Book excerpt: The first biography of Rudolf Hess since his death in August 1987. Traces Hess's political evolution towards Nazism. He was in Munich in 1919 and joined the anti-Marxist anti-democratic, and antisemitic Thule Gesellschaft. Hess became a disciple of Karl Haushofer and a friend of Dietrich Eckart, editor of the antisemitic newspaper "Auf Gut Deutsch" and later of the "Völkischer Beobachter". He was attracted to Hitler in 1919, becoming an intimate follower and a fervent promoter of Hitler's personality cult. Hess endorsed Nazi racial doctrine and antisemitic propaganda and signed, as Hitler's deputy, anti-Jewish decrees from 1933 to 1938 (although he reportedly protested against the "Kristallnacht" pogrom). Pp. 165ff. deal with his flight to Scotland in May 1941 and its repercussions.