Defying Hitler

Discovered posthumously in 1999, Sebastian Haffner's 'Defying Hitler' is an extraordinary and searingly immediate memoir offering a unique, eyewitness account of Germany's descent into Nazism. Written in England in 1939 but left unpublished for decades, the book chronicles Haffner's upbringing in Berlin from 1914 to 1933. From a seven-year-old jingoist during WWI to a disillusioned young man navigating the chaos of the Weimar Republic—its revolution, hyperinflation, and ultimate failure to captivate its citizens—Haffner provides an intimate perspective on how a generation was subtly, then overtly, seduced by Hitler. He argues that the preceding decade of trauma fatally sapped the German capacity for private happiness, creating a fertile ground for the 'illusion of normality' under which the Nazi revolution steadily gained power. This raw, urgent narrative offers unparalleled insights into the psychological and societal forces that shaped one of history's darkest periods.