RB>WD> "De Bello Gallico" is a historical account, whereas "Mein Kampf" is RB>WD> not.
RB> That, my friend, is a matter of opinion.
"De Bello Gallico" is a historical account, "Mein Kampf" is a manifesto.
RB> It's fashionable to damn "Mein RB> Kampf" nowadays, but if more people had read it before 1933, Hitler's RB> chances of becoming Reichschancellor might have been a good deal smaller RB> than they were.
We do not know that because ...
RB> Pre-1933 Germans were desperate, both economically and in terms of RB> self-estimation. But they were no dumber than the average present EU RB> citizen.
... as you point-out yourself, the Germans were pretty-desperate after the Treaty of Versailles forced them into submission.
It's amazing how the country rebounded again after WW2, unified again after the Wall fell, and is now a trusted partner in the EU and Eurozone.
As for "Mein Kampf", after Hitler's suicide the copyright was part of his estate and as no-one claimed it, it reverted to Bavaria as his official residence was there.
As per German copyright law, the entire text is scheduled to enter the public domain on 1 January 2016, 70 years after the author's death.
Interesting detail, in 1942 US authorities seized the American copyright under the "Trading With The Enemy Act" and cashed-in on the proceeds of more than 15.000 copies a year sold Stateside until 1979 when the copyright was sold (and more money made from it).
