I hope worthy opinion leaders/policy makers read this book.
This review is from today's NYT, section C, page 27. Sorry no link.
"‘HITLER: ASCENT, 1889-1939’ By Volker Ullrich (Alfred A. Knopf). How did a man described as a “half-insane rascal” and “pathetic dunderhead” rise to power in the land of Goethe and Beethoven? Why did millions of ordinary Germans embrace him and his doctrine of hatred? How did this “most unlikely pretender to high state office” assume complete control of a once democratic country and set it on a monstrous course through history? In this insightful and revealing biography, Mr. Ullrich shows how Hitler used an arsenal of demagogic tools (lies, fake promises, theatrical rallies, mantralike phrases) to exploit a “constellation of crises” in post-World War I Germany, including economic woes, unemployment and political dysfunction. He argues that Hitler’s rise was not inevitable but that his domestic adversaries failed to appreciate his ruthlessness, while foreign statesmen naïvely believed that they could control his aggression. His book shows just how the unthinkable can happen. (Read the review.)"