A few days ago I finished this book, Hitler: The Pathology of Evil, by George Victor. I don't normally get down with non-fiction books, but my next book just might be another history book. It was extremely interesting to me. This book was excellent. Basically, it is a breakdown of Hitler's life, but less of a biography and more of an analysis of what specific events had on Hitler's psyche, and then once his personality had taken root, how it affected the decisions he made in life. It does a pretty good job of explaining why he did some of the extremely irrational things he did during his life; so many of his actions are contradictory. Many, perhaps even most of the decisions Hitler made while he was in power are based on extremely personal things in his life. He really used the National Socialist Party to carry out a personal agenda, none of it good. He really did loathe himself, and if one were to read this book it would be obvious. This book has changed me a little. I have read and seen things about the Holocaust and World War II era-Germany before, but those things did not make the issues real for me. After all, I was born 40 years after it all ended. What made this book significant for me was the idea it put in my head: the idea that if one terrible person, just a single tainted soul takes a position of great power, they can command the deaths of so many innocent people. Hitler himself is the only one who can be blamed for the unfathomable number of lives lost back then. He committed what are undoubtedly the most evil acts in history. No one belonging to any particular ethnic group, or nationality, or religion should be put to death simply because they belong to a certain group. The man's ideas were terribly flawed all around, not just regarding racial purity. The truth of this matter reveals itself in his command of the military and his personal life, especially. Anyhow, I recommend the book.
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