After a seven-decade-ban, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler topped the non-fiction bestseller list in Germany in 2016. After the ban was lifted, the book sold over 85,000 copies in one year. Although there was an official embargo since the end of World War II, the book had been extensively traded in secret.
The Institute for Contemporary History in Munich published the two-volume edition of the book with an initial print of 4,000 copies. It immediately increased the number of copies because of the huge number of orders, especially from Germany-based institutes and universities. It is now considered to be a valuable snapshot of Hitler’s ideals, particularly to scholars and students of history, political sciences and international studies.
To counter and refute all Nazi concepts in the book, the Institute for Contemporary History published a ‘Critical Edition’, adding comments and notes to Hitler’s original text. The institute also organised a series of lectures and discussions about the book across Germany and wider Europe, to justify lifting the ban on the book, and to discuss Hitler’s vision on the world and the consequences of the authoritarian ideologies in causing wars, armed conflicts and unrest in the international arena.