Author: Bevin Alexander
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Most Americans and British would like to think that Hitler was defeated by the tenacity and determination of the United States and the British Empire. Some may even concede that the Russians had something to do with it as well. But the fact of the matter is no one really defeated Hitler – Hitler defeated himself.
Throughout the war, Hitler had opportunities of sealing his victory. He really could have conquered the entire world. So what happened? That’s what this book is about. And this book does a great job of pointing out where Hitler messed up and what could have happened if he had chosen a different path.
Find out what would have happened if Hitler had: Finished off Great Britain from the start.
– Given Rommel the troops he requested in North Africa.
– Waited to attack Russia.
– Conquered the Middle East.
– And many other unnerving possibilities.
Bevin Alexander has done a fine job of providing a detailed look at the paths that Hitler refused to take and what would have happened had he gone down them. Starting from the very beginning of the war, Alexander takes you through all of WWII in the European theater to see Hitler come closer than anyone ever has to world conquest and then throw it all away. Hitler’s own stubbornness, pride, and just plain stupidity kept him from listening to his most trusted and closest commanders and it cost him the war.
Some of you reading this review may wonder why you would ever want to read a war book, especially one about Hitler. There are many reasons for reading this book, like learning history, etc. You ask, “But isn’t the main reason for reading this book to learn about Hitler? Why would I want to learn anything about that madman?” Well, you just answered your own question. Hitler is the prime example of leadership at its worst. As you will learn from the book, Hitler had to work hard at losing this war.
With that said, we can see some of Hitler’s traits in leaders today: stubbornness, not listening to advice, making moves out of personal vendetta, etc. We can also see some of these very traits in ourselves. Looking at how these traits were detrimental to Hitler’s conquest, we can see how these traits could also hold us back.
So if you read this book, don’t just think about Hitler, or the war, or history. Take a look at yourself. How similar are your actions to Hitler’s?
You may also be interested in Churchill’s Earliest Warning about Hitler.