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Mein Kampf
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Alternate cover edition of this book.
Madman, tyrant, animal—history has given Adolf Hitler many names. In Mein Kampf (My Struggle), often called the Nazi bible, Hitler describes his life, frustrations, ideals, and dreams. Born to an impoverished couple in a small town in Austria, the young Adolf grew up with the fervent desire to become a painter. The death of his parents ...more
Madman, tyrant, animal—history has given Adolf Hitler many names. In Mein Kampf (My Struggle), often called the Nazi bible, Hitler describes his life, frustrations, ideals, and dreams. Born to an impoverished couple in a small town in Austria, the young Adolf grew up with the fervent desire to become a painter. The death of his parents ...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
May 11th 1973
by Houghton Mifflin Company
(first published July 18th 1925)
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I was somewhat disturbed to hear from Lilo that the negative review of Er ist wieder da which she had posted on Amazon had been removed without notice. As an experiment, I thought I would post a negative review of Mein Kampf, where I do the same thing and advise people not to read it. You can find the review here.
So far, three people have voted for it and one person has attacked me in a rather bizarre way. I'm curious to find out what will happen next. In particular, I want to see if Amazon remo ...more

Jul 30, 2007
Greg
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People with a strong grasp of 20th century history.
Recommended to Greg by:
posterity.
Let's distill my previous review.
This book is badly written, presents scientifically incorrect, racist ideas as fact, and takes a comically long time to tell a boring story about formulating an idiotic military plan that didn't work.
People who should read this book don't need to be told they should read it. They also have listened to Wagner and read Nietzsche, and find their respective worldviews problematic.
If your explanation for reading this book does not involve understanding mistakes from t ...more
This book is badly written, presents scientifically incorrect, racist ideas as fact, and takes a comically long time to tell a boring story about formulating an idiotic military plan that didn't work.
People who should read this book don't need to be told they should read it. They also have listened to Wagner and read Nietzsche, and find their respective worldviews problematic.
If your explanation for reading this book does not involve understanding mistakes from t ...more

Feb 03, 2013
Ahmad Sharabiani
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography,
war,
non-fiction,
political,
philosophy,
german,
historical,
literature,
classics,
20th-century
Mein Kampf = My Struggle, Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf (My Struggle) is a 1925 autobiographical book by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز چهارم ماه مارس سال 1966میلادی
عنوان: نبرد من؛ نویسنده: آدولف هیتلر؛ مترجم: فرشاد؛ تهران، کانون م ...more
Mein Kampf (My Struggle) is a 1925 autobiographical book by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز چهارم ماه مارس سال 1966میلادی
عنوان: نبرد من؛ نویسنده: آدولف هیتلر؛ مترجم: فرشاد؛ تهران، کانون م ...more

Hitler... booooooooooooooo!
Call me a crazy talking liberal if you want, but I am against burning human beings in big ovens. I don't care how trendy and cool it was considered back in the day, that's just the way I was raised.
I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. Or at least I thought he was my friend. It turned out he was actually just a cashier at Borders. But he looked an awful lot like this guy I used to be friends with when I worked at Gamestop. I could have sworn it was him. T ...more
Call me a crazy talking liberal if you want, but I am against burning human beings in big ovens. I don't care how trendy and cool it was considered back in the day, that's just the way I was raised.
I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. Or at least I thought he was my friend. It turned out he was actually just a cashier at Borders. But he looked an awful lot like this guy I used to be friends with when I worked at Gamestop. I could have sworn it was him. T ...more

While I was teaching on my placement at the start of the year my supervising teacher had an incentive program going on with some of the students in the VCE history class we were taking. He told them he would pay $50 to any student who finished reading Mein Kampf by the end of the year. He told me he had made this offer every year and had never been required to pay up. He believed this was because the book was so poorly written and so turgid that even the most money hungry 16 year old would figur
...more

It is very difficult to talk about this book, and to agree with those who review it positively, because the person who wrote it did terrible things. Anyone who reads this book should not fall prey to manipulation. But any book can be dangerous. We can blame the Holy Quran and the Holy Bible in just the same way.
I read Mein Kampf when I was quite young actually and because it was a forbidden book. There was only one copy at the town library and I had to sneak it out. So the context is as importan ...more
I read Mein Kampf when I was quite young actually and because it was a forbidden book. There was only one copy at the town library and I had to sneak it out. So the context is as importan ...more

I read this in 1979 as part of my first degree (in history) whilst doing a course on Modern German History. It doesn’t read easily; Hitler wasn’t a natural author! The most interesting thing is that this was written without hindsight or from a position of power, or at the time any immediate likelihood of power.
The ideas are not new; they are recycled and an understanding of fin de siècle Vienna and the maelstrom of ideas in the late nineteenth century which influenced Hitler is vital. The mix o ...more
The ideas are not new; they are recycled and an understanding of fin de siècle Vienna and the maelstrom of ideas in the late nineteenth century which influenced Hitler is vital. The mix o ...more

Of course I didn't expect Mein Kampf to be a great book, even within the admittedly narrow antisemitic messianic homoerotic prison genre, but I did expect a little more showmanship. If you've seen Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, then you know Adolf* could really work himself into an artful spittle-flying lather. My German is middling, but I've heard he was all charismatic and persuasive or whatever. Like, if you were just planning to go out for a stroll and pick up some schnitzel, you'd happe
...more

Aug 08, 2014
Riku Sayuj
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
media-hyped,
war,
pop-policy,
r-r-rs,
history-europe,
translated,
biographies,
geo-politix,
ww2
Mein Kampf or My Struggle:
Five Hundred and Sixty Pages of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, Irrationality and Sheer Prolixity
Understanding Hitler’s political methods, rhetorical techniques and organizational skills is often cited as the best reason to read this book in the modern age, since many dictators still use it as a handbook. Understanding their guidebook might be the best way to beat them at their own game. Many readers today avoid the book to avoid the taint of being seen reading it an ...more

Yes, I have read it, hell I still own a copy. I make no excuses, and will not issue apologies. I am not a nazi sympathizer, anti-semitic, or racist, fascist, or any other variety of colorful names that I have been called for having this on my shelf. I confess that I was curious about the method to the madness and how such whole sale slaughter of human life could be rationalized. Get past impressions that are forced down your throat in history class and read it for what it is, a historical text t
...more

Sep 25, 2007
David
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
chick lit types
hitler should have changed his last name to "hit", because that's what this book is! the main character, who looks like sarah jessica parker, is in her mid-30's and looking for love in all the wrong places. when she gets transported back in time to repressive regime of hitler, the language barrier and her liberal ideals won't stop her from finding true love.
a lil' bit of trivia: the audio book was narrated by a young jody foster. ...more
a lil' bit of trivia: the audio book was narrated by a young jody foster. ...more

Jul 26, 2012
Sean O'Hara
rated it
did not like it
Recommends it for:
Inbred honky trailertrash who think they're better than people of color.
Shelves:
goodreads-has-stupid-policies,
hate-the-author
The author of this book is certainly one of the five or ten biggest nutjobs in the history of the world. Complete raving lunatic. No one should ever listen to a thing he says. If you agree with him, you're some kind of Nazi scumbag.
...more

I was standing at the check out desk at Tolman Hall’s library at U.C. Berkeley back in the 1970s. I have no idea what I was checking out at the time. Maybe it was the time that I had spent at their library reading the Salem Witch Trials, the court documents. But as I was standing at the counter, I noticed a speech written on the wall behind the desk. I stood there reading it, and while I was reading it I realized that it was a humanitarian speech, and I thought, “That is the most beautiful speec
...more

Jun 05, 2007
Q
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one, especially not insane anti-semites.
Glancing at this book, no one has given it even one star.
I find this kind of hard to believe, because the book is amazing. Amazing that one person could have not only thought these things but had the audacity to write them down for posterity.
I read a good chunk of this in it's original German form. It was assigned to us in high school as a "get as far as you can stomach" sort of read. I admittedly skimmed most of it, and cringed at the bits I did read.
But as I had an idea for an altered book pro ...more
I find this kind of hard to believe, because the book is amazing. Amazing that one person could have not only thought these things but had the audacity to write them down for posterity.
I read a good chunk of this in it's original German form. It was assigned to us in high school as a "get as far as you can stomach" sort of read. I admittedly skimmed most of it, and cringed at the bits I did read.
But as I had an idea for an altered book pro ...more

Dec 05, 2008
Annette
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone interested in German history 1918-1945
Recommended to Annette by:
my grandmother
Shelves:
hist-1918-1950
Being German, I first read it at the age of 15 or so, the copy my grandparents were given for their wedding in 1942. I did not understand everything at the time, in particular some of the allusions to the parliament, but I understood well enough and could not believe what I was reading. In Germany it is not easy to get a copy, I think, but for me this was and is a must-read. Hitler wrote it when no one believed he would ever be in a position to do all this nasty stuff - but then, when he was, he
...more

i HATE writing negative reviews but this one is the exception. i started reading this book a week ago and couldn't bring myself to finish it. so Why one star? Because everything about it is HORRIBLE. The writing style (translation), his ideas are just disturbingly fascinating, Bigotry at its best! i picked up this book thinking "it's time to hear his side of the story, his perspective." Let me be clear, Reading this book doesn't make me a "Nazi fan" or "Neo Nazi" i'm just a human driven by curio
...more

[BEFORE READING; February 2016; scroll down for actual review]
I finally got this book!
I say "finally" because I pre-ordered it in mid-December 2015 and it should appear on January 8th. The publishing house decided to print only 4,000 copies, when the number of pre-orders allegedly was 15,000 at this point. The reprint seems to be running at full speed.
Interestingly the book can currently not be ordered from Amazon, although they say on their website:
"The proceeds from the sale of this book t ...more
I finally got this book!
I say "finally" because I pre-ordered it in mid-December 2015 and it should appear on January 8th. The publishing house decided to print only 4,000 copies, when the number of pre-orders allegedly was 15,000 at this point. The reprint seems to be running at full speed.
Interestingly the book can currently not be ordered from Amazon, although they say on their website:
"The proceeds from the sale of this book t ...more

Dec 29, 2009
Manny
marked it as not-to-read
I don't actually intend to read this book, just to share the following passage from Volume 4 of Kasparov's My Great Predecessors. Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky at the 1970 Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca:
During the tournament they could sometimes be seen, leisurely walking along, peacefully chatting, little Sammy and tall Fischer. An idyllic picture: an orthodox Jew and an extremist who praised Mein Kampf. Later Reshevsky explained: 'He has his views, I have my views. It didn't bother me. I...more

Mar 29, 2016
Greta G
marked it as not-to-read
I can understand why people want to read This. Out of curiosity. Or because it's kind of a forbidden fruit (but a rotten fruit). There's so much to read about the war and the holocaust. Read those books first. Read what survivors endured. Read about the trials against the nazi's. And then make up your mind. I'm sure that if you're well informed, and I mean really well, you don't want to read anything that was written by this vermin. It feels to me that giving in to your curiosity to read this '
...more

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT antisemitic or a Nazi sympathizer. I read this for historical context only.
So, if you can look past the rambling, zero editing, and hate-fueled rhetoric, this is an extremely fascinating book!! The interesting thing about this book is Hitler hid nothing because he believed "secret organizations can only be illegal", pg. 542, so Hitler and the Nazi Party were clear in their intentions. The book served as a dual argument to:
1. ushering the restoration of German nationalism
2. ...more
So, if you can look past the rambling, zero editing, and hate-fueled rhetoric, this is an extremely fascinating book!! The interesting thing about this book is Hitler hid nothing because he believed "secret organizations can only be illegal", pg. 542, so Hitler and the Nazi Party were clear in their intentions. The book served as a dual argument to:
1. ushering the restoration of German nationalism
2. ...more

I kinda understood where he was coming from when he complained about the Treaty of Versailles, but he lost me at the "kill the Jews and Slavs" part. Overall I can't say I'm a fan of this Hitler fellow.
...more

First things first...
Who should read this: Anyone intelligent enough to see through Hitler's BS.
Who should not-read this: everyone else
Unfortunately I was in the second category when I read Mein Kampf; most teenagers are. The first part of the book is a very convincing patriotic, nationalistic point of view. The second part is where all the hate propaganda truly begins. By the time naive readers reach the second part, they might be convinced that Hitler is making sensible arguments.
I was well th ...more
Who should read this: Anyone intelligent enough to see through Hitler's BS.
Who should not-read this: everyone else
Unfortunately I was in the second category when I read Mein Kampf; most teenagers are. The first part of the book is a very convincing patriotic, nationalistic point of view. The second part is where all the hate propaganda truly begins. By the time naive readers reach the second part, they might be convinced that Hitler is making sensible arguments.
I was well th ...more

Sep 10, 2007
Doigt
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Weimar-era Germans, it seemed to do well with their demographic.
I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats. But I still didn't like it. I even tried listening to Wagner and making shitty art while reading it...nothing. What the heck, it beats the shit out of The Fountainhead...right? No? Yeah, its pretty bad. Analyze it all you want for whatever reason - it still blows.
...more

As a historical document, Mein Kampf is a window into the interwar years of Europe. As philosophy, it's terrifying. As a book, it's not too coherent, save when Hitler goes into his extended rants, where he seems to find his voice (which makes me cringe, but it is fascinating that when he channels his hate, he gets on a more sound structural footing - and I use the word "sound" loosely). Not quite the ravings of a madman, but definitely the ravings of a madman in the making.
...more

“Who cares whether they laugh at us or insult us, treating us as fools or criminals?” Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf. “The point is that they talk about us and constantly think about us.”
― Volker Ullrich, Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939
==========
Fascism is a patriarchal cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by a treacherous and power-hungry global elite, who have encouraged minorities to destabilize the social order as part of their plan to dominate the ...more
― Volker Ullrich, Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939
==========
Fascism is a patriarchal cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by a treacherous and power-hungry global elite, who have encouraged minorities to destabilize the social order as part of their plan to dominate the ...more

People rate this book so poorly because they disagree with the ideas laid out by Hitler; well I hope so. You do not read this to get inspired by German nationalism and white supremacy. I think that is entirely missing the point.
This book is fascinating for the glimpse it gives into the mind and thought processes of one of the most influential people of the 20th century. Any student of WWII or modern history in general should get acquainted with the ideas that drove Hitler to rally so many to his ...more
This book is fascinating for the glimpse it gives into the mind and thought processes of one of the most influential people of the 20th century. Any student of WWII or modern history in general should get acquainted with the ideas that drove Hitler to rally so many to his ...more

Participating in this Pantaloonless Buddy Read Side Read. So begins the struggle...
...And so it ends.
Welp, I tried, and failed. I gave it 2 weeks and got about 6% in. This was soooooooooo fuuuuuuuucking booooooooooring.
That is all.
...And so it ends.
Welp, I tried, and failed. I gave it 2 weeks and got about 6% in. This was soooooooooo fuuuuuuuucking booooooooooring.
That is all.

I had to read the whole boring mess of this as part of my Masters. An extraordinarily confused, badly written, badly argued, incoherent piece of crap.
There are, however, some interesting and useful bits in there when one is trying to understand Hitler's world-view, and his appeal.
" The application of force alone, without moral support based on a spiritual concept, can never bring about the destruction of an idea or arrest the propagation of it, unless one is ready and able ruthlessly to exterm ...more
There are, however, some interesting and useful bits in there when one is trying to understand Hitler's world-view, and his appeal.
" The application of force alone, without moral support based on a spiritual concept, can never bring about the destruction of an idea or arrest the propagation of it, unless one is ready and able ruthlessly to exterm ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Goodreads Librari...: Please Add Cover | 3 | 14 | Sep 08, 2020 05:31AM | |
Goodreads România: Celebrate George Orwell’s birthday by reading his (scathing) 1940 review of Mein Kampf. | 1 | 44 | Jun 27, 2020 01:32PM | |
book banning | 9 | 202 | Apr 20, 2020 02:14PM | |
anyone interested | 5 | 82 | Mar 29, 2020 01:01PM | |
Play Book Tag: Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler - 2 Stars | 9 | 40 | May 18, 2018 09:44PM | |
Goodreads Italia: In scadenza i diritti del "Mein Kampf" | 34 | 201 | Feb 21, 2018 07:07AM | |
Underground Knowl...: Links between American and Nazi eugenics | 7 | 170 | Aug 26, 2017 07:29AM |
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born politician who led the National Socialist German Workers Party. He became Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933 and Führer in 1934, leading his country into World War II.
During the final days of the war in 1945, as Berlin was being invaded and destroyed by the Red Army, Hitler married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, the two committed suicide in the Führer ...more
During the final days of the war in 1945, as Berlin was being invaded and destroyed by the Red Army, Hitler married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, the two committed suicide in the Führer ...more
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“Only the Jew knew that by an able and persistent use of propaganda heaven itself can be presented to the people as if it were hell and, vice versa, the most miserable kind of life can be presented as if it were paradise. The Jew knew this and acted accordingly. But the German, or rather his Government, did not have the slightest suspicion of it. During the War the heaviest of penalties had to be paid for that ignorance.
-- Mein Kampf, Chapter 10”
—
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-- Mein Kampf, Chapter 10”
“Reading is not an end to itself, but a means to an end.”
—
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