Mein Kampf [Paperback]

`My Struggle’ is a book that few people will want to read. This is because it was written by one of the most reviled men in history and because of the way it was written. The impression of Hitler from films and World War II books is simply a negative one: An evil war mongerer responsible for the deaths of millions. Reading his own book is intriguing and this is part of its relatively small appeal. In a similar way that classic books (e.g. Anna Karenina/Dead Souls) begin, after the first few pages you realise you are reading something created by an exceptional mind. However this book is not a beautiful story. This is not like a magazine article tackling a hard subject with little time which gives the astute reader the impression that he or she knows more about the subject than the writer. The first book `A Reckoning’ is partially a story of Hitler’s life, World War One and much of his theories and philosophy. You enter into a strange world of paragraph long sentences, repetition, constantly twisting and turning. Hitler has a go at politicians, policies, parasites e.t.c. and in a classic way is blind to the concept that his ideas might be as blinkered as those he attacks. He believes anything miserable, weak or cowardly must be eradicated, having no compassion or pity for anything that does not conform to his ideals. Hatred is a large part of this book. This book has more hatred in it than a quarter of a mile long oil tanker has oil. There is hatred for Jews, hatred against anyone who is not ulta-nationalistic or anyone not German. The author gives the impression that if the whole world were wiped out except for Germany this in itself would not be a bad thing. The reader might see from Hitler’s poverty, his misery, the huge bitterness and then a World War that this has formed something rather grotesque. It is intriguing however and there are some gems. His thoughts on history, propaganda, ideas about the state and nature are interesting but it’s not long before we are back to hatred of Marxism or an attack against incompetent politicians or greedy businesses or shopkeepers. Hitler’s solution is to have them shot. Very clear is the determination to use force rather than another means. I didn’t understand much of Mein Kampf, there is no attempt to explain anything clearly and you have to read and re-read sentences to get any impression of what exactly he is trying to say. Like a man prodding an angry dog on the other side of a fence, Mein Kampf draws you into some idea and then changes and swirls mid sentence and then modifies to another idea, all to irritate you and wear you out. I almost think Hitler sets out to confuse, as if to say I don’t really know the answer to all this and so I’ll muddy the waters as much as possible. Much of it is incomprehensible. This is not a book that sets out principles and builds them into a unifying theory. Hitler jumps from one idea to the next, there is little continuity and function is always narrowly beaten into second place by style. Mein Kampf does have a certain elegance and style that draws the reader in. Consistent with this book there are also tedious parts and sustained outbursts. The first book is hard going and the second `The National Socialist Movement’ you think will be even harder and true to form it’s not as theoretical or complicated as the first. The second book is less of a story than the first volume and I found it tedious. It shows you the near anarchy of groups struggling for power and describes marches and sinister fights in the beer halls. Here Hitler sets out his ideas for his party. Hitler’s National Socialism is an extremist workers party, a dictatorship with some distorted policies. This was a revolutionary party or perhaps terrorism on a large scale. This is a cold book, sarcastic, verbose, right on some things, wrong on others with a hefty dose of vileness. This book is an unimaginable creation and callous in the extreme. Symptomatic of the world we live in Mein Kamp offers a rare insight into the mind of a talented man who turns to bad things. This multi-sided book gives us a glimpse of why some things are but also leads you into the cul-de-sac of incorrect suppositions, his machinations going on and on exasperatingly. Hitler is religious, nationalistic, the fatherland is far more important than anyone else on Earth, but also strangely moralistic, family orientated, even faintly comical, dragged down into fine details, you won’t forget the huge impression of reading this book.

For:
Intriguing
Some truth in there

Against:
Vile racism, nationalism and extremism
Very poorly written
Too long for the number of ideas, leading to much repetition
Ideas that are wrong

The translators introduction provides a good, readable background to the text. However, throughout, there are spelling mistakes that bring the overall quality of the editors and publishers into question. Perhaps try another version.

As you read 'Mein Kampf', there is no doubt as to Hitler's intelligence: it smacks you in the face. He clearly was not the clownish buffoon he is usually presented as. He tackles many issues cleverly if not clearly: his opinions on parliamentary democracy, reading, and propaganda are particularly interesting.

As Golo Mann famously remarked, Hitler was a man who simply couldn't understand moderation, and 'Mein Kampf' furnishes plenty of examples. Parliamentary democracy is bad for Germany? Have the politicians strung up, then. A colonial policy won't secure Germany's status for the future? Conquer eastern Europe, work its inhabitants to death, and plant Germans there. His answers to problems (as he seems them) are shockingly radical and indicative of a disturbing amorality. 'Mein Kampf' speaks volumes (no pun intended) about the tortured workings of a paranoid mind. That, really, is my second point: rather than believing in accident, Hitler sees gigantic conspiracies at work in the world (read Richard Hofstadter's excellent essay 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics' on this).

Hitler's logic is frequently circular and flawed, his style questionable (as Stuart Hodgson wrote, with typical British understatement, 'Mein Kampf' is written in 'by no means irreproachable German') and his arrangement of the material confusing. Nonetheless he provides a fascinating commentary on his times - the 1920s. I am highly sceptical of attempts to see all of Hitler's future decisions in the pages of 'Mein Kampf'. The mere fact that he envisaged a future war to be between Britain, Germany and Italy on the one hand and France on the other must show us that he was no Cassandra.