Hitler

What Hacker News says

1. DracophoenixJan 2025
   With respect to this particular topic, one may consider The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich by Ian Kershaw to be a worthwhile read.
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2. rufus_foremanDec 2023
   Recommended:

   Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer. Fiction? Non-fiction?

   Had to be made up. A guy born in England to poor circumstances ships out to New Orleans, jumps ship, fights in the Civil War on the confederate side, gets captured, fights in the Civil War on the union side, gets wounded, ends up fighting in the union navy. After the war, becomes a journalist in the American west. Then organizes an expedition to the Ottoman empire...OK he's 26 years old at this point. Sure there's some stuff later but...that's a pretty good resume for a 26 year old. Unbelievable.

   Lou Reed: The King of New York Same thing. Just completely real but also unbelievable. The songs he had written by 1965.

   Hitler: A Biography, by Ian Kershaw. Completely real, also unbelievable. The German people voting against democracy. Unbelievable.

   Escape From Rome, Walter Scheidel, "The gripping story of how the end of the Roman Empire was the beginning of the modern world". I think about the Roman Empire a lot, so basically it was a military slave state and it fell and that's bad?

   The Great Depression: A Diary, I thought I would hate this, let's read a diary, right? Reading a diary of the Great Depression happening in front of you, it's amazing. The dread, and the bargaining. He's like bargaining against reality that the depression will end.

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3. watwutSep 2023
   No and this is also a thing only people do not know what is in it say. Or people who want to be edgy say. And I am saying that as someone who attempted to read it, so have passing idea about content.

   If you want to know who Hitler was as a human, read either "Hitler, by Kershaw Ian" or "Third Reich Trilogy by Richard Evans".

   If you want someone to realize Hitler was not unique, make them read about other genocides, about Italy at the same time, about Stalin, about Japan, about slavery, about genocide of native americans and so on.

   Also, I would highly NOT recommend it for someone who does not know actual German history, because that book contains ... well quite a few untrue claims. If you are in general interested in that period and read a lot, nothing wrong with reading it. But if you are not and this is the one historical book you decided to pick and recommend over all the others, then I have hard time to believe you are neutral in your pick.

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4. ceilingcornerMar 2021
   That's a counterfactual argument. It is by definition unprovable. I said that Europe shouldn't be considered a gun control success, not that if there were guns, WW2 would have been prevented.

   During the Weimar era and the Nazi era, gun control laws were put into place. That is a historical fact.

   Also, hint: saying that Hitler was voted into power as if it were an average democratic vote deeply misunderstands the situation. I suggest reading more about the era, specifically Ian Kershaw's book.

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5. tashoecraftDec 2018
   Reamde - Neal Stephenson - Really enjoyed this one, though I’m a sucker for Neal Stephenson books.

   Nexus (1, 2 and 3) - Ramez Naam - Great scifi exploring human -> cyborg transformations across the world. An OS for the mind had me very excited and scared for the future of computing.

   The City & the city - China Miéville - A weird sci fi based that I had no idea what to expect going into it. Enjoyed it, but not as much as some of the others.

   The Righteous Mind: Why Good people are Divided by Politics and Religion - Jonathan Haidt - Great read for this current climate. Allowed me to understand those around me better and to improve relations with family members who are far over on the right side of the political spectrum better.

   Robert Oppenheimer - Ray Monk - Enjoyed it, but it was quite long. Oppenheimer was an interesting person who didn’t actually make many direct contributions to the world of physics, but was extremely well read and knew everyone in the industry. And you know, lead development of the atomic bomb.

   The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim - Great CI/CD book disguised as a novel, inspired me to push heavily for an improved build/release pipeline at work.

   Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow - Yes, the book the play is based on, but it goes into such great detail of the life of an incredible person. It’s hard to fathom what the United States would become without Hamilton.

   It Doesn’t have to be Crazy at work - Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson - Great, short read about why our corporate/entrepreneur culture is just crap. All this hustle, burnout, and destructive ideas are unnecessary and don’t really bring much improvements.

   Hitler - Ian Kershaw - Really great biography into the rise and fall of Hitler and the third Reich. It’s horrifying for all the reasons you know, but also with how much is rhyming with the world right now.

   Team of Rivals: The political genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin - Great biography into Lincoln and his cabinet. He was truly a unique president who was able to convert people who hated him into his biggest admirers.

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6. emmelaichJun 2018
   Recommended: Ian Kershaw's books on Hitler.

   https://www.amazon.com/Hitler-Ian-Kershaw-ebook/dp/B00BJIMCA...

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