By some universal coincidence, two of the most profoundly evil, yet eminent, leaders ever known to history led almost "parallel" lives during the same time period. These two figures are Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. As dictators, they alone would eventually dominate their portions of the world with totalitarian power. Their contrasting life experiences and political decisions may have separated them as individuals, but their intense and unquenchable desire for power brought them both together as two of the greatest, most influential leaders of the20th century.

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889. His parents were Alois Schickelgruber Hitler, a customs officer on the Austro-German border, and Klara Poelzl Hitler, Adolf's mother. As a youth, Adolf was known for being moody and lazy, and for his temper tantrums. His father died when he was 14, and his mother raised him and his sister, Paula. He had...