THE TRIAL OF ADOLF HITLER uncovers the scandalous courtroom drama that
ensued, based on trial transcripts, police files, and documents recently discovered from the
Landsberg Prison record office. The trial was initially treated by much of the international press
as a comical blunder: the New York Times discounted the Putsch as a “farce” that would
“definitely eliminat[e] Hitler and his National Socialist followers,” while newspapers from
Argentina to France to Australia dismissed what turned out to be, essentially, the birth of a
demagogue.
Almost immediately, the tide began to turn in favor of the defendants and their party. In
clear violation of the law, a Munich judicial tribunal tried the defendants, sparing them a jury
trial in Leipzig. Munich’s People’s Court would reflect the nationalist and conservative ideology
of Bavaria’s judicial class, ensuring Hitler and his allies a friendly venue. Moreover, much of the
prosecution’s case relied on testimony from government witnesses, many of whom demanded
secrecy, undermining the strength of their evidence.
What followed was a tragicomic miscarriage of justice, conducted in full view of the
German public and international press. Reframed in his own narrative as the Everyman hero of
the drama, Hitler used the proceedings as a bully pulpit for his Nazi ideology and became a
celebrity among disaffected Germans, many of whom started sporting Nazi armbands and pins in
sympathy. While the international press laughed off Hitler’s dramatics, his magnetic rhetoric
influenced a global audience. Ultimately, Hitler and eight of the other nine defendants were
found guilty of high treason, though most of the defendants served no time beyond what they’d
served waiting for the trial. Hitler received the heaviest sentence, and he was eligible for parole
in six months. During that time he would begin Mein Kampf, and the Nazi Party, despite being
outlawed and greatly diminished, would begin to rebuild.
In THE TRIAL OF ADOLF HITLER, King combines rich historical research with a
gripping courtroom narrative to bring one of history’s most fascinating turning points to vivid
life—the first of such studies in English. The result is a chilling re-creation of how, at the very
moment when the Nazi threat could have been snuffed in the cradle, Hitler and the party
emerged more driven, popular, and powerful than ever. Written in lucid, engaging prose, THE
TRIAL OF ADOLF HITLER will not only engross World War II history buffs, but it will
enlighten all readers who are curious to understand how a liberal democracy could fail to defend
itself from the rise of an internal extremist threat—and how the world failed to stop Hitler when
it first had the chance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David King is the New York Times best-selling author of Death in the City of Light. A Fulbright
Scholar with a master’s degree from Cambridge University, King taught European history at the
University of Kentucky. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
TITLE: THE TRIAL OF ADOLF HITLER
SUBTITLE: The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany
AUTHOR: David King
ISBN: 978-0-393-24169-3
PUB DATE: June 6, 2017 PRICE: $26.95 hardcover PAGE COUNT: 336