ABSTRACT
The "Hitler Myth" aims to show how popular perceptions of Adolf Hitler, shaped by propaganda, mobilized the German people in support of the Nazi regime. One of the most fascinating elements of the "Hitler myth" was the chronic mismatch between the dictator's benevolent popular image and the reality of his brutal intentions. The German people greeted many of Hitler's foreign policy successes with such jubilation precisely because they had seemingly spared Germany from becoming embroiled in another global conflict. In stylistic terms, The "Hitler Myth" occupies a middle ground between specialist academic prose and a more popular or journalistic idiom. Each chapter tends to be headed by a couple of epigraphs that illustrate some of the key points. The frequent quotations from original sources, often featuring the voices of ordinary German people, and Kershaw's highly engaging way with words, make the book a most rewarding read.
