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Lots of people have been asking me when my new TV series will transmit. And I at last I have news. ‘The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler’ will start transmitting on BBC2 at 9.00 pm on Monday 12 November. Episode 2 transmits on 19 November and Episode 3 on 26 November. Meantime the book I wrote, on which the series is based, is already on sale. You can get it here.
I recently gave the Tans memorial lecture at Maastricht University on the subject of the charismatic leadership of Hitler, and you can watch the lecture here
Enjoy!
Hi Mr Rees,
I have started reading this book and so far I have found it very informative and insightful journey into Adolf Hitler. I enjoyed The Nazi’s: A Warning from History both on television as well as the book. Likewise with WW2 Behind Closed Doors.
I am looking forward to viewing the series of which your latest book is based, as soon as it begins airing in Australia.
Brendan Lawrence
Hi Laurence,
I’m very interested in seeing this. Are there plans for it to air in Australia?
cheers
Paul
Just read your blog on the charisma of Hitler. Thank goodness someone in an influential public position has finally made the connect about the 1930s and today, warning us that Hitler didn’t arise because Germans were bad people, but because fascism comes from desperation. And thank goodness at least one person at the BBC is making the connect between Golden Dawn (we might add to that the EDL!) and Hitler. These are very very worrying times, and unfortunately they’re times in which history is being rapidly forgotten. I wonder what you make of Donald Trump’s response to Barack Obama’s election victory (and to the Tea Party!) While Europe may be going Orwell, it seems the states is going Huxley!
I read the article ‘Viewpoint: His dark Charisma’ on BBC website and if this is an example of the arguments to be expressed in the book I will give it a miss. There are four things that stand out, for me, about this article.
1] There is an omission: the post-WWI civil unrest in Germany, between 1920 and 1923, that almost led to full blown civil war: artillery was in place in and around Munich, there were armed militia both from the left and right fighting each other and the army.
2] If you cannot explain WHY people listened to him in those beer-halls or WHY they thought his weaknesses were his strengths you are just regurgitating established history and it’s glib. Actually this goes back to point 1 as he was already a practised speaker.
3] What happened to Hitler between 1914 and 1918 that transformed him into the beast he became.
4] Unfortunately the BBC has opted for a method of publishing articles on the web in which each sentence is separated by a blank line and appears as a statement. This does not facilitate easy reading. Sentences are part of paragraphs and then an argument is given or developed. Breaking each sentence with a space ruins the structure of the English language as we know it and thus makes me, certainly, further irritated as I read any article on the BBC.
I watched episode 1 of 3 of the TV series and whilst the content was interesting, I was very disappointed by the use of over the top graphics, background music and sound effects. Unfortunately it ruined it for me.
I have no idea why it had constant visuals of fire and blood and key words/quotes, even clips of wild animals!? The narration, eye witness accounts and real footage provided more than enough impact on their own. On the other hand, the use of actors worked well!
I too have watched episode 1 of the TV Series ‘The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler’ and found it very disappointing. The music clips – why such a mish-mash of popular Classical tunes? Holst, Night on a Bare Mountain, Berlioz – I spent my time trying to indentify the next tune and wondering why on earth it was felt to be a relevant clip to accompany each particular scene. German scenery seems to consist only of shots of Bavaria – lovely though the mountains and tree-clad hills are…..And the ‘trendy’ fire and blood visuals made me wonder whether this series was made for those who are addicted to computer games and graphics and can no longer watch straight-forward documentary films. When in doubt, put in a shot of a lot of German beer mugs.
I too watched episode 1 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt the graphics and music gave it an immediacy and power that supported a fascinating thesis. How could millions follow such an evil man? Laurence Rees made a strong story visually exciting instead of just a lecture – I like lectures but not on tv.
I have enjoyed watching the first two episodes of ‘The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler’, I would be very interested to know the details of the background music used in the films.
Many thanks
Barry
I congratulate you on this superb presentation of this part of history.
My only comments would be that you slightly glossed over the period between Dunkirk and Barbarossa that is where things started to unravel in strategic terms for Germany and the lack of long term economic or military planning that can be attributed to the nature of the regime.
Lastly, it strikes me that maybe in the long term Hitler ended up achieving his long term goals when one considers where Germany is today against its economic and Geo-political position in 1919?
Let me make it clear that I am not an apologist for Hitler or his bat crap mental views and am in no way attributing the current state as being due to what he did.
It is purely a what if the Wiemar Republic had continued into the 1940s??
Speaking now as a History teacher, delivering an A-level course in the Totalitarian regimes of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, I thought these programmes extremely interesting. That’s precisely because of the focus on the complex dynamic between the leader and the followers, all of whom are drawn into an intense emotional whirlwind in which life seems qualitatively raised to a plain of ecstatic higher awareness – everything seems better, more colourful, more exultant and more captivating especially in a world of otherwise irremediable drabness and pessimism. Hitler and the Nazis were shamelessly brilliant in their theatrical offerings of paradise (for the ‘right’ people). I have a horrible suspicion that most of us are potentially susceptible to this, depending on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. And of course the higher our sense of expectation so all the more devastating is the fall when the bubble bursts. The Dark Charisma films captured all this very compellingly.
Wonderful book, enjoyed it immensley.It tackles a very complex subject in a way that is easily understood and very readable. There is a comment made by August Kubizek in his book which I like and will share with you …`what were God`s intentions when he created this man?.