An Analysis of Ian Kershaw's The Hitler Myth : Image and Reality in the Third R [Paperback]

Few historical problems are more baffling in retrospect than the conundrum of how Hitler was able to rise to power in Germany and then command the German people  many of whom had only marginal interest in or affiliation to Nazism  and the Nazi state. It took Ian Kershaw  author of the standard two-volume biography of Hitler  to provide a truly convincing solution to this problem. Kershaw's model blends theory  notably Max Weber's concept of charismatic leadership  with new archival research into the development of the Hitler cult from its origins in the 1920s to its collapse in the face of the harsh realities of the latter stages of World War II. Kershaws model also looks at dictatorship from an unusual angle: not from the top down, but from the bottom up, seeking to understand what ordinary Germans thought about their leader.

Kershaw's broad approach is a problem-solving one. Most obviously, he actively interrogates his evidence, asking highly productive questions that lead him to fresh understandings and help generate solutions that are credibly rooted in the archives. Kershaws theories also have application elsewhere; the model set out in The Hitler Myth has been used to analyse other charismatic leaders, including several from ideologically-opposed backgrounds.

Ways in to the Text  Who was Ian Kershaw?  What does The Hitler Myth Say?  Why does The Hitler Myth Matter?  Section 1: Influences  Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  Module 2: Academic Context  Module 3: The Problem  Module 4: The Author's Contribution  Section 2: Ideas  Module 5: Main Ideas  Module 6: Secondary Ideas  Module 7: Achievement  Module 8: Place in the Author's Work  Section 3: Impact&al�