This is a great addition to the biographical literature on Adolf Hitler that attempts to shed light on one of the least understood periods of his life, the First World War. While this is commonly felt to have been one of the most formative periods of Hitler’s life, the author makes a reasonably convincing case that most of what is claimed about the period is actually an invention of Nazi or anti-Nazi propaganda. I say “reasonably convincing” in that the record is so incomplete as to make any conclusive determinations problematic, but the author had integrated the writings, diaries, and histories of Hitler’s brothers in arms — some previously unexplored — to make a very useful contribution to our understanding.

The book is a repetitive at a small scale and could have benefited from better copy-editing.

3/5. Finished Tuesday 29 October, 2013.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)