Explaining Hitler

The Search for the Origins of His Evil

By: Ron Rosenbaum

Narrated by: Steve Quinn

Length: 22 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In Explaining Hitler, Ron Rosenbaum investigates the meanings and motivations people have attached to Hitler and his crimes against humanity. What does Hitler tell us about the nature of evil? In often dramatic encounters, Rosenbaum confronts historians, scholars, filmmakers, and deniers as he skeptically analyzes the key strains of Hitler interpretation.

A balanced and thoughtful overview of a subject both frightening and profound, this is an extraordinary quest, an expedition into the war zone of Hitler theories, “a provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart” (New York Times).

First published in 1998 to rave reviews, Explaining Hitler became a New York Times-bestseller. This edition is an update of that classic and a critically important contribution to the study of the twentieth century's darkest moment.

©1998 by Ron Rosenbaum. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Afterword © 2014 by Ron Rosenbaum. Excerpt from The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, by Robert G. L. Waite © 1977 by Robert G. L. Waite. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books Group LLC. Diane Cole: Excerpts from an interview between Diane Cole and Lucy Dawidowicz. Used by permission of Diane Cole. Neal Kozodoy, Literary Executor for the Estate of Lucy Dawidowicz: Excerpts from The War Against the Jews, by Lucy Dawidowicz, Reprinted by permission of Neal Kozodoy, Literary Executor for the Estate of Lucy Dawidowicz.

Critic reviews

"Brilliant...restlessly probing and deeply intelligent"—Time

"A remarkable journey by one of the most original journalists and writers of our time"—David Remnick, author of Lenin's Tomb

"Fascinating...A provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart.... Mr. Rosenbaum has made an important contribution to our understanding not just of Hitler, but of the cultural processes by which we try to come to terms with history as well.... He has written an exciting, lucid book informed by old-fashioned moral rigor and common sense."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

Only for the Hardcore WW2 Reader

I first read this 20 years ago and was enthralled by it. Finally in audio with a new afterword to bring it up to date, it remains in my top ten of WW2 reading for my lifetime (I've been reading about the war for about 35 years now). Rosenbaum is addressing the scholars' issue of where did Hitler's morality go off the charts; at what precise point and what was the trigger? Explored through several lenses, from blaming Jews to blaming Germans to blaming Geli Rabaul, it's an exhaustive and sometimes exhausting trip with many a sidetrack. I would say any weaknesses are in the first two chapters or so when he give you a tease about a certain village with genealogical records concerning Hitler's ancestry and then never really explores the village, to an enigmatic trip to an SS barracks building serving as a hotel in the modern age. After that, the serious stuff begins and doesn't let up. I'd argue that though he never says it, his personal take on the origins of Hitler's evil lies with Geil Rabaul's death, for he spends at least 1 too many chapters lingering on her story. The latter half of the book where he lets the historians have their say is, for me, the best, especially the chapters about David Irving and Alan Bullock. Then there's the bizarre notion of writing a novel where Hitler has escaped to the jungles of South America only to be tried in a pseudo trial, giving his mea culpa for his actions, to contend with (I still need to get a copy of this). The new afterword helps bring the story to almost the current situation today and if you're a serious student of the war and not dazzled by the buzzword of Hitler's name type of casual WW2 buff, this book is essential. And in the end he really does leave the question up for grabs for you to answer in your own way; it's not a predetermined lecture. It's not for everyone, but it certainly deserves wider recognition for its contribution to the study of Hitler's character.