title: The Trial of Adolf Hitler: The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany
author: David King
description: Gripping....<em>The Trial of Adolf Hitler</em> provides a textbook example of how a determined demagogue can turn defeat into victory. It is also a disturbing portrait of how an advanced country can descend into chaos and of the human cost that this chaos entails.<br /> - <strong>Frederick Taylor, <em>Wall Street Journal</em></strong><br /><br />As captivating as it is well researched and scholastically precise.<br /> - <strong><em>The New Criterion</em></strong><br /><br />Engrossing and well-researched....[King] vividly sets the scene....This first book-length account in English of Hitlers trial makes an important contribution to the understanding of modern totalitarianism.<br /> - <strong><em>Christian Science Monitor</em></strong><br /><br />King affirms his reputation as a first-rate narrative historian in this well-researched....fast-paced account.<br /> - <strong><em>Publishers Weekly</em></strong><br /><br />An astute work of scholarship and vivid narrative....A meticulously researched, deeply instructive work with great relevance for our current era of right-wing resurgence.<br /> - <strong><em>Kirkus (starred review)</em></strong><br /><br />A powerful work that underlines what a pivot point the trial wasand how badly it went awry.<br /> - <strong><em>Bookpage</em></strong><br /><br />A courtroom drama both farcical and ominous. An absorbing, detailed account of a crucialbut often overlookedchapter in Hitlers rise.<br /> - <strong>Joseph Kanon, author of <em>The Good German</em> and <em>Leaving Berlin</em></strong><br /><br />This is the definitive book on the Hitler trial in the English, German, or any language.<br /> - <strong>Peter Ross Range, author of <em>1924: The Year That Made Hitler</em></strong>
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE TRIAL  
   _of_  
  ADOLF HITLER
  
  
  The Beer Hall Putsch  
  and  
  the Rise of Nazi Germany
  
  
  ![Images](images/title.jpg)
  
  
  DAVID KING
  
  
  ![Images](images/logo.jpg)
  
  
  **W. W. NORTON & COMPANY**
  
  
  INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS SINCE 1923 • NEW YORK • LONDON
  
  
  ![Images](images/p3.jpg)
  
  
  _Frontispiece:_ A crowd outside the Bürgerbräukeller, shown here in 1923.  
  “In Bavaria, there is no politics without beer,” wrote the Catalan  
  newspaper _La Veu de Catalunya_.
  
  
  _To Van King, in loving memory_
  
  
  _This was the most important political trial of the twentieth century. It
  opened the way for Hitler’s criminal regime._
  
  
  —OTTO GRITSCHNEDER
  
  
  Contents
  
  
  [Munich, 1923–1924: Cast of Characters](cast.xhtml#cast_1)
  
  
  [Prologue](prologue.xhtml#pro_1)
  
  
  [Part I: The Beer Hall](part1.xhtml#pt_1)
  
  
  [1\. Bürgerbräukeller](ch1.xhtml#ch_1)
  
  
  [2\. Starving Trillionaires](ch2.xhtml#ch_2)
  
  
  [3\. Four Bullets](ch3.xhtml#ch_3)
  
  
  [4\. German Ulysses](ch4.xhtml#ch_4)
  
  
  [5\. “Loud, Raw, and Screeching”](c