Hitler: Volume II: Downfall 1939-45 (Paperback)

‘Meticulous… Probably the most disturbing portrait ofHitler I have ever read’Dominic Sandbrook,Sunday Times

By the summer of 1939 Hitler was at the zenith of his power. Yet despiteinitial triumphs in the early stages of war, the Fhrer’s fortunes would turndramatically as the conflict raged on. Realising that victory was lost, andwith Soviet troops closing in on his Berlin bunker, Hitler committed suicide inApril 1945; one week later, Nazi Germany surrendered. His murderous ambitionshad not only annihilated his own country, but had cost the lives of millionsacross Europe.

In the final volume of this landmark biography, Volker Ullrich argues that thevery qualities – and the defects – that accounted for Hitler’s popularity andrise to power were what brought about his ruin. A keen strategist andmeticulous military commander, he was also a deeply insecure gambler who couldbe shaken by the smallest setback, and was quick to blame subordinates for hisown disastrous mistakes.

Drawing on a wealth of new sources and scholarship, this is the definitiveportrait of the man who dragged the world into chaos.

About the Author

Volker Ullrichis a historian and journalistwhose previous books include biographies of Bismarck and Napoleon, as well as amajor study of Imperial Germany,The Nervous Superpower 18711918.From1990 to 2009, Ullrich was the editor of the Political Book review section ofthe influential weekly newspaper,Die Zeit. On publication inGermany in 2013,Hitler: Ascent 18891939became a top tenbestseller.