'Among the best studies of the Nazi era' MAX HASTINGS
'Mr Haffner . . . has exposed better, and more briefly, than anyone else the clockwork of that infernal machine' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

In The Meaning of Hitler, Sebastian Haffner - internationally bestselling author of Defying Hitler - analyses the life, personality and terrible work of Adolf Hitler. Divided into seven chapters, each examining a separate facet of Hitler and the Nazi regime, The Meaning of Hitler is at once a dazzling intellectual inquiry and an essential document for understanding the Second World War.

Sebastian Haffner examines Hitler's lifespan, his performance, his successes, errors, intellectual misconceptions, crimes and, last but not least, his great betrayal of his nation, the Western world and human civilisation.

'A masterpiece' JOACHIM FEST

"A quite dazzlingly brilliant analysis of what [Hitler] was" - OBSERVER

"Haffner . . . has exposed better, and more briefly, than anyone else the clockwork of that infernal machine" - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

"Tough-minded evaluation of Hitler's career ... That this book was a best-seller in Germany [43 weeks] indicates that Haffner's countrymen welcomed this compact, lucid, hard-headed re-examination of contemporary history" - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"An intelligent, wholly original and very enlightening book ... clear, informative and provocative" - ENCOUNTER