Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.  Hitler began the book while imprisoned, following his failed Putsch in Munich in November 1923. The governor of Landsberg noted at the time that "he [Hitler] hopes the book will run into many editions, thus enabling him to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the time of his trial." After slow initial sales, the book became a bestseller in Germany following Hitler's rise to power in 1933

The first volume of Mein Kampf was published in 1925, and it sold 9,473 copies in its first year. In 1927, the second volume on national socialism was published. The first edition of the first volume is marked by a red cover subtitled "A Reckoning". The book had relatively mediocre success until 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor, upon which sales of the book skyrocketed.

Sales of Mein Kampf rose dramatically after 1933, and its publication was pervasive in German culture. A special wedding edition was published in 1936, and it was common for newly married couples to be gifted with The Wedding Edition of Mein Kampf, or Hochzeitsausgabe. A 'knapsack edition' was published and distributed by the German post office to soldiers on the front lines during World War Two.When the copyright on Mein Kampf expired in 2016, the Institut für Zeitgeschichte published an academic edition of the text with annotations outlining the absurdities and lies of the original work. Its publication was in especially high demand, and the publisher received over 35 requests for various language translations.