The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich

Ian Kershaw charts the creation, growth, and decline of the ' Hitler myth '. He demonstrates how the manufactured Fuhrer-cult formed a crucial integrating force in the Third Reich and a vital element in the attainment of Nazi political aims. Masters of the new techniques of propoganda, the Nazis used them to exploit and build on the beliefs, phobias, and prejudices of the day. Their successful ' deification ' of the Fuhrer in a modern industrial state carries a far from comfortable message.