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Sub-titled 'The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany', this has been described as 'The definitive book on the Hitler trial in English, German or any language.' The book tells the true story of the monumental criminal proceedings that thrust Hitler into the limelight after the failed Beer Hall Putsch and which provided him with an unprecedented stage for his demagoguery, and set him on his improbable path to power. Reporters from as far away as Argentina and Australia flocked to Munich for the sensational, four-week spectacle. It was 26th February 1924, the first day of the anticipated high treason trial that would mesmerise the country. The defendant, Adolf Hitler, wore a black suit with an Iron Cross First Class and an Iron Cross Second Class pinned to his jacket, his hair slicked to the left and his moustache clipped short and square, standing five foot nine and tipping the scales at 170lbs looking small and insignificant. On the way to his seat in the front, he stopped to kiss the hands of a few women in the audience. On the eve of the trial Hitler was a minor, if ambitious, local party leader idolised by a relatively small number of supporters. His name was still sometimes misspelt in the international press, but all that was to change. Since he was Austrian born, Hitler could now be convicted, imprisoned, deported and then forgotten. This was the fate he feared most. By the end, Hitler would transform a fiasco into a stunning victory for the fledgeling Nazi party. This is the first book on the subject which recreates in riveting detail a haunting failure of justice with catastrophic consequences. A superb contribution to the understanding of modern totalitarianism. 455pp, paperback with cast of characters.