The Unknown Hitler: Notes from the Young Nazi Party

A forgotten eyewitness book about Hitler's rise to power with new material on the author. In the Spring of 2003 the BBC will feature a high-profile documentary on Hitler's rise to power. One of the key books used for this series will be The Unknown Hitler by his foreign press secretary Ernst (Putzi) Hanfstaengl. After the Nazis came into power, Hanfstaengl was asked to go on a mission to Spain during which he was to be thrown out of his plane. This edition will include for the first time his report to the Americans and a recently classified report by the SOE on Hanfstaengl's character.

Ernst Hanfstaengl was a Harvard friend of President Roosevelt's, but fell under the spell of Hitler upon his return to 1920s Bavaria. Egon Hanfstaengl was Hitler's godson and a Hitler Youth. He followed his father into exile and was educated at St Paul's School in London and at Harvard University. He taught at Columbia University. Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University and an expert on Nazi Germany. He was the key academic witness at the David Irving trial.