After listening to everyone and everything against Hitler all of my life. I asked myself: Why would millions fight and die for an idiot, or a lunatic? Why. So I decided to research the man and the words of the man himself so I watched many documentaries and various pro and negative books on him then I started my studies on his book and researched Mein Kampf I started to read several version of it but found them all not for me until I stumble across the FORD TRANSLATION, I decided to give it a try and I was hooked. Very well translated, it's like a history lesson on German History and their struggles with Communism, International Jewish Finance and the Versailles treaty. After reading this amazing book, it showed me how so much of what is in it is still applicable to today's society and it is a book that should be read by everybody with an open mind.
The Ford translation does not deceive nor confuse you. Money well spent if you want to learn about real historical events.If you pass on this edition, you will truly miss out on a fantastic translation of Mein Kampf!
Like I said I have browsed the 1943 Manheim translation, the 1939 Murphy translation, the 1939 Reynal & Hitchcock translation and read the 2009 Ford translation. All have their own particular merits, but the Ford translation tops them all for many reasons; however I suppose all appeal to certain audiences. The Manheim appeals to the scholarly and is indeed a faithful, word-for-word translation of Mein Kampf. However, it is incomplete. Further, following it in places can be very confusing in the English language, and many people I know have simply put it down in frustration. It's obviously a scholar's edition, as the German-language footnotes attest.
The Reynal & Hitchcock edition is a better flowing edition than the Manheim, in my opinion, but has been out of print since 1943, when the Manheim was published by Houghton-Mifflin. Why? Because Houghton-Mifflin did not want to pay royalties to Reynal & Hitchcock for their translation, so Ralph Manheim was commissioned for a new translation, which is, in fact, clumsier than the original.
The Murphy edition is far shorter, a fairly easy read for those who speak/read British English and have a decent vocabulary. However, it is paraphrased - as Murphy read a paragraph and put it into his own words. Not Hitler's words, but in most places, true to the meaning. But in some places, he misses the point (as Ford's book about the MEIN KAMPF translation controversy points out). So if you want Hitler, you won't get it from Murphy...
Onto Ford's translation... The thing I like about this translation is that it strikes me as a true PEOPLE's EDITION of Mein Kampf. It is COMPLETE and TRUE to the original, but being a PEOPLE'S EDITION does NOT mean that it is dumbed-down. It simply means it is readable, flows well and keeps the reader's interest throughout. EVERY READER'S INTEREST. And that was exactly what the author, Adolf Hitler, wanted. He wanted EVERYONE in his country to read his book. Not just the university professor. It wasn't for the elite few. It was for the bus driver, the soldier, the unemployed - it made no difference! It was for everyone. In German, it flowed (and still flows) fine. But when translated to English, it doesn't flow so well, as various translations prove. However, with the Ford translation, it flows VERY WELL. It has been restored to its former status and is once again for EVERYONE.
Couple this with Ford's explanatory notes in the text as well as his added 27 pages of pictures that show key people and places mentioned by Hitler, and this makes an edition of Mein Kampf that has yet to be beaten.
Product Description
Mein Kampf offers an interesting interpretation of politics, people, and foreign policy matters. To characterize it as simply a racist work is to oversimplify its message. Germany did not follow Hitler because he was a racist, they followed him because he promised a great future, and Mein Kampf is where he promised that great future. Available as a hardback book or audio formats.
This edition is the only accurate and complete English translation of Mein Kampf ever made.
This Ford Translation offers:
The most accurate translation ever produced.
Phrases that are translated with precision and with no translator's bias.
Uncommon words are replaced with more common and more meaningful terms.
Any references to unfamiliar people or places are explained in the text.
This version is complete with all original passages and references restored, including passages omitted from other popular versions.
The book Mein Kampf: A Translation Controversy (copyright 2009) has declared the Ford Translation of Mein Kampf to be the “...most accurate and easiest to understand version of Mein Kampf ever made.” and went on to say “...that is why everyone should read it. It will change how you view the world.”This translation has corrected over 1000 errors which were present in past translations. Many instances of Hitler's style were omitted from the older English translations and some references to mythology and historical people were censored or altered to remove their meaning, while common sayings and rhythmic styles, which often made Hitler's words poetic in nature, were removed simply because past translators did not understand their meaning or importance. Past translations, even the ones that claim to be unexpurgated, omitted passages, or simply skipped passages the translator could not understand. Older translations often failed to correctly translate humorous passages or sharp-satirical jokes correctly, resulting in the meaning being lost. All of these elements have been restored in the Ford Translation and all passages past translators found confusing have been researched, deciphered, and included clearly and accurately for the first time. This edition has restored the original passion that drove Hitler and swayed the emotions of the German people.
No English reader has been able to appreciate these subtleties in any previous English translation, not until the Ford Translation.
Do you believe life is struggle? Today, many people accept Hitler's belief that human existence is controlled by the laws of an eternal conflict and struggle for a greater good. This is by definition the classic Hero's Struggle. It is not surprising that people followed Hitler. It is surprising that more did not. His words offered the chance for everyone to participate in his personal Hero's journey—to be a part of something greater than they could ever be on their own. He was the hero of his own story, of course, only a fool would write their autobiography any other way. He appealed to very basic human instincts which are still present in everyone and still just as available for another would-be leader to massage and control. Hitler's words have a universal appeal that will continue to resonate among people who seek something greater than they perceive their own life to be.
What separates Mein Kampf from other books on political theory is the simple fact that Hitler did it! He used his formula to take political control of an entire country. This clearly separates his writing from the thousands of theoretical political papers written by college professors and weekend intellectuals.
Other translations may be cheaper, but they are also incomplete and filled with thousands of errors and omissions. Only the Ford translation reveals Hitler's true words.
Other books theorize about how it happened, Hitler tells how he plans to make it happen. He gives details that no theoretician could dream about, such as how to setup your political organization, how to choose people for your organization and most importantly who you should not include.
Following Hitler was not a great leap for the German people. It was what they needed, when they needed it. Understanding how a leader can appeal to and control a nation without being questioned is critical to identifying similar events unfolding today.
If you do not understand how important Mein Kampf is today, then you must find out immediately because the information in Mein Kampf is known and used by everyone from company CEO's to military dictators. This easy to understand edition will make it clear who may be using Hitler's formula around you.
When you finish reading Mein Kampf, you may not think Hitler is a nice guy, but you will understand his drive, determination, and you will understand how a nation willingly followed him to destruction, you will have a greater understanding of events in the world today, and you will understand yourself better as you are forced to answer difficult questions about those around you.
Read Mein Kampf Now And Find Out What So Many Have Tried To Suppress.
I promise you this: You will see the world differently after reading Mein Kampf.
Dare I read Mein Kampf? See what author and reviewer Francis Hackett has to say about her experience reading it:
"THERE ARE STILL responsible people in this busy world who have not yet got round to reading Mein Kampf.
I confess that up to last year I belonged to this vast company myself-and it includes about ninety-nine per cent of the American people.
It soothed me when I heard that the book was thick, turgid in expression, and at times almost impenetrably dull. I was glad to find an excuse and avoid the chore. In spite of this, however, I at last felt compelled to buy a copy of the unabridged translation.
There is a humiliating discovery that sometimes floors us when we have completed a job. Instead of being the victim of our virtue, we are the beneficiary. This was the case with reading Mein Kampf. It was far from the punishment that I had been led to expect. Once having conquered the repugnance that was a mingling of indignation and disgust, having grappled with the book, having stayed with it long enough to enter into Hitler's state of' mind, and having returned to it to ponder it, I woke up to the nature of Nazism as never before. The importance of Mein Kampf in this respect is not to be debated; it is fundamental.
... Hitler's statements of fact, even when he intends to tell the truth, cannot be taken without reserve; he seems to be incapable of giving a straight account of anything controversial. But a biased witness may be a vital one, and he is the star witness to Nazism. ...
Mein Kampf explains the incipient totalitarian as nothing else can do. But it does more than this. Hitler never conceals his contempt for democratic method, democratic tradition, and democratic aspiration. He never conceals his scorn for political mutuality or morality. Mein Kampf is explicit on this. Its cynicism is all there for the naked eye to see. It raises the issue of Nazism versus Democracy so sharply that all on Hitler's side are necessarily and violently irreconcilable with all on the other side.
Mein Kampf is not literature, any more than a gun in your face is literature. It is action. Once you read it, you realize that a political choice is thrust on you, as a matter of life and death. Mein Kampf marks the Great Divide as nothing else in the world does. The Nazi Germans are on one side of it, the rest of the world is on the other.
...The value of Mein Kampf to us is inestimable. Had Hitler's worst enemy written it, we should have to discount it. It is one of those documents that expose a self-intoxication so stupendous that only a firm grasp of all that gives life meaning for us can steady our perception of it. That is what makes it so indispensable. Without it, the plight in which the world now finds itself would perhaps be intelligible to experts, but it would surely leave us bewildered. But with Mein Kampf now available, full of Hitler's outpourings on every phase of the convictions that possess him and on every detail of the menace he is offering to us, we do not need to remain in a fog. He really enables us, if we give him the chance, to know what this War is about. The fact that the Lindberg's are silent about it, the fact that America First behaves as though Mein Kampf had never been written, cannot disturb anyone who has made a study of human perversities. Obsessed people only see what they wish to see. A man has to be free from the obsessions of power to understand the full importance of Mein Kampf."
Francis Hackett
(Eleven time author)
By the way, those who know the secrets in Mein Kampf will always have the advantage over those who do not. Make sure you are not left out, read Mein Kampf now.
This translation is also available as an audio version.
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