ABSTRACT
Ian Kershaw's The "Hitler Myth": Image and Reality in the Third Reich seems set to exert continuing influence on studies of the Third Reich and beyond. Although The "Hitler Myth" is very much a classic text in its own right, it will also be remembered for the foundations that it laid for Ian Kershaw's subsequent work on Adolf Hitler. One possible protagonist in future debates on nature of Hitler's power could easily be Brendan Simms, currently professor of the history of European international relations at the University of Cambridge. Ian Kershaw's The "Hitler Myth" is essential reading for anyone interested in the Third Reich, for anyone with an interest in German or European history generally, but also for anyone who wants to study the dynamics of power, propaganda, and political leadership. Finally, the book helps to explain how one of the greatest disasters in human history-the indescribable slaughter unleashed by World War II and the Holocaust-could have come to pass.
