Well, over the preceding decades I’ve read countless books on the subject of WWII and related philosophies, as I studied history and philosophy. Even Marxism and Leninism, as it was a required curriculum at the university in Czechoslovakia.
Nazism and Fascism has been almost universally labeled as right wing, capitalist, imperialist, and etc., and I had no reason to doubt it.
After I escaped to the west, and ultimately to the US, I continued my studies. Almost immediately I realized that Nazism and Fascism had a lot more in common with leftist ideologies than American liberalism / capitalism / democracy. But I was particularly troubled by the way WWI gave rise to WWII, and how it was possible for the time’s arguably most educated population to have become so savage, in such a short time.
The then popular explanations I didn’t quite find satisfying, so I continued my search for answers. That brings me to Nietzsche and Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks. His lecture on the DVD is riveting, and it removed much of the haze that engulfed my understanding of the era. Does it answer all the questions? Of course not, but it doesn’t claim to either. He does however put matters in proper perspective.
So, does it boil down to one book? Well, it takes a long extent of time to really understand history. We are discovering new facts, events and the likes, every day. The old KGB archives, for the limited time that they were accessible, provided us with an enormous trove of new data that shed lite on many events. It will be up to new historians to refine, and/or revise our understanding of historical events.
Anyway, seem to be genuinely interested in the subject and I would strongly recommend that you partake of the lecture. You won’t regret it.
Well, over the preceding decades I’ve read countless books on the subject of WWII and related philosophies, as I studied history and philosophy. Even Marxism and Leninism, as it was a required curriculum at the university in Czechoslovakia.
Nazism and Fascism has been almost universally labeled as right wing, capitalist, imperialist, and etc., and I had no reason to doubt it.
After I escaped to the west, and ultimately to the US, I continued my studies. Almost immediately I realized that Nazism and Fascism had a lot more in common with leftist ideologies than American liberalism / capitalism / democracy. But I was particularly troubled by the way WWI gave rise to WWII, and how it was possible for the time’s arguably most educated population to have become so savage, in such a short time.
The then popular explanations I didn’t quite find satisfying, so I continued my search for answers. That brings me to Nietzsche and Professor Stephen R.C. Hicks. His lecture on the DVD is riveting, and it removed much of the haze that engulfed my understanding of the era. Does it answer all the questions? Of course not, but it doesn’t claim to either. He does however put matters in proper perspective.
So, does it boil down to one book? Well, it takes a long extent of time to really understand history. We are discovering new facts, events and the likes, every day. The old KGB archives, for the limited time that they were accessible, provided us with an enormous trove of new data that shed lite on many events. It will be up to new historians to refine, and/or revise our understanding of historical events.
Anyway, seem to be genuinely interested in the subject and I would strongly recommend that you partake of the lecture. You won’t regret it.