How should we understand Hitler as a factor in the history of the Third Reich? In recent years scholarly interest in the German dictator has once again intensified, as is evident from debates surrounding the publication of Mein Kampf, and from the publication of numerous new studies on Hitler's personality, ideology and politics. Edited by Elizabeth Harvey (University of Nottingham) and Johannes Hürter (Institute for Contemporary History Munich - Berlin), the third volume of the German Yearbook of Contemporary History presents the latest in German research on Hitler based on selected articles from the Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte. Additionally, it includes new commentaries by renowned experts from the English-speaking world on theories concerning Hitler's personality and authenticity, the sources of his radical racism, and the relationship between the dictator and German society.

Elizabeth Harvey, University of Nottingham; Johannes Hürter, Institute for Contemporary History Munich - Berlin.