“Now Hitler’s life has really been unraveled,” stated one of the popular West German newspapers in connection with the publication of I. Fest’s book. Leaders must correspond to the messianic expectations of the masses; a certain sacrament of appearance is necessary. Therefore, it is best for the newly-minted messiah to emerge from the nebula, sparkling like a comet. It is no coincidence that sources connected with the origin of dictators, with the entire period of their life before the “appearance to the people” were so carefully protected from prying eyes or simply eliminated, people who knew too much were physically destroyed. Hitler pursued such a “scorched earth” strategy around himself especially zealously. Thus, there is a temptation for two types of interpretation, which are in principle related, despite the external opposition. The first of them is extremely simplified, based on an elementary rationalization of the motives of a largely anomalous personality; the second is transferring the search to the realm of the subconscious or even the occult. The author of this biography of Hitler managed to happily avoid both extremes. His book is unique in its depth of insight into the motivation of Hitler’s behavior and activities, which is precisely what should attract many readers who are unlikely to be satisfied with a simple summary of facts.