Hitler's Private Library The Books That Shaped His Life

Hitler's Private Libraryoffers a remarkable view of Hitler's intellectual evolution. It also demonstrates the ability of books not only to convey their contents but also to preserve in very real ways the life of the collector. During Hitler's military service in World War I he began to amass a private library that he treasured, volumes of which accompanied him to the front during World War II and to the bunker where he committed suicide. Most of the books that comprised this library have disappeared, but some were found by Americans soldiers, and made their way to the Library of Congress, where they remained unexamined for several decades until Timothy Ryback came upon them.

Timothy W. Ryback is the author of The Last Survivor: Legacies of Dachau, a New York Times Notable Book for 1999. He has written for The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He is cofounder and codirector of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation and lives in Paris with his wife and three children.