Defying Hitler
by Sebastian Haffner · first published 2002
10mentions
4recommended by
6HN commenters
2011–2023first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Written in 1939 and unpublished until 2000, Sebastian Haffner's memoir of the rise of Nazism in Germany offers a unique portrait of the lives of ordinary German citizens between the wars. Covering 1907 to 1933, his eyewitness account provides a portrait of a country in constant flux: from the rise of the First Corps, the right-wing voluntary military force set up in 1918 to suppress Communism and precursor to the Nazi storm troopers, to the Hitler Youth movement; from the apocalyptic year of 1923 when inflation crippled the country to Hitler's rise to power. This fascinating personal history e
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…spend time with and learn from. The books don't necessarily have to be books written specifically for kids. For instance, I find that my daughter (6) loves it when I read to her Sebastian Haffner's "Defying Hitler", which I discovered here on HN. It's not a book written for children at all, but it's been one of her favorites for weeks now. She only understands about 90 % of it - but that leads us into some of our…
on “Ask HN: Books you'd love to read to your 6-year-old?” ↗…50 books): https://books.j11g.com/search.php?log=3 Three books from 2021 stick out: - If This Is a Man by Primo Levi. I would urge everyone to read this. This history should be known to everyone. - Defying Hitler (the story of a German 1914 - 1933) by Sebastian Haffner. Masterfully written autobiography that explains the rise of nazi Germany more than any other history book I ever read. And one more for the HN…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…"Kulaks"[1] or "wreckers" [2]), sent to the Gulags. > Where was the Nazi injustice for the Germans? It was positively rampant. If you didn't toe the party line, you were doomed. See, for example, Defying Hitler, by Sebastian Haffner [3]. Quote regarding the latter [4]: The book is carried forward by waves of contempt and disgust — for the Nazis; for the people who believed them; for those who didn't, yet failed…
on “The Secret History of Kim Jung Il -- written by one of his high school teachers” ↗…The Dream Machine (the history of computing, as well as its intersections with the Cold War, with behaviorism in psychology, and other things, through the life of J.C.R. Licklider) - Sebastian Haffner, Defying Hitler (life in Berlin during the rise of Hitler and during WWII, written in such a plain and clear language that my 6-year-old can vividly picture much of what he's describing)
on “Ask HN: Good “History from the perspective of a private individual” books?” ↗One of my favorite books which I discovered here on HN. Love the writing style. Even my 6 year old loves it. Somewhat similar are “Defying Hitler” by Sebastian Haffner (Berlin in the 1930s) and “When I Was A Little Boy” by Erich Kästner (Dresden of the 1910s). Would love to hear more such recommendations. Doesn’t need to be German focused. Just…
on “The World of Yesterday: a brief review of a 1942 book” ↗…politican made him being voted to become Germans fuerer. Where do you have this from? From a computer game or a movie? From a gumball machine? Read this book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65458.Defying_Hitler
on “Why We Terminated Daily Stormer” ↗I had to come back to this thread to say thank you for this recommendation. I just started reading “Defying Hitler”. What an amazing book! It is so well written that I could read it to my five-year-old. Really a deep dive into history from a first person perspective. I am also reading JFK by Logeval, which describes…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗It looks like the English translation of Haffner's memoir is titled "Defying Hitler: A Memoir". Thanks for the recs!
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…Then again, people have made the mistake of believing "nothing has happened so far, so nothing will happen" time and time again. As Sebastian Haffner describes the outbreak of World War I in his book "Defying Hitler": "The last world war, with which my conscious life begins as if with a bang, hit me as it hit most Europeans: During the summer vacations."
on “Wagner troops may reach Moscow by evening as Kremlin hurries to intercept” ↗…possible, people just looked on and hoped for the best. Seems familiar, huh? Maybe my impression is totally wrong, but that's my impression. Here are some quotes form said book (the English title is "Defying Hitler") > A generation of young Germans had become accustomed to having the entire content of their lives delivered gratis, so to speak, by the public sphere, all the raw material for their deeper emotions…Now…
on “If you've nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear” ↗