Was Hitler crazy or evil or a bit of both?

A question that surprises me through work is “Am I as bad as Hitler”. More a male than female preoccupation. It requires some research because I really don’t know much about him.

1)    Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler. I loved reading this book. It had pictures of advertisements for chocolates laced with methamphetamines to give housewives some get up and go. Hitler was piled with every drug know to man by his personal doctor. Ohler suggests his tremor was drug related rather than Parkinson’s. So much speed and psychedelics were thrown around, that it explains the collapse of the Nazis in a very different way.

2)    The Last Days of Hitler by Hugh Trevor-Rope. Trevor-Rope was an American intelligence officer who was tasked with discovering what had happened to Hitler after the war. He disappeared for months and no one knew what had happened to him. This book pieces together the evidence that he killed himself in his bunker. The size of the bunker was amazing, an underground multi roomed house. Hitler’s final suicide note spewed such venom against the Jews. blaming them for the failure of the war. Strong support for those who believe Hitler was evil not mad.

3)    The Young Hitler I Knew by August Kubizek. This book was written by Hitler’s childhood friend, who knew him through his teenage years. He talks about Hitler’s tendency to long ranting speeches and his strange relationship with his mother.An interesting perspective.

4)    Hannah Arendt: Eichmann in Jerusalem. This book does not feature Hitler but her statement of the banality of evil has strong echoes through to our time. This is a brilliant report on how easy it is to fall into evil acts. Her writing is wise and understated. I loved this book.

 Does anyone have any books to recommend on this vast topic?? :)