la tarde delm 8 de noviembre Cuenta la historia del proceso que allanó el camino del Fürer al poder y que terminaría marcando el rumbo del siglo XX. El juicio fue un espectáculo sensacional que duró cuatro semanas y que Hitler aprovechó para presentarse como un mártir de la causa nacional y para desplegar su demagogia. ( )

I have to say, I don't think that I've ever seen a book solely dedicated to the Beer Hall Putsch and its trial before I found this one. I can't really say that I've read much about the event at all, to be honest. It seems like it's often glossed over in history books as a side note, since the "main events" (WW2 and the Shoah) are looming just on the horizon.

I learned a lot from reading this book. I'd always just kind of assumed that the Putsch was a spur of the moment affair and that the Nazis who faced trial were rather uniformly disliked and some incompetent judge gave them a lenient sentence. I also thought that the Putsch was a relatively local affair that didn't garner much international attention. All of that turned out to be wrong.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WW2 or the Shoah, because there is a lot of information in here that adds depth of understanding to what happened later. ( )

This is a good book. It has been written in quite the racy manner, and this does make it fairly easy to read.

Is it authoritative ? I am not quite the expert to comment on that. One reviewer did mention that David King did not cover Hitler's relationship with some of the other members of the Nazi party, particularly those of a somewhat sexual nature. However, I don't think that this was the subject of the book.

The trial itself has been covered quite well, and the absolute travesty of justice has been revealed well. He does mention that Geli Raubal was Hitler's mistress, however, other books don't imply this. Also, other books say that Hitler was vegetarian, which is at variance with what David King seems to imply. I point these out merely to ask - which version is accurate? If indeed it is shown that David King's was inaccurate, then it may cast some doubts on the scholarship of the book

However, does it reveal the essential facts, or story, of the proceedings? Yes
Does the book clearly highlight the importance of this botched trial in helping Hitler's rise to fame and power? Yes

So, if the book is to be judged on these questions, he has done an admirable job indeed. ( )

The Trial of Adolf Hitler – Could he have been stopped?

Historian David King asks a challenging question over the course of his book, The Trial of Adolf Hitler, could he have been stopped? That is a question that the reader will continue to ask themselves throughout the book, and that it what good historians do, make you question! King maybe a full-time writer now, but has taught European History and is a former Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge.

The Weimar Republic was doomed from its existence, as many Germans thought their leadership had sold them down river at Versailles and beyond. At home there was much revolutionary activity, of all political shades, and one attempted coup has become more well-known than others.

23rd November 1923, a little known regional politician attempted to bring down the German government and emulate the Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini. Hitler and his brownshirts had surrounded the Bürgerbraükeller as Herman Göring, Rudolf Hess and Hitler attempted to storm the stage and fired a shot into the roof. Fuelled by alcohol, and with the attempted coup failing he tried to do a deal, it did not work. He was later arrested in his pyjamas.

Hitler was charged with High Treason, and as an Austrian could and should have been deported back there if found guilty. But the failings of the trial judge and the Munich elite, especially as the presiding judge allows Hitler to turn his defence in to an attack on the political system. Saying that the presiding judge was known for being somewhat soft on those from the right of Bavarian politics. So, when the verdicts were delivered on April’s Fools Day 1924 and were unsurprisingly lenient. Hitler and three comrades were sentenced to 5 years but served about nine months and was out of prison by the end of 1924.

This book is concerned with the actual trial and uses the papers and other contemporary records, such as trial transcripts and prison archives. What King delivers is more a less a minute by minute account of the trial, giving the reader an excellent narrative of the events. The book is brilliantly researched, written is a style that is easy for the reader to engage with the narrative, he brings to life the chaos nature of life at the time. ( )