The Origins of Totalitarianism

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

Publisher: Harcourt; New edition (March 1, 1973) ISBN 0156701537

Synopsis

Recognized upon publication as the comprehensive account of its subject and later hailed as a classic by the Time Literary Supplement, this book continues to be the definitive history of this political movement. It begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in Central and Western Europe in the 1800's and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. The final section discusses the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian governments in our time - Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Here, Arendt discusses the transformation of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the non-totalitarian world, and the use of terror, essential to this form of government. In a brilliant concluding chapter, Arendt analyzes the nature of isolation and loveliness as preconditions for total domination.

From: The NASA Glenn Research Center Diversity Management Office, New Leadership Strategy Project Office Leadership Bibliography 2004 recommended reading.