Ian Kershaw's Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris charts the rise of Adolf Hitler, from a bizarre misfit in a Viennese dosshouse, to dictatorial leadership.

With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, Kershaw recreates the world which first thwarted and then nurtured Hitler in his youth, from early childhood to the first successes of the Nazi Party.
As his seemingly pitiful fantasy of being Germany's saviour attracted more and more support, Kershaw brilliantly conveys why so many Germans adored Hitler, connived with him or felt powerless to resist him.

'Supersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write'
  David Cannadine, Observer Books of the Year

'The Hitler biography for the 21st century ... cool, judicious, factually reliable and intelligently argued'
  Richard Evans, Sunday Telegraph

'One of the major historical biographies of our times ... a riveting read'
  Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times, Best Biographies of the Year



'His analysis of Hitler's extraordinary character has the fascination of a novel, but he places his struggle and rise in the context of meticulously researched history ... Deeply disturbing. Unforgettable'
  A.N. Wilson, Daily Mail



'A sane, erudite, moral and intellectually honest biography of the 20th century's most destructive politician'
  Ruth Scurr, The Times

Ian Kershaw's other books include Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, Making Friends with Hitler, Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World 1940-4 and The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45. Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis received the Wolfson History Prize and the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for Political Book of the Year, and was joint winner of the inaugural British Academy Book Prize.

Supersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write -- David Cannadine * Observer Books of the Year *
The Hitler biography for the 21st century ... cool, judicious, factually reliable and intelligently argued ... Kershaw triumphantly succeeds in showing that Hitler's rise to supreme power depended not just on his own talents, nor on the nature of German society, but on the interaction of the two -- Richard Evans * Sunday Telegraph *
One of the major historical biographies of our times ... Kershaw has written a dazzlingly lucid interpretation of the central dynamics of the Nazi regime which draws on a wide new range of sources and expertly manages a huge cast of accomplices ... a riveting read -- Jackie Wullschlager * Financial Times, Best Biographies of the Year *
His analysis of Hitler's extraordinary character has the fascination of a novel, but he places his struggle and rise in the context of meticulously researched history ... Deeply disturbing. Unforgettable -- A.N. Wilson * Daily Mail *
A sane, erudite, moral and intellectually honest biography of the 20th century's most destructive politician. Every page is focused on the historical question we would prefer to forget: how did it happen? -- Ruth Scurr * The Times *
This new biography is of profound importance and will ... quickly establish itself as the standard work on Hitler and his regime -- Thomas Childers * Boston Globe *

IAN KERSHAW's other books include Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis; Making Friends with Hitler; Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-4; and The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45. Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis received the Wolfson History Prize and the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for Political Book of the Year, and was joint winner of the inaugural British Academy Book Prize. Until his retirement in 2008, Ian Kershaw was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield. For services to history he was given the German award of the Federal Cross of Merit in 1994. He was knighted in 2002 and awarded the Norton Medlicott Medal by the Historical Association in 2004. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.