From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler assumed power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin.


In fascinating detail and with previously un-accessed archival materials, Timothy W. Ryback tells the remarkable story of Hitler's dismantling of democracy through the democratic process. He provides a fresh perspective and insights into Hitler's personal and professional lives in these months, in all their complexity and uncertainty. Culminating in the fateful weekend that changed our world forever, Ryback makes clear why President Paul von Hindenburg ultimately decided to appoint Hitler chancellor in January 1933, clearing the way for his dictatorship.


'An engrossing clock-ticker of a narrative ... Takeover is a vital read for anyone who cares about the future of democracy' Margaret Talbot, New Yorker


'[A] riveting, intimate account of the final months in Hitler's rise to power' Max Rodenbeck, The Economist

'Reading Timothy Ryback's excellent and forensic account of the complicated events in German politics in the six-month run-up to that fateful moment, I found myself willing the end result not to happen' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Daily Mail