- Paperback: 1152 pages
- Publisher: Vintage Books USA; Reprint edition (July 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679729941
- ISBN-13: 978-0679729945
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 5.6 x 20.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
2,487,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Historians > Bullock, Alan
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Forty years after his Hitler: A Study in Tyranny set a standard for scholarship of the Nazi era, Lord Alan Bullock gives readers a breathtakingly accomplished dual biography that places Adolf Hitler's origins, personality, career, and legacy alongside those of Joseph Stalin--his implacable antagonist and moral mirror image.
From the Back Cover
"It is practically unprecedented to take two such monsters as Hitler and Stalin, who never met, and interweave their lives chronologically, chapter by chapter, often paragraph by paragraph, as Bullock has done. It sounds like a recipe for confusion, irritation and indigestion. In fact, it works brilliantly. The book is a triumph of organisation, lucidity and perspective."
JOHN CAMPBELL, 'The Times'
"A magnificent piece of historical writing which, despite its massive size, makes for compulsive reading. The sweep is broad and the information concisely conveyed without any sign of pedantry. The judgements are sane and balanced… The grasp of the biographical material is matched by a multitude of interpretations which are the mark of a master historian."
ZARA STEINER, 'Financial Times'
"A titanic narrative history… Bullock is a master-builder who constructs his edifice beautifully, underpinning the narrative mass with analytical supports to prevent the story collapsing into detail and burying the reader. Yet he can slow the momentum for a vivid vignette or apt quotation."
DAVID REYNOLDS, 'Independent on Sunday'
"A magnetic chronicling … which, by dint of its distillation of a vast amount of matter, and by virtue of its author's consummate powers of analysis and narrative, becomes a standard work from the very instant of publication."
MARTIN FAGG, 'TES'
"Lord Bullock has carried out to perfection an artistic revenge on Public Enemies Numbers One and Two. This enormous book is a fitting tombstone to their world."
ANDREW ROBERTS, 'Spectator'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a brilliant analysis and a must read for anybody interested in the history of Europe in the 20th century. Too bad that the writing leaves to be desired, with poorly structured chapters and, at times, unnecessarily convoluted syntax.
I found it irritating and reader-unfriendly to read, say, 'Hitler and Stalin had three points in common', without enunciating what they were, but launching into the first point with lots of (interesting) asides, going on for -- sometimes -- pages, keeping you wondering what the second point might be, and then springing that upon the reader, who has to figure out that this is indeed the second point referred to many paragraphs ago, and still no sign of what the third point might be.
Also, too often, I read a sentence and didn't understand what it meant. So, I reread it, trying to figure out where the subject, the verb, and the object were, and mentally inserting missing commas and semi-colons. Sometimes that helped and sometimes I had to try again. Mostly that worked but sometimes I just gave up and moved on.
As I said: brilliant content but a good editor could improve its readability -- and get rid of 200 pages in the process.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not a light book, but it flows extremely well and pulls off the trick of comparing and contrasting the lives of the two greatest tyrants of the twentieth century. Bullock builds on his earlier biography of Hitler and later works on the Cold War. Writing with the lay reader in mind, he has provided nearly 100 pages of bibliography, appendices and glossary.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a superb piece of historical writing by a master of his craft. Bullock's quiet analysis, and careful, humane judgements show why he has such a worldwide reputation as one of the Twentieth centuries greatest historians.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Very Good Book about Two of the Most Influential Figures of the...
Hitler and Stalin - Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock is a very good book about arguably the two dominant figures in twentieth century history. Read more
Published 22 months ago by HBH
heavy going!
I found this book very heavy going, its written in a long winded rambling style with no concern for the reader, by this I mean you frequently have to re-read sentences to get where... Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2009 by N. W. Osborne
Massive yet intimate portrait of evil
Hitler and Stalin - Parallel Lives, is an outstanding portrait of two of the twentieth century's most savage monsters; a century that unfortunately is not short of candidates for... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2008 by Mr. Tristan Martin
A fascinating approach
The first photo you see in this book is of the elementary school classes of both Hitler and Stalin. By one of those bizarre coincidences, the young Adolf and Josef are both... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2005 by Teemacs
Informative: It does what it is supposed to.
This book is large. There's no denying it, so unless you're genuinely interested in History and particularly these two figures there is no point starting it as you won't finish... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2004 by Gregory
Tells the story the way you want to hear it..
Lets cut to the chase, this book gets my highest possible recommendation. So similar, yet so different, arguably the two most negatively influential people of all time. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2004 by M. Woodgate
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