The Dictator and the Power of Staging This book offers a completely new perspective on the rule and personality of Adolf Hitler. His rise and his murderous regime, as Wolfram Pyta demonstrates, were primarily based on the radical application of aesthetic principles that the self-proclaimed artist Hitler had adopted before entering politics in 1919. Wolfram Pyta, a renowned modern historian and director of the Ludwigsburg Research Center for the History of Nazi Crimes, examines the ascent of the unsuccessful artist Hitler to the all-powerful politician and military leader from an enlightening and unusual perspective. The historian shows how Hitler found his mass following through the sophisticated aestheticization of politics - the thwarted theater architect and passionate Wagnerian was particularly aided by the consistent staging of his persona.