A radical new interpretation of Hitler.'
Frederic Spotts is a journalist and author. His study of Bayreuth is acknowledged as the standard work on the subject.
A radical new interpretation of Hitler's character and actions which sees a perverted artistry as the driving force behind his career and his hold over the German people.
A radical new interpretation of Hitler's character and actions which sees a perverted artistry as the driving force behind his career and his hold over the German people.
Unlike biographies of Adolf Hitler that focus on the ideological and humanitarian disaster wrought by his intense anti-Semitism, Spotts's book posits that the 13-year nightmare of the Third Reich was just as much a result of Hitler's artistic nature. Though other authors have touched on certain aspects of Hitler's artistic side-the dictator's obsession with monumental architecture or his grandiosity and love of Wagnerian opera-Spotts (Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival) has leapt with both feet into a full exploration of Der Fhrer as artist. Spotts argues that Hitler's aesthetic nature compelled him to destroy society only to re-create it according to the image in his artist's eye and that the crusade against the Jews (and, indeed, all "degenerate" influences) was the result of what Hitler viewed as the destruction of German culture by the practitioners of what he referred to as "modernism." Hitler's art-the art of centuries past-envisioned nothing new. Spotts makes the point visually, with numerous photographs and drawings, many by Hitler himself. With scholarship and true artistry, Spotts has exposed this picture in a book that is accessible to the average reader but that will be of interest to academicians as well.-Michael F. Russo, Louisiana State Univ. Libs., Baton Rouge Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
