Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
142 used & new from £0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
 
 

See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (Paperback)

by Spike Milligan (Author) "September 3rd, 1939 ..." (more)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £1.50 (21%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Saturday, July 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
23 new from £2.36 113 used from £0.01 6 collectible from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 12 used & new from £0.19
Hardcover (Large Print) Order it used
Audio Cassette (Audiobook,Unabridged) Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall + Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert + Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall
Price For All Three: £17.77

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert

Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert

by Spike Milligan
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.99
Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall

Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall

by Spike Milligan
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.29
Monty, His Part in My Victory: War Biography Vol. 3

Monty, His Part in My Victory: War Biography Vol. 3

by Spike Milligan
4.7 out of 5 stars (3) 
Goodbye Soldier (War Biography)

Goodbye Soldier (War Biography)

by Spike Milligan
4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.99
Where Have All the Bullets Gone?

Where Have All the Bullets Gone?

by Spike Milligan
4.5 out of 5 stars (2) 
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (30 Oct 1986)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140035206
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140035209
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,634 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Milligan, Spike
    #29 in  Books > Humour
    #93 in  Books > History

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description
'At Victoria station the R.T.O. gave me a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler marked "This is your enemy." I searched every compartment, but he wasn't on the train...' Spike Milligan's on the march, blitzing friend and foe alike with his uproarious recollections of army life from enlistment to the landing at Algiers in 1943. Bathos, pathos and gales of drunken laughter, and insane military goonery explode in superlative Milliganese.

About the Author
Spike Milligan was born at Ahmednagar in India in 1918. He received his first education in a tent in the Hyderabad Sindh desert and graduated from there, through a series of Roman Catholic schools in India and England, to the Lewisham Polytechnic. He then plunged into the world of Show Business, seduced by his first stage appearance, at the age of eight, in the nativity play of his Poona convent school. He began his career as a band musician, but has since become famous as a humorous scriptwriter and actor in both films and broadcasting. Spike received an honorary CBE in 1992.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
September 3rd, 1939. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)
See all 2 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
90% buy the item featured on this page:
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall 4.7 out of 5 stars (11)
£5.49
Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert
4% buy
Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
£5.99
Puckoon
2% buy
Puckoon 4.8 out of 5 stars (13)
£5.99
Milligan's War: The Selected War Memoirs of Spike Milligan
2% buy
Milligan's War: The Selected War Memoirs of Spike Milligan 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
£5.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of a long, delightfully nutty journey, 13 Dec 2002
Before there was Python, there were the Goons. And before the Goons, there was Spike Milligan. In the six-book series that begins with "Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall", Milligan charts his own odyssey through World War II.

There's plenty of Milliganesque lunacy here, many many laughs, and not a little pathos, all told in an unabashedly sentimental and frequently endearingly naive tone. From the first page, where "a man named Chamberlain who did Prime Minister impressions got on the radio and said we were at war with Germany" to induction, training and eventual departure for North Africa, Milligan captures the essential unpreparedness and paradoxically indomitable spirit that infused the British war effort. The results are touched both by Milligan's own manic humor and the black depression that was its counterpart, and against which he struggled for much of his life.

A warning- Milligan's prose is addictive. You will not be able to stop with "Hitler", but will be forced into the continuing story in "Rommel? Gunner Who?", "Monty: His Part in My Victory" and "Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall". It just gets more loony, but it's a must-read.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, and yet so sad, 22 Feb 2003
By Lee Easton "idle_fingers" (Harrison, Ar United States) - See all my reviews
I'm usually not one to read autobios, but since it is Spike Milligan I made the exception. It was funny, just as I expected it to be, but there were parts that were very moving and sad; as should be expected I suppose for a WWII novel. His accounts of the absurd are always dead on hilarious, and I found myself reading a passage over and over and just cracking up.
I knew that Spike suffered from depression, and I think in parts it was very apparent. The places that are especially poignant are when he relates a humorous tale, and then explain how he visited the place years later, and how the memories are too much for him to bear. In one particular paragraph he laments: "Oh, Yesterday, how you plague me!"
I love Spike Milligan and his comedy, and have read several run-of-the-mill internet bios on him but his own biography really brings him to life. A great read!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Both poignant and funny, 7 Feb 2002
By A Customer
Anyone who has listened to the Goons will know that Spike is one of those rare people who has an innate knack for comic writing.

`Adolf Hitler: My part in his downfall' is the first volume of Spike's war memoirs and I read this plus the second volume (Rommel? Gunner Who?) in a single sitting.

In the first volume, Spike puts his own unique spin on his experiences in WW2 starting from training at Bexhill-on-Sea (and not a batter-pudding hurler in sight!) to his posting in North Africa and manages to be laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely sad at the same time. I don't normally go for `war stories' but this is a genuine telling-it-like-it-is tale modified by Milligan's unique genius.

It's a good read in its own right, but any Goon fan will immediately notice the genesis of Goons-type humour in Spike's exchanges with his mate Harry Edgington (we dont' encounter the `other' Harry until the end of book two!)

For best results, read in conjunction with `Rommel? ...' but don't do it in a public place - you'll probably laugh too much!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh-out loud funny,don't read in a public place.
The 1st volume of Milligan's war memoirs,starting in September 1939,and going up to his landing in North africa in January 1943. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Franz Bieberkopf

5.0 out of 5 stars COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!
OK I admit it, I had bought this book a few years ago before I read it, I always had something more interesting to read , or so I thought! Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. Tanner

5.0 out of 5 stars This is truly a MUST read
I wont linger here, just read the lengthier reviews here. This is truly a hilarious book, from an hilarious and beautiful man.
Published on 9 Aug 2006 by Mr. Jonathan R. Pascall

5.0 out of 5 stars The start of a Wonderful, Emotional, Hilarious Journey.
I've never been a big fan of Audio Books, but to hear Spike read through his memoirs makes the whole experience so much more personal. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2002 by jsdoull@aol.com

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest book I have ever read!
This is a comic masterpiece that ranks alongside his earlier work,`Puckoon`. Laugh out loud funny!
Published on 24 Dec 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars This is what war is really like.
When all your ideas and impressions of what it is to be involved in a major conflict come from movies and accounts of specific events and actions, it is enlightening to read a... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 1999 by michael.green@crystaldecisions.com

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!!!-What a brilliant book!!
This book did take a few pages to get into, but once it started it was excellent. The stories and pranks within the book were told brilliantly. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent
AT THE START I MUST ADMIT I THOUGHT IT WAS A BIT DODGY BUT IT REALLY DID GROW ON ME AND FOR A FINISH I WAS ECSTATIC.
Published on 13 Nov 1998

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

More From Spike Milligan

Puckoon

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan's first novel bursts at the seams with superb comic... Read more
£7.99 £5.99

 

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

›Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4.5 out of 5 stars (72)£3.86
 Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
4.1 out of 5 stars (457)£6.49
 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
4.1 out of 5 stars (161)£3.99
 The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
4.2 out of 5 stars (80)£3.86

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates