in details on the people Hitler named specifically in this book who would be relatively unknown to the rest of the world outside Nazi Germany and especially helpful to me because I haven't read that much about this period in history to know the extreme details. In Volume's I and II Hitler specifically references incidents in World War I that really helped shape the beliefs he has here.

Anyway the introduction that prefaces this edition is rather lengthy, but well worth the read. It adds more of the historical background into the text you are about to dig into. It has interesting anecdotes about Hitler's involvement with the party, like in the text he states he was the seventh member, but later it was found out he was twenty-fifth and this was corroborated with another member of the party at the time. In fact when historian's looked at the membership items that were left behind after the war they could see that Hitler's had been altered physically. I'm definitely glad there was an introduction even though it added another twenty pages onto an already daunting read. The introduction also forewarns us that Hitler can have a tendency to ramble in forms that eventually make little sense. I'm glad this warning was stated because when reading this book it was quite clear when Hitler felt particularly passionate about the subject he started to go off on these ridiculous tangents and tirades, often times in run on sentence form.

In the spirit of this book, I will review Volume I separately from Volume II. So first we discuss Hitler's philosophy and growing up. Personally, I think Hitler should have stuck with the philosophical approach and left politics to the politicians (regardless of the fact this didn't mesh with his philosophy). Hitler's main point in doing the things he believed in was to change society for the better. It's very clear that he truly thought he would be saving the world and putting Germany in the forefront of being that savior. Hitler's conclusion was that it would most easily be changed through moving into the political realm. He specifically outlined his plan for getting access to the political realm and the backing of the people through propaganda. He even spells out that the propaganda doesn't always have to be true; it just needs to draw a person's attention. Realistically, when we look back on what he was planning on doing and how he did it, none of the world should have been shocked that this is what would happen. He pretty clearly outlines where his prejudices are and why he has them.

Hitler starts his story as a young boy growing up and becoming disillusioned with the world around him. His father wouldn't let him do what he really wanted to do, which was art. He doesn't seem like the over confident Hitler that history portrays today. In fact I would say the movie "Max" starring Noah Taylor as Hitler did a pretty good portrayal of that possibility, only that movie was not about Hitler in his High School years, so it was a little unrealistic. When World War I started Hitler joined the military and I think this is where his confidence in himself really started to take root. This is also where he became convinced that propaganda was the key to winning the war because upon viewing the enemy's propaganda it was better than what Germany was putting out. It would appear his assumption was correct; since via propaganda he got many crowds gathered to listen to him speak.

Probably the most well known facet of his beliefs is the anti-Semitism that brought on the Holocaust. He eventually ended up in Vienna and I think this is where his prejudice became firm. You can see where his theory turns into some sort of paranoid dementia, because before you knew it he was calling everyone on the street a Jew in disgust. This was mostly based on looking at the person and guessing. He believed they had penetrated the newspaper industry and were completely lying to everyone in the world. As Volume I continues you find that eventually this belief grows into him thinking that they also controlled the governments. I think a lot of this stemmed from one other text, which he mentions in this book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." This is a hoax that has existed for a very long time on our planet and dates back to the middle ages. I believe the global conspiracy outlined in that book only solidified what Hitler suspected with his newspaper theory. I was surprised that Hitler had originally wanted to start out as an artist and actually held a few gallery viewings of his work. I wonder at this point if there is any Hitler original art around. If I remember correctly I heard actually wasn't a very good artist. It's interesting to note that as Hitler continues with his tirades I this book, you can tell he has a special soft spot for art because he wants more of that industries presence in Germany.

Overall I was surprised at how little anti-Semitism there was in the book in comparison to the length of the text. I was actually expecting a lot more. Don't mistake me, he took jabs wherever he possibly could and there was an entire chapter dedicated to the subject. However, I felt like in the first volume he spent more time criticizing the Slavs and the Austrians as being a much more immediate problem. It's almost as if the first and foremost problem was his own government and Austria; the issue of the Jewish population was a more of a global problem and probably seemed to be less immediate. You get a wholly different feel by the time we reach Volume II though.

I was also very surprised at the countries he referenced as being respectable, specifically England and America. He must have been greatly disappointed in England when they refused to side with him during World War II and he must have felt doubly wrong about his initial assessment of America when we funded a lot of his enemies. Being an American I found some of his comments curious since it seems he felt we had a dominant German aspect of our country. I found this odd since it was essentially founded by England and France mostly. I couldn't help but think that Hitler was misinterpreting his history or the books he was reading were just plain wrong.

For the most part Hitler is a pretty good writer. I found that he appears very intelligent and very well read, also very arrogant. He has sections that discuss the part of his life where he was looking into the political arena and when he came across the German Workers' Party. He doesn't hesitate to point out how superior his ideas were or how much better things worked when done his way. From the point of view of a leader, this seems counter to what you would want. Since his ability to elevate his own status seems to be his main underlying motive rather than helping his people, despite what he actually says. There is one instance when he was recounting the first speeches given for the party and how the first speaker was rather boring, but when he spoke the crowd became excited and into the words, they stood up and cheered even. History recounts Hitler as a very excellent speaker and I have no doubt this is true, but it's curious to see that he puts himself over his own party members constantly in this book. There were also sections where he got very passionate about a topic that became very confusing, as I explained above. I don't think this speaks to his inability to write, but rather his inability to write clearly when he is really trying to get his point across on a topic he believes as a core problem.

Either way you looked at it, I couldn't help but think by the end of Volume I that Hitler would have been one of the world's most celebrated leaders if he had just put his prejudice aside. This was the case... at least until I read Volume II. Through Volume I he seems to genuinely want to help his people and the world around him. The one major crux in his argument is that he believed in some overly prejudice driven conspiracy. I think Hitler really had to start struggling in the end when it was becoming even clearer that the Jews weren't as well off in Germany as he believed they were, especially during the great depression. I was surprised at his focus on helping the middle class and a seemingly focal point on intelligence and action. It appeared his main push to change the nation was centered on elevating the knowledge of the German peoples as well as moving them to the desire for action to help their nation. I think this is a great point and he's most certainly not wrong about it being needed. However, my interpretation of this concept would be dashed by Volume II...

Volume II made it incredibly clear to me that Hitler had no place in becoming a leader and especially no place on deciding education reform. Shortly into Volume II he has a lengthy chapter on what he plans to do with education to bolster a more national spirit for young Germans and to create what he refers to as a "folkish state". The concept of the "folkish state" is discussed in great length throughout Volume II and seems to be the main focus. One of the first things he was going to do was decrease the amount of time in classrooms and increase the amount of time for exercise. Following this he would decrease the amount of subjects being taught in school. This completely conflicts with his desire for an intelligent Germany, and he also discusses at length how the intelligentsia of the area are all weaklings and spineless. He notes that many students learn quite a bit of frivolous subjects in High School, which is true, but I personally believe that being a well rounded student is far better. I do agree that people need more exercise, this is painfully clear to me living in America, but to sacrifice the access to knowledge is not a viable solution! He complains at length that too many people complain about certain political actions, but being spineless professors they never actually do anything about it. Hitler sought to change this and part of this included that right after High School the population (men) would go directly into the military. Hitler being a Veteran clearly thought his experience taught him strength, so he thought that what was good for him would be good for everyone else. If only such things were true, this is clearly something that cannot be put into practice. A lot of these crazy ideas may have seemed plausible on paper, but realistically they are a fool's errand... an errand Hitler was intent on running! After a citizens completion of Army service they were then allowed into the community to pursue whatever higher level career they saw fit to pursue. His purpose in High School was to expose the students to enough generalities for them to make a choice, which is a good idea, but his plan of execution was fairly far fetched and unrealistic. Personally, in 2008, I don't think High Schools are teaching students enough to prepare them for college or to perform in the working world. So it would seem less education on academics is not the answer, but the world really does need to find some kind of a balance on this subject, even Hitler recognized that and he lived in a vastly different era from our own.

Volume II also takes a drastic turn in terms of anti-Semitism and his foreign relations outlook. England seems to have been demoted into a nation that they could possibly not ally with due to the financial control of the Jewish empire. The United States was also seen as a victim of this disease, but his knowledge of American finance seems to have been quite limited. Granted there were some major firms in the U.S. that were founded by German Jews, namely Goldman Sachs, but what about firms like J.P. Morgan? In terms of the major American firms there was a balance and in the 1930's Goldman Sachs nearly went out of business in the Great Depression, so clearly this racial favoring of economic power was quite unfounded. I think Hitler spoke on these foreign nations rather out of turn because it was pretty clear he didn't know all that much about the nations and had gotten all of his knowledge from books, which may have been biased. For he terms Ford as one of the only free American business men, but in the second printing he no longer names Ford specifically, I felt this was curious. This was a drastic change from my perspective after reading Volume I, where he praised America. So even within his own book he is very contradictory. Also the focal point of being against the Slavs and Austrians has been replaced by Germany's mortal enemy... France. This sort of came out of nowhere, since in Volume I they were not "mortal enemies" just the regular kind. Hitler must have read a lot more on the subject and decided the French were far worse than they once appeared. I find all this curious because he prefaces Volume II, with saying that it's going to be about the party history and formation. The above topics have nothing to do with the party history or its formation, rather Hitler's own pet peeves about the problems that he saw after World War I.

Most of this Volume is spent complaining about current (1920's) Bourgeoisie decision making and discussing what Hitler plans to do to fix that. I personally wasn't buying it, but then again, his book is so long that I doubt many of the general workers ever actually read what he wrote. He did spell out in Volume I that he was essentially going to dupe the masses into following him by creating the best propaganda to get people to go to the meetings. At that point he probably understood the concept of mob madness and let that do the rest for him. He recounts his early involvement with the party as becoming the head of propaganda, which is what he wanted because he believed propaganda, first and foremost, was the fulcrum to a party's success. Hitler even points out that it doesn't matter if the party is well organized at that time if the propaganda doesn't bring the masses in, they will have nothing to organize in the first place. He also discusses at length the rarity of a man who can organize and lead well; I couldn't help but feel that he thought himself to be such a man. He was a brilliant strategist and acutely aware of the power of the threat of violence on the general populace, especially after a major war that was still fresh in peoples memories. One of his main points was that he believed that it didn't matter what the people knew as long as an intelligent leader was looking out for them, and it's clear he believed that he was the person that could truly help the most and should be leader. This is regardless of the violence he would have to inflict; besides he only wanted strong people to be German anyway, so a show of strength went a long way with him.

It's interesting to also note that he clearly wanted to rewrite some of the annals of history to favor the German people. In his long winded explanation of the Folkish State he points out that he believes the Aryan's are the only ones who could ever develop culture. No, he wasn't referring to the peoples belonging to the nation of India, but rather the Germanic peoples. See, the term Aryan comes from India, and I have no idea if Hitler knew this or not, but that's its origin. Indians clearly wouldn't have been high on his list, and certainly didn't qualify as those being able to create culture despite their history of creating that vast nation. Rather, it appears the legend and concept of the Aryan survived and came down to Hitler as the superior race. For some reason he equated that with the Germanic peoples. His whole concept of the white population being the only force intelligent enough to create culture is clearly unfounded. He gets even more contradictory in this concept since he was well aware that Germany was vastly tribal up until the Roman invasions. He states the reason was that "we were a young people". This is just foolishness because it was trade in technology that eventually brought what we call "civilization" today to the Germanic tribes. It has nothing to do with them being the only creative force in the world. He completely ignores the fact that Egypt existed long before as a civilization. I question whether he knew of the Arab city-states of Sumer, but it doesn't explain Egypt. I think Hitler merely viewed them as "uncivilized" or "not a cultured" or whatever other twisted elaboration he wanted to thrust upon them. Either way, he does not explain his reasoning in detail, and just states matter of factly that only Aryans harbor the creative force to develop culture and no one else.

Overall I walked away with reading a superb book, in my opinion. At times it was very hard to read and I will be the first to admit that not everyone will struggle through this thing. There are too many sections of rambling that don't drive home the main points. It all sounds very smart at first glance, but when you sit down and analyze what he's saying inherent contradictions come to the surface. Then it occurs to the reader that most of his language use is merely superfluous for the sake of sounding intelligent (much like this sentence). No one wants an incredibly inconsistent leader (however, I feel like that's all we get at times!). Despite the racial hatred, I am glad I read this book, it gives me a great historical perspective and I now understand where Hitler was coming from. On a philosophical note, it really makes me think of the concept of evil and how that plays into perspectives. From Hitler's perspective he thought he was saving his people. He thought he was actually saving the world from the greatest threat and he really thought the other nations would see the truth that he saw and back him up. Alas, for Hitler he was chasing after rumors and ghosts that didn't actually exist.

In reading this I also couldn't help but wonder about what the world is like today. Lots of "what if" questions come to mind. Despite the incredible tragedy that Hitler wrought on so many lives, it was really the need to ramp up production of war elements that brought the world out of the great depression. So Hitler really did end up helping the world in this sense by provoking everyone to action. He also motivated the world to increase production and research into massive amounts of technology. Atomic energy might not have come to us as soon as it has without this provocation. I can't deny this factor. Also, I have to look at the historical perspective that the country I now reside in is the major world power because of Hitler's actions against Europe! Many people will probably consider these horrible thoughts, but I can't deny the reality of the situation and it leaves me to wonder that if Hitler had become the artist he always wanted to be, would we be in the same situation? Would Israel exist today if he never came to power? After World War II the Cold War went quickly into effect and I wonder if I would even have the internet to relay my ideas if World War II had never taken place, since that also forced us to ramp up production and research in technology. As a philosophical perspective these are all very profound concepts and questions. Despite all the horror that was wrought in the war, if you step back with the utilitarian perspective of Mills and look at all that has come out of the war that has elevated our lives and the economy as a whole.

On the reverse side, what if Hitler had actually succeeded in what he wanted to do? Israel surely wouldn't exist today. Would Christianity be the same? Since he seemed to respect Christianity and he was surely no atheist, so would his disdain for the Jewish people provoke him to edit the Bible down to just the New Testament? I've already said before that he clearly sought to rewrite history and I don't think anything would be out of his grasp. I do know one thing for sure though, I wouldn't have been able to read all the books I have under a reign like that, and I most surely would not have been able to criticize this book as I have in such a society. Thankfully his party was not in power for a long time, but apparently long enough to change the world.

Mein Kampf is an interesting and powerful book to be sure. The book is not solely about the Jews, but I am writing my review in reference to Hitler's assertions therein, mostly because I am extremely disturbed by the content of many of the previous reviews. Hitler was a powerful figure, and obviously powerful still.

I was patently shocked how many reviewers were taken in by Hitler's ongoing method of argument. Throughout the book, he makes his points by randomly refering to various notions, texts and occurences to prove his own inaccurate points. Because he stipulates various references, he manages to appear educated and convincing. This is particluarly true the case in Hitler's discussion of the Jews where he randomly refers to Jewish ideals and texts for his own end. What I found most interesting was precisly how little Hitler understood Judaism (although one uneducated reviewer asserts the oppposite), a faith, a philosophy, and ethnicity but not a race. What I found most alarming about many of the reviews was that people, even after all that has happened, bought into his various lines of reasoning on so many subjects, even those outside Judaism. His assertions, particularly about the Talmud, are are vague and highly misconstrued. Judaism is a philosphical religion, an as such is open to ongoing debate at all times even in the 21st century. I was floored by one reviewer who uses Hitler's own tactics to his make outlandish statments about the work of Talmud and Maimonedes, a topic on which he has no keen undertanding.

For sure, Hitler is right about the Talmud in one respect: it is about life today, this moment and how to live it respectfully and well (although Hitler interprets this as a defect). While Christianity focuses on resurrection, Judaism focuses on the now, for tomorrow is uncertain and may not exist; for Jews, the afterlife, at best, is a shadowy thing.

The fact of the matter remains that Judaism is the only religion in which God accepts ALL people so long as they are good; Judaism does not define goodness by Jewishness, but by goodness itself; belief in Judaism is not required. You do not have to be one of "The Chosen," a term which Hitler throws around in incite his readers, to be worthy. (To be "Chosen" in Judaism actually means that you are one who has accepted the burden 613, often contradictory, laws. Those who are not "Chosen" must only accept 7, very easy and innately human laws of behavior.)

Mein Kampf is an important book and is hard to rate because it's can't be subject to "good" or "bad;" it stands outside such clear distinctions. It simply IS. While reading Mein Kampf I can only suggest that you read critically and take his assertions on all subjects with a grain of salt. It is arduous, self-serving and covertly incomplete. If you are at all interested in Hitler mind, this book is an obvious go to. It has people repeating and thus validating his injustices even now.

Hitler was a grand socialist. He proposed state control (regulation) of industry, economic interventionism, universal healthcare, and:

"We demand that the State shall make it its primary duty to provide a livelihood for its citizens. "

Oh, wait, that is just good old fashioned welfare statism a la Paul Krugman and H. Clinton.

The fact that we universally recognize Hitler's racism as evil, while adopting the same collectivist welfare statism, speaks to our ignorance.

Until individualism replaced collectivism, we will continue to see injustices against the individual from both the Liberals and Conservatives.

It seams odd, VERRY odd to have purchased this book. I am neither a Nazi, Neo Nazi nor simpathiser of ANY sort or degree!!!! You have NO idea
how much bull I have recieved for just haviiing it, especially from my jewish aquaintances, but I think it is IMPORTANT to learn from the past. "You Know Who" was a MONSTER, a mad MONSTER, undeniabely!!!!!!! He was, however unfortunately, also a genius!!!!!
I felt compelled to read this book in an attempt to find some degree of understanding and insight into how ANYONE could be SOOOO TWISTED, even EVIL!!!! For one man to do such things to another, let alone hundreds of thousands. His existance was a tragedy on ALL of humanity, a scar which can never be erased!!!! If humanity doesn't learn from it's mistakes it will be condemned to repeat them!!!!!!! There is knowledge in ALL things, no matter how horable and/or tragic!!!!!! LEARN!!!!!!!

First, a disclaimer: I do not advocate or support Hitler's ideas, but I recommend this book because so much of the world currently thinks this way and applies this philosophy or similar to issues of economy, immigration, international relations, and even their daily business and community lives. Because Mein Kampf reflects the mindset of so many, from leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President of Iran) down to the common American factory worker, it's important to realize that these ideas--as any really--are as dangerous as they are logical.

Is this an evil book? No. We have several maniacs publishing books, sitting in places of political power, and with loyal followings on political talk shows whose ideas are as or more threatening to world order if they were allowed to reign. And since you should understand those competing ideas for what they are, I recommend reading the father of them all--Mein Kampf.

The most shocking thing about reading this book is that Hitler offers a very logical and appealing argument: that foreigners (the Jews in his time, but perhaps we could substitute the Chinese or Mexicans in ours, or we Americans if you are from Europe or the Middle East, or 'White' Afrikans in 'Black' Africa) are a threat to our wealth and welfare, the health of our society, that they are slowing taking over economically, that it's only a matter of time before they are a ruling, wealthy minority which will subjegate our culture and people--and that they must be stopped.

After all, this has happened in other countries--you're bound to think--and isn't it happening today? Wouldn't we be right to protect our interests against this imminent threat? Of course, the answer is to irradicate them, seize their assets, erase all traces of their culture. At the very least, doesn't Mein Kampf match very well with the idea of closing United States borders to all immigration, and deporting those who are not already citizens? Hitler himself argues the point far better than any politician today--and boldly.

Hitler does not come off as insane or evil. He's preaching to the chior in his time and place, and it's not much of a stretch to say that this same argument would be very effective today.

It's scary how convincing this book is, and that's exactly why you should read it. Even if you, as I, may not agree with how he incorporated his political philosophy, it's a wake up call to read something by the individual who personified evil for nearly all of us and yet find that his ideas are considerably well thought out.

The most shocking thing about reading this book is that Hitler offers a very logical and appealing argument: that foreigners (the Jews in his time, but perhaps we could substitute the Chinese or Mexicans in ours, or we Americans if you are from Europe or the Middle East, or 'White' Afrikans in 'Black' Africa) are a threat to our wealth and welfare, the health of our society, that they are slowing taking over economically, that it's only a matter of time before they are a ruling, wealthy minority which will subjegate our culture and people--and that they must be stopped.

After all, this has happened in other countries--you're bound to think--and isn't it happening today? Wouldn't we be right to protect our interests against this imminent internal threat? Of course, the answer is to irradicate them, seize their assets, erase all traces of their culture. At the very least, doesn't Mein Kampf match very well with the idea of closing United States borders to all immigration, and deporting those who are not already citizens? Hitler himself argues the point far better than any politician today--and boldly.

Hitler does not come off as insane or evil. He's preaching to the chior in his time and place, and it's not much of a stretch to say that this same argument would be very effective today.

It's scary how convincing this book is, and that's exactly why you should read it. Even if you, as I, may not agree with how he incorporated his political philosophy, it's a wake up call to read something by the individual who personified evil for nearly all of us and yet find that his ideas are considerably well thought out.

Hitler did not gain his position as Germany's head of state by campaigning on a slogan of "Kill the Jews/Rule Europe." People don't elect evil maniacs to the highest office in the land--or do we perhaps elect those maniacs while they personify the ultimate in our ideals only to find that we actually didn't want what we wished for.

If nothing else, the book verifies the value of the competition of ideas that exists in an open Democracy.

The most shocking thing about reading this book is that Hitler offers a very logical and appealing argument: that foreigners (the Jews in his time, but perhaps we could substitute the Chinese in ours) are a threat to our wealth and welfare, the health of our society, that they are slowing taking over economically, that it's only a matter of time before they are a ruling, wealthy minority which will subjegate our culture and people--and that they must be stopped.

After all, this has happened in other countries--you're bound to think--and isn't it happening today? Wouldn't we be right to protect our interests against this imminent internal threat? Of course, the answer is to irradicate them, seize their assets, erase all traces of their culture.

Hitler does not come off as insane or evil. He's preaching to the chior in his time, and it's not much of a stretch to say that this same argument would be very effective today.

It's scary how convincing this book is, and that's exactly why you should read it.

First of all I'd like to say that yes I read this book and as a person of Jewish descent, struggled through it, not so much for its hatred but its lack of "literary merit" to say the least, yet I think that it is a neccessary read for everyone, even in these times. However, as a person with mental illness, I find it too easy to label it "the ravings of a lunatic". If it was people would have ignored it (unlike "The Triumph of the Will" which is morally despicable but a work of cinematic brilliance). It was a (however poorly written) blueprint for what was to come later (though it toned down the extremity that the third reich would become). Firstly, Hitler was a careful strategist and worked with other hateful idealogues (such as Goebbels and Himmler and the like) to promote his viewpoints. However, the main reason he was such a "success story" was that the country at the time was in economic chaos and the climate of hatred was there, waiting for someone to take advantage of it, so sooner or later, someone would have filled his shoes and the poplulace (see the film "Shoah" for proof of this) not only went along with what he said, they were willing accomplices (as were other countries throughout Europe such as Austria or a large part of France or even Stalin-a despot on his own-had Hitler not betrayed the non aggression pact)as "The Sorrow and the Pity" may attest. But with reviewers who find "The Turner Diaries" to be "brilliant" and a certain "inspirational" Mel Gibson movie to be proof that "Jews control the media" (direct quotes) it shows that there are people like that even now and as for a climate of hatred and intolerance, I'd say that we are in the middle of that right now (on all sides). Read "Mein Kampf" and see the dvd of "It Happenned Here" (about a fictional third reich taking power again) and realize, that this work of hatred, is something still to be feared, not religated to the past.

Want to know what went on in the mind of one of the worlds most famous tirants? Then go ask him. Oh no you cant, so read this instead.
Its well written and shows a seriously twisted mind, and acts as a warning to what a twisted mind can achieve given the right circumstances and motivation.
Dont buy this if you expect a cheap jew-bashing novel, but do buy this if you think you can handle a well built up argument as to exactly why Hitler believed what he did.

Achtung, Baby!

Mein Kampf has a nasty reputation. When it comes right down to it, Mein Kampf is a bad dog, a bad, bad dawg. If Mein Kampf were human, it would be the balding forty-year old guy with the canting glass eye who loiters down by the stairwell selling tap-dancing aphids out of a hat.

But if you step back, take a deep breath, get the mental picture of grim soot blackened kilns and miles of concertina fence and razor wire and baying German shepherds and slaughterhouses & black-smoke belching smokestacks festering and brooding beneath a slate-grey sky---

Where were we? Oh yes: if you get past that stuff, you'll be able to see Mein Kampf for what it really is: the world's most influential Self-Help manual.

Who needs Dale Carnegie & all that "Smile 'til your Gums Bleed!" crap when you've got Adolf Hitler: Carnegie wants you to wag your tail & get another friend, Hitler wants you to wag your fist in your enemy's face & slice off another rump puppet state.

Let's take a little mental inventory of Adolf Hitler, circa 1923: starving, failed artist, no money to pay the rent, wandered around ranting and drinking all day in beerhalls, and worst of all, stuck in the Munich pokey after he and the boys got knocked around by the local hoo-haw after a wild night gomezing around on the town and a few too many Heffeweisen.

And yet this guy, not even a decade later, is not only shooting hoops and slam dunks but kicking everybody's [EXPLETIVE!] around the court. Around about 1941, Hitler doesn't have any time left to kick [EXPLETIVE!] & take names. Why? Because he's too busy kicking [NAUGHTY!] to take names.

With that in mind, let's break this little masterwork of Teutonic Take-no-Prisoners Motivation down by the numbers & see what Mein Kampf can do for you---today!

1) Give in to your Anger! Your Hate will make you Strong! Whether it's building a battle station that can destroy a planet in a single blast or emptying the Eastern Marches of Bolshevik Scum, get in touch with your Inner Monster & give that bad boy a ticket to ride!

2) It's all about Marketing! Coco Chanel knew it! Tommy Hilfiger knew it! Idi Amin knew it!---Marketing Matters! Hitler proved it. Schwag matters. Gift boxes matter! Little corporate doohickeys with your logo & slogan on it---all of that matters.

WWHD?---'What would Hitler Do?' He'd make it colorful! Primary colors, baby, lots of red and black and white! He'd add chrome! He'd come up with a catchy slogan. He'd probably have a military march with torches somewhere in there! He'd invade Poland!

3) Mission Statement: KISS goes here ("Keep it SS"): make it brutally simple. Example: a) Revenge the betrayed fatherland by shooting the Bolshevik rotters; b) hold lots of torchlit parades; c) invade Russia.

Show me, don't tell me. It's results that count, daddy-o. See #3.

3) Business is War! Get in the other guy's face & scream! Make him wipe your spittle off his mouth! Yes! Go over the line! Pound on the table all you want to, but if you don't get what you want, it's time to cross the enemy's line of Death! No more Mr. Nice Guy!

Your Enemies are a bunch of Fairies! They shave their legs & go cycling after work. Think I'm wrong? Think Carstairs in Accounting has the mojo to take you on, Dear Leader? Try nailing his cat to his desk. Your patience is at an end! Exactly! Would you like a little Belgium or France with your order, Sir?

4)Shoot your rivals. What about Carruthers, the guy from Marketing? Seriously, Old Hoss, keep an eye on that guy. He's quiet, he's shifty eyed, he does what you tell him, and when you screamed at him in that P&L meeting last week he---I jest thee not---he wet himself. That said, remember: it's the quiet ones who get ya, one way or another. Hitler, for instance. Hitler was a frustrated Marketing guy, too.

It's kinda funny to think about, but had someone back on the old arts school admissions council at the Vienna School for Drawing Little Teutonic stick figures decided to let Hitler in, we'd have gotten about 15 years of bad cubist stuff instead of the Blitz & the Holocaust.

5) Strike first! Strike hard! Kill! Kill! Pick yourself up out of the gutter and get back on that Tiger tank! You think it's enough to humiliate Dimwiddy in the board room, you lunk? Fool! You've got to destroy Dimwiddy! You've got to crush him, annex his office space, invade and destroy all those little projects that mean so much to him, get him fired, laugh as he has to haul all his personal shxt out in a cardboard box---and even then it's not over! You've got to gloat, gloat and cackle, when you spot him on the street corner, down in the gutter, eating his daily ration of cat food out of a tin! Shove his face in that horsemeat! Push!

6) Never Underestimate the Stupidity of the Masses: This is a biggie. Think about it: you're German, it's 1930, and one of the candidates for Reichs Chancellor has a shifty looking brush moustache. When asked about his resume, he replies nonchalantly about being big on killing vermin.

Would you vote for that guy? Guess what? They did! Hitler won in a landslide! If he can, you can too!

With that in mind, ACHTUNG! Baby! We got a little Liebensrauming to do.

JSG

Achtung, Baby!

Mein Kampf has a nasty reputation. When it comes right down to it, Mein Kampf is a bad dog, a bad, bad dawg. If Mein Kampf were human, it would be the balding forty-year old guy with the canting glass eye who loiters down by the stairwell selling tap-dancing aphids out of a hat.

But if you step back, take a deep breath, get the mental picture of grim soot blackened kilns and miles of concertina fence and razor wire and baying German shepherds and slaughterhouses & black-smoke belching smokestacks festering and brooding beneath a slate-grey sky---

Where were we? Oh yes: if you get past that stuff, you'll be able to see Mein Kampf for what it really is: the world's most influential Self-Help manual.

Who needs Dale Carnegie & all that "Smile 'til your Gums Bleed!" crap when you've got Adolf Hitler: Carnegie wants you to wag your tail & get another friend, Hitler wants you to wag your fist in your enemy's face & slice off another rump puppet state.

Let's take a little mental inventory of Adolf Hitler, circa 1923: starving, failed artist, no money to pay the rent, wandered around ranting and drinking all day in beerhalls, and worst of all, stuck in the Munich pokey after he and the boys got knocked around by the local hoo-haw after a wild night gomezing around on the town and a few too many Heffeweisen.

And yet this guy, not even a decade later, is not only shooting hoops and slam dunks but kicking everybody's [EXPLETIVE!] around the court. Around about 1941, Hitler doesn't have any time left to kick [EXPLETIVE!] & take names. Why? Because he's too busy kicking [NAUGHTY!] to take names.

With that in mind, let's break this little masterwork of Teutonic Take-no-Prisoners Motivation down by the numbers & see what Mein Kampf can do for you---today!

1) Give in to your Anger! Your Hate will make you Strong! Whether it's building a battle station that can destroy a planet in a single blast or emptying the Eastern Marches of Bolshevik Scum, get in touch with your Inner Monster & give that bad boy a ticket to ride!

2) It's all about Marketing! Coco Chanel knew it! Tommy Hilfiger knew it! Idi Amin knew it!---Marketing Matters! Hitler proved it. Schwag matters. Gift boxes matter! Little corporate doohickeys with your logo & slogan on it---all of that matters.

WWHD?---'What would Hitler Do?' He'd make it colorful! Primary colors, baby, lots of red and black and white! He'd add chrome! He'd come up with a catchy slogan. He'd probably have a military march with torches somewhere in there! He'd invade Poland!

3) Mission Statement: KISS goes here ("Keep it SS"): make it brutally simple. Example: a) Revenge the betrayed fatherland by shooting the Bolshevik rotters; b) hold lots of torchlit parades; c) invade Russia.

Show me, don't tell me. It's results that count, daddy-o. See #3.

3) Business is War! Get in the other guy's face & scream! Make him wipe your spittle off his mouth! Yes! Go over the line! Pound on the table all you want to, but if you don't get what you want, it's time to cross the enemy's line of Death! No more Mr. Nice Guy!

Your Enemies are a bunch of Fairies! They shave their legs & go cycling after work. Think I'm wrong? Think Carstairs in Accounting has the mojo to take you on, Dear Leader? Try nailing his cat to his desk. Your patience is at an end! Exactly! Would you like a little Belgium or France with your order, Sir?

4)Shoot your rivals. What about Carruthers, the guy from Marketing? Seriously, Old Hoss, keep an eye on that guy. He's quiet, he's shifty eyed, he does what you tell him, and when you screamed at him in that P&L meeting last week he---I jest thee not---he wet himself. That said, remember: it's the quiet ones who get ya, one way or another. Hitler, for instance. Hitler was a frustrated Marketing guy, too.

It's kinda funny to think about, but had someone back on the old arts school admissions council at the Vienna School for Drawing Little Teutonic stick figures decided to let Hitler in, we'd have gotten about 15 years of bad cubist stuff instead of the Blitz & the Holocaust.

5) Strike first! Strike hard! Kill! Kill! Pick yourself up out of the gutter and get back on that Tiger tank! You think it's enough to humiliate Dimwiddy in the board room, you lunk? Fool! You've got to destroy Dimwiddy! You've got to crush him, annex his office space, invade and destroy all those little projects that mean so much to him, get him fired, laugh as he has to haul all his personal shxt out in a cardboard box---and even then it's not over! You've got to gloat, gloat and cackle, when you spot him on the street corner, down in the gutter, eating his daily ration of cat food out of a tin! Shove his face in that horsemeat! Push!

6) Never Underestimate the Stupidity of the Masses: This is a biggie. Think about it: you're German, it's 1930, and one of the candidates for Reichs Chancellor has a shifty looking brush moustache. When asked about his resume, he replies nonchalantly about being big on killing vermin.

Would you vote for that guy? Guess what? They did! Hitler won in a landslide! If he can, you can too!

With that in mind, ACHTUNG! Baby! We got a little Liebensrauming to do.

JSG

I read this book for its political, intellectual, and philosophical content and not its anti-Semitism and vitriol. This book should be studied in every political discussion group or government class in America. Everything that confronts us today in our political debate is and was debated in this book; religion and politics, the individual and the state, social diseases, teenage pregnancy, democracy vs socialism or communism, ethnic cleansing, aggressive war, the right to torture, freedom of speech, the right to organize, unionism, the free market, globalization, internationalism, capitalism, Central banking, the right to unlimited profits, obligation of citizens to state and state to citizens, leadership, organization, advertising, propaganda, private property, entrepreneurship, the news media, the stock market, banking, patriotism, treason, God, science, world peace, imperialism, education, military industrial complex - you name it and it is discussed in this work and Adolf's answer is given on every subject matter.
This book intrigued me so much and so boggled and confused my mind that I decided to write my own page by page analysis. I have been serializing this analysis on my blog - the hobo philosopher. My copy of Mein Kampf is over 1000 pages. I have finished analyzing book one which is only 500 pages and my analysis is over 800 pages. Needless to say reading Mein Kampf has been quite and educating experience for me. You should try it.

"False concepts and poor knowledge can be eliminated by instruction, the resistance of the emotions never."

You will find NO better piece of advise in ANY self help book. Read Mein Kampf, it WILL surprise you.

This is a great historical book to read. It definitely lets the reader into the mind of Adolf Hitler and his life prior to when he became the Hitler we all know. After reading this, it is suprising anyone allowed him to get so powerful (remember, he became dictator legally in Germany). This is a LONG and dense book filled with hate but it's a book that must be read if one wants to understand the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, and World War II. Any historian should definitely read this, as well as history buffs.

...he's an even worse writer. I was expecting some sort of deep insight into Hitler's life. I'm not a fan of Hitler, but I would imagine his story must be fascinating. Maybe it is, but I can't tell you much more about Hitler's life from this book.



Three things killed this book for me:



1. It's 30% story and 70% propaganda.



2. It's unbelievably self-aggrandizing. He simply cannot admit his mistakes. Everything that went wrong was somebody else's fault according to Hitler. I can't even tell how much of these stories could possibly be true since he seems more concerned with presenting himself as an elite human being than presenting the truth.



3. His writing style is convulated and confusing. Maybe something was lost in the translation, but the writing style seems to be that of a raving maniac. If you gave Bobcat Goldthwait a line of cocaine, he would probably produce something like this. On the plus side, you can't say that his writing isn't intense.



Avoid.

It is the year 2008. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq enter their seventh and fifth years respectively, anti-war sentiment has reached a fever pitch among left-wing segments of the American population. During a day of nationwide mass protests, large contingents of Washington's 250,000 strong crowd, aided by certain disaffected units of the armed forces, storm the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings and declare a new government to be headed by Senator Charles Schumer, with a Cabinet consisting of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Cynthia McKinney, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Streisand, Michael Moore and other prominent left wingers. Responding to the call of the new government, legions of illegal immigrants, radical college students, racial minorities and assorted left-wing types follow suit in cities across the nations and assume authority from the overthrown "tyrannical" regime. The new government immediately declares our foreign "adventures" at an end, and begins evacuating the troops, issuing a proclamation assuming all war guilt and begging forgiveness from the Iraqi and Afghan people, as well as Al-Quaida. The rest of the world, seeing the newfound "reasonableness" of America's new leaders, queues up with grievances in hand. The new "People's Republic" starts a roundtable international discussion which will result in a treaty that 1. reduces the US military to a token contingent of around 100,000 men. 2. cedes California, Arizona, New Mexico and 1/3 of Texas to Mexico. 3. Forces the U.S. to pay trillions of dollars in reparations to dozens of nations and non-state actors, including Mexico, al-Quaida, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, etc. 4. New York City is declared an international city under the control of the U.N. while South Florida goes to Cuba and New Orleans declares itself the capital of the new nation of New Africa. The results? Inflation is at unprecedented levels. The U.S. economy collapses. Millions are begging in the streets. White Americans in the reconquered territories are being systematically discriminated against and sporadically massacred. When the first reparations payment is late, UN troops occupy New England. Communist China begins preparing to take advantage of the situation. The country is in chaos.







How would you feel about this? What would you do? Would you calmly sit back and fondly hope that things would turn out ok in the end, or would righteous indignation compel you to take action and do whatever it took to reverse the situation and restore your country's strength and independence? Perhaps this book, if you shook off a lifetime of incessant government and media propaganda, could help you put yourself in the shoes of an early twentieth century German and understand why Hitler thought the way he did and why he was not only democratically elected but enjoyed the love and support of the vast majority of his people until the day he died. Without giving sanction to his ideas or actions, I could without reservation wish that America had one statesman who loved his country as much as Hitler did.







As for the notorious book itself, printed with a stark and scary cover obviously meant to color your opinion of the book's contents, I recommend it to both students of the era and modern day practitioners of the political art, especially conservatives. Of course, being on the Index Liborum Prohibitorum of much of the "free" world, there are an ever shrinking number of countries where one may even legally be allowed to read the book, so get it while you still can. Much of the book deals with contemporary German problems, which would probably only interest history buffs like myself. Contrary to popular belief, Hitler does not rant about the Jews on every page of the book. While the "Jewish problem" is addressed, it does not occupy a large portion of Mein Kampf and Hitler's opinions on the subject were probably not that different from large and influential portions of every society in the civilized world at the time. Hitler was not an intellectual or a polished writer but he was a political master and a genius on the subject of human psychology, especially as exercised by mass society. And that is where this book would be interesting and relevant to a modern audience, especially those involved in concrete politics. Hitler was not only spot-on but scathingly hilarious (I know I sound like Franz Liebkind now- "The Fuhrer was a terrific dancer!") when describing the shortcomings of the conservative politicians of his day and their tragicomic actions in the face of the communist/liberal threat. It's obvious that conservatives never change- a weak, bloodless and cowardly breed of hidebound lackwits, impotently opposing societal degeneration, foreign threats and existential destruction with witty repartee, dithering and toothless political gestures, patriotic fustian and endless compromise. Hitler deals in depth and- in my opinion- with great insight on the subjects of political propaganda of both the written and spoken kind, the use of media, symbolism, personality, mass psychology and all aspects of how to achieve political success. Obviously, conditions vary greatly in time and place, but the human material stays the same and the one overriding rule still applies to politics- men follow courage and the method by which one displays that courage is physical (by defending one's beliefs in the presence of the enemy) and moral (by always telling an unpopular truth, despite the hatred and opprobrium that will be showered upon you). Never back down and never surrender.







Propaganda is a part of every war but there has never been a war in American history in which the propaganda has continued to be shoved down the population's collective throat 60 years after the enemy's defeat. Even Robert E. Lee was lauded as an American hero by the North a mere 5 years after our Civil War. Americans should ask themselves why we are still subject to insulting governmental indoctrination about the Nazis 3 generations after WWII. Reading this book would be a good start to answering that question.

It is the year 2008. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq enter their seventh and fifth years respectively, anti-war sentiment has reached a fever pitch among left-wing segments of the American population. During a day of nationwide mass protests, large contingents of Washington's 250,000 strong crowd, aided by certain disaffected units of the armed forces, storm the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings and declare a new government to be headed by Senator Charles Schumer, with a Cabinet consisting of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Cynthia McKinney, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Streisand, Michael Moore and other prominent left wingers. Responding to the call of the new government, legions of illegal immigrants, radical college students, racial minorities and assorted left-wing types follow suit in cities across the nations and assume authority from the overthrown "tyrannical" regime. The new government immediately declares our foreign "adventures" at an end, and begins evacuating the troops, issuing a proclamation assuming all war guilt and begging forgiveness from the Iraqi and Afghan people, as well as Al-Quaida. The rest of the world, seeing the newfound "reasonableness" of America's new leaders, queues up with grievances in hand. The new "People's Republic" starts a roundtable international discussion which will result in a treaty that 1. reduces the US military to a token contingent of around 100,000 men. 2. cedes California, Arizona, New Mexico and 1/3 of Texas to Mexico. 3. Forces the U.S. to pay trillions of dollars in reparations to dozens of nations and non-state actors, including Mexico, al-Quaida, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, etc. 4. New York City is declared an international city under the control of the U.N. while South Florida goes to Cuba and New Orleans declares itself the capital of the new nation of New Africa. The results? Inflation is at unprecedented levels. The U.S. economy collapses. Millions are begging in the streets. White Americans in the reconquered territories are being systematically discriminated against and sporadically massacred. When the first reparations payment is late, UN troops occupy New England. Communist China begins preparing to take advantage of the situation. The country is in chaos.





How would you feel about this? What would you do? Would you calmly sit back and fondly hope that things would turn out ok in the end, or would righteous indignation compel you to take action and do whatever it took to reverse the situation and restore your country's strength and independence? Perhaps this book, if you shook off a lifetime of incessant government and media propaganda, could help you put yourself in the shoes of an early twentieth century German and understand why Hitler thought the way he did and why he was not only democratically elected but enjoyed the love and support of the vast majority of his people until the day he died. Without giving sanction to his ideas or actions, I could without reservation wish that America had one statesman who loved his country as much as Hitler did.





As for the notorious book itself, printed with a stark and scary cover obviously meant to color your opinion of the book's contents, I recommend it to both students of the era and modern day practitioners of the political art, especially conservatives. Of course, being on the Index Liborum Prohibitorum of much of the "free" world, there are an ever shrinking number of countries where one may even legally be allowed to read the book, so get it while you still can. Much of the book deals with contemporary German problems, which would probably only interest history buffs like myself. Contrary to popular belief, Hitler does not rant about the Jews on every page of the book. While the "Jewish problem" is addressed, it does not occupy a large portion of Mein Kampf and Hitler's opinions on the subject were probably not that different from large and influential portions of every society in the civilized world at the time. Hitler was not an intellectual or a polished writer but he was a political master and a genius on the subject of human psychology, especially as exercised by mass society. And that is where this book would be interesting and relevant to a modern audience, especially those involved in concrete politics. Hitler was not only spot-on but scathingly hilarious (I know I sound like Franz Liebkind now- "The Fuhrer was a terrific dancer!") when describing the shortcomings of the conservative politicians of his day and their tragicomic actions in the face of the communist/liberal threat. It's obvious that conservatives never change- a weak, bloodless and cowardly breed of hidebound lackwits, impotently opposing societal degeneration, foreign threats and existential destruction with witty repartee, dithering and toothless political gestures, patriotic fustian and endless compromise. Hitler deals in depth and- in my opinion- with great insight on the subjects of political propaganda of both the written and spoken kind, the use of media, symbolism, personality, mass psychology and all aspects of how to achieve political success. Obviously, conditions vary greatly in time and place, but the human material stays the same and the one overriding rule still applies to politics- men follow courage and the method by which one displays that courage is physical (by defending one's beliefs in the presence of the enemy) and moral (by always telling an unpopular truth, despite the hatred and opprobrium that will be showered upon you). Never back down and never surrender.





Propaganda is a part of every war but there has never been a war in American history in which the propaganda has continued to be shoved down the population's collective throat 60 years after the enemy's defeat. Even Robert E. Lee was lauded as an American hero by the North a mere 5 years after our Civil War. Americans should ask themselves why we are still subject to insulting governmental indoctrination about the Nazis 3 generations after WWII. Reading this book would be a good start to answering that question.

It is the year 2008. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq enter their seventh and fifth years respectively, anti-war sentiment has reached a fever pitch among left-wing segments of the American population. During a day of nationwide mass protests, large contingents of Washington's 250,000 strong crowd, aided by certain disaffected units of the armed forces, storm the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings and declare a new government to be headed by Senator Charles Schumer, with a Cabinet consisting of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Cynthia McKinney, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Streisand, Michael Moore and other prominent left wingers. Responding to the call of the new government, legions of illegal immigrants, radical college students, racial minorities and assorted left-wing types follow suit in cities across the nations and assume authority from the overthrown "tyrannical" regime. The new government immediately declares our foreign "adventures" at an end, and begins evacuating the troops, issuing a proclamation assuming all war guilt and begging forgiveness from the Iraqi and Afghan people, as well as Al-Quaida. The rest of the world, seeing the newfound "reasonableness" of America's new leaders, queues up with grievances in hand. The new "People's Republic" starts a roundtable international discussion which will result in a treaty that 1. reduces the US military to a token contingent of around 100,000 men. 2. cedes California, Arizona, New Mexico and 1/3 of Texas to Mexico. 3. Forces the U.S. to pay trillions of dollars in reparations to dozens of nations and non-state actors, including Mexico, al-Quaida, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, etc. 4. New York City is declared an international city under the control of the U.N. while South Florida goes to Cuba and New Orleans declares itself the capital of the new nation of New Africa. The results? Inflation is at unprecedented levels. The U.S. economy collapses. Millions are begging in the streets. White Americans in the reconquered territories are being systematically discriminated against and sporadically massacred. When the first reparations payment is late, UN troops occupy New England. Communist China begins preparing to take advantage of the situation. The country is in chaos.



How would you feel about this? What would you do? Would you calmly sit back and fondly hope that things would turn out ok in the end, or would righteous indignation compel you to take action and do whatever it took to reverse the situation and restore your country's strength and independence? Perhaps this book, if you shook off a lifetime of incessant government and media propaganda, could help you put yourself in the shoes of an early twentieth century German and understand why Hitler thought the way he did and why he was not only democratically elected but enjoyed the love and support of the vast majority of his people until the day he died. Without giving sanction to his ideas or actions, I could without reservation wish that America had one statesman who loved his country as much as Hitler did.



As for the notorious book itself, printed with a stark and scary cover obviously meant to color your opinion of the book's contents, I recommend it to both students of the era and modern day practitioners of the political art, especially conservatives. Of course, being on the Index Liborum Prohibitorum of much of the "free" world, there are an ever shrinking number of countries where one may even legally be allowed to read the book, so get it while you still can. Much of the book deals with contemporary German problems, which would probably only interest history buffs like myself. Contrary to popular belief, Hitler does not rant about the Jews on every page of the book. While the "Jewish problem" is addressed, it does not occupy a large portion of Mein Kampf and Hitler's opinions on the subject wer