ABBEY'S CHOICE OCTOBER 2012 'My whole life can be summed up as this ceaseless effort of mine to persuade other people' - Adolf Hitler. More than any other single figure, it is arguably Adolf Hitler who has most changed the course of history. He used the extraordinary power he held over those around him and the German people to inspire a nation to go to war, commit genocide and celebrate him almost as a deity. In a ground breaking documenty the acclaimed historian Laurence Rees will ask how. Adolf Hitler was driven by an extreme ideology and addicted to taking risks. What was it about his personality that meant so many were prepared to follow him? Why was every challenge to his leadership certain to fail? If he didn't 'hypnotise' his supporters or use threats and fear, how was he able to wreak such destruction? And, seventy years on, is the man who exercised such control over Europe's destiny still a warning to us all? In The Charisma of Adolf Hitler, Laurence Rees discusses the often overlooked subject of Hitler's character and personality, and argues that Adolf Hitler was the most extraordinary human being who has ever lived.