The Dark Charisma Of Adolf Hitler

Description

'My whole life can be summed up as this ceaseless effort of mine to persuade other people' - Adolf Hitler. More than any other single figure, it is arguably Adolf Hitler who has most changed the course of history. He used the extraordinary power he held over those around him and the German people to inspire a nation to go to war, commit genocide and celebrate him almost as a deity. In a ground breaking documenty the acclaimed historian Laurence Rees will ask how. Adolf Hitler was driven by an extreme ideology and addicted to taking risks. What was it about his personality that meant so many were prepared to follow him? Why was every challenge to his leadership certain to fail? If he didn't 'hypnotise' his supporters or use threats and fear, how was he able to wreak such destruction? And, seventy years on, is the man who exercised such control over Europe's destiny still a warning to us all? In The Charisma of Adolf Hitler, Laurence Rees discusses the often overlooked subject of Hitler's character and personality, and argues that Adolf Hitler was the most extraordinary human being who has ever lived.

Promotion info

A fascinating exploration of the character of the most powerful and destructive man in history - to accompany a new BBC series

Author description

Laurence Rees is the writer and producer of the major BBC television documentary series World War II: Behind Closed Doors, War of the Century, Horror in the East and Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. He won the British Book Award for History Book of the Year in 2006 for his international bestseller Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. Rees' career as a writer and filmmaker, focusing on the Nazis and World War II, stretches back nearly 20 years. His body of work has won him several awards, including a BAFTA and a Grierson Award. Their Darkest Hour, his powerful collection of essays based on interviews with people tested to the extreme during World War II, was published in 2007 to wide critical acclaim. Rees was educated at Solihull School and Oxford University and is the former Creative Director of BBC TV History programmes.