Hitler cover

Hitler

by Ernst Hanfstaengl

This highly personal memoir by one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates during the Nazi rise to power delves into the mind and character of the man responsible for more death and destruction than any person in history. Hanfstaengl graduated from Harvard and ran the family business in New York for a dozen years before returning to Germany in 1921. There by chance he heard Adolf Hitler. Hanfstaengl befriended Hitler and welcomed him into his home. He saw himself as a civilizing influence on the volatile politician, and for a time he was. But later, after Hitler was jailed in Landsberg, their relationship began to change. It was there Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, honing his fanatical theories and ideas - especially his growing anti-Semitism - and surrounding himself with rabid extremists like Goering, Hess, Rosenberg, and Goebbels.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?