| Abstract: | This article discusses Richard Overy's book comparing the regimes of Hitler and Stalin. The book seeks not just to describe, but also to explain the way the two systems functioned. With this in view the book compares them on a detailed topic-by-topic basis and recognizes that the two systems were in important ways fundamentally different, while concluding that both based their power not just on the personality of the leader, but also on substantial popular support. The reviewer argues, however, that although the book contains valuable information and insights, it may nevertheless be a little too ready to squeeze the two systems into the same mould. Nazism was a uniquely malignant phenomenon not merely because of its crimes, but because of its ideas, which embraced far more than just racism. The reviewer argues that given the unique evil of Nazism, it cannot properly be likened to anything else. |
