Hitler's Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life

Hitler's Private Library offers 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.