You can think of Book One of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich as laying the intellectual groundwork for the pages that follow. The first volume of a three-volume overview of the history of Nazi Germany. A fairly straightforward narration, he saves analysis until the final chapter, where it's beautifully detailed. The three volumes of the trilogy – The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich In Power, and The Third Reich at War – were published between 2003 and 2008. Shirer begins the book's twenty-sixth chapter by recapping the activities of the ineffective band of men who, throughout the past three years, had been conspiring to take Hitler down. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2015-06-18 17:30:55.444436 Bookplateleaf "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" exposes the darkest chapter in history, from Adolf Hitler's rise to power as a Nazi demagogue to his ultimate fatal mistakes. Every question I had about how and why Hitler was able to rise to prominence and so swiftly overtake not just the political but also the cultural, educational, and military institutions in Germany has been answered. And the third was the one who took over Hitler’s government.To understand the name of the Third Reich, Reviewed by David Large Published on H-German (December, 2005) Richard J. Evans's The Coming of the Third Re‐ ich is the first volume of a projected three-volume opus on the history of National Socialist Germany. In fact, this book may have been the most disappointed in a book I’ve felt so far this year. by Penguin Books. useful, if rather dry. By David Cesarani. Includes bibliographical references (p. [462]-584) and index. How did an extremist party lurking at the fringes of political life take over the entire government in such a shot time without ever raising the wrath of the bigger parties or of the people. But, this book fell flat for me for two reasons. Despite a few examples of purplish prose--opponents of the brownshirts aren't simply beaten up, for instance, they're beaten "to within an inch of his life" or "with a barely controlled savagery" or "beaten senseless," all 3 of these illustrations on pps 432 and 433--Evans writes beautiful sentences of a Proustian length which are nevertheless clear and direct in dealing with complicated issues and events. Ceaselessly inventive, in many ways at the cutting edge of social and welfare reform, Germany was the one country in Europe to rival the United States as a beacon for future growth and change. Dewey: 943.08: Edit. At times the running litany of names got tedious and didn't add to overall understanding; I'd have preferred fewer details at times and more analysis. I'm sure this is a treasure for academics and history buffs. Evans then completed his task and even underwent cross examination in court, quite literally defending history, and Irving lost his defamation suit. In fact it is already happening, the question is how far we will fall. Nonetheless, this is an interesting book of history, and just because it’s not a warning, per se, does not mean that it does not contain interesting lessons. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. How could the German people have been so accepting of Hitler? First, I found it deadly dull. I'm worried about some of the parallels I'm seeing today, I get eery feelings that what happened in Germany, the circumstances that allowed for democracy to devolve into violent terroristic regime, is being replicated in today's circumstances facing contemporary Western democracies. The Coming of the Third Reich covers events in Germany from the late 19th century through mid-1933. One thing is clear to the reader of this book, the first of massive trilogy covering the Third Reich, and that is there is little evidence that we are heading the way of 1920s and 1930s Germany—but that if we are, it has nothing at all to do. Directed by Jack Kaufman. The book starts 60 years before the rise of Hitler to the Chancellorship so that the reader gets a feeling for the political and cultural environment that led to the rise of this terrible movement. I’m not exaggerating by much when I say I literally fell asleep within five pages of opening the book most of the times I read it. As long as the German Army had been scoring easy victories, to the glory of the Third Reich, the conspirators couldn't interest many people in overthrowing Hitler. For the past few months, we have been subjected to a tedious, hysterical stream of comparisons of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. I am reading the Kindle edition right now. Evans has also taught at the University of Stirling, University of East Anglia and Birkbeck College, London. Clear and well written. I haven't see any photos yet. The consequences of this assault would change the world in ways that we will always have to live with. It’s standard history with nothing new which hasn’t already been said in the past century. See all 5 questions about The Coming of the Third Reich…, Heat Up the Holidays with These 27 Winter Romances. It's a great big sweeping survey with like a hundred pages of footnotes and a bibliography to point readers towards just about every fact and source Evans used. The clearest and most gripping account I've read of German life before and during the rise of the Nazis. The Devil's Disciples: The Lives and Times of Hitler's Inner Circle by … My inclination is that it is because so much more has been revealed in the intervening years and because Evans has left out much drama and personality to focus on. Developments that seem inevitable in retrospect were by no means so at the time, and in writing this book I have tried to remind the reader repeatedly that things could easily have turned out very differently to the way they did at a number of points in the history of Germany in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. The Nazis, who possessed no respect for democracy whatever, never won an election by fair means, and once they’d achieved power, they quickly suppressed (often by killing) any opposition. AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Email Address Subscribe Tweet. BUY NOW FROM. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published With a mother raised in Nazi Germany, I have a real interest in how the Nazis came to power, and this book provides a lucid and readable explanation. For example, "World war II" (with quotes) will give more precise results than World war II (without quotes). S Byatt, Times Literary Supplement There is no story... Free shipping over $10. It's far easier to understand a genocide occurring thousands of years ago - far harder when we have grandparents which remember it. How did an extremist party lurking at the fringes of political life take over the entire government in such a shot time without ever raising the wrath of the bigger parties or of the people? I was shocked to learn how the Nazis were abetted by parties that were conservative or anti-democratic or pro-monarchist and even Catholic. This is the first book in Richard J Evan's Third Reich trilogy, and it is a brilliantly written, thoroughly researched, and engrossing journey through the history of Germany from the nineteenth century to 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. Focused on political developments, it provides as well information about the economic and cultural bases of German life during the period. Richard J. Evans’s major new book unfolds perhaps the single most important story of the twentieth century: how in less than a lifetime this stable and modern country led Europe into moral, physical and cultural ruin and despair. It is also somewhat frightening to read this while the RNC was on. The first of three books on Germany’s Third Reich. I am giving it a two star rating because Evans in his Preface has the gall to assure the reader that it is superior to William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." The official version, basically; doesn't add all that much to our knowledge, For the past few months, we have been subjected to a tedious, hysterical stream of comparisons of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. 1 Continuities between the Bismarckian Reich and the coming of the Third Reich form the central thesis of Hans-Ulrich Wehler, ... 28 A convenient brief summary can be found in Gerhard A. Ritter, ... Chapter 5 CREATING THE THIRD REICH. His explanation of how the Nazis wouldn't have succeeded if a workable coalition of conversatives had been held together of if the social and cultural disorientation of the Weimar years hadn't been so sharp or if there hadn't been such general resentment over the harsh terms of the Trreaty of Versailles isn't surprising at all. This, the 1st volume of the celebrated trilogy by Richard J Evans, is a long way from my reading of William L Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. This is an excellent chronicle of those years. But this book just fell flat for me. But, this book fell flat for me for two reasons. The bulk of this is a synthesis of Germany's increasingly horrifying history from 1919 to 1933. The several maps the author has included so far are converted well and easy to understand. When I didn’t fall asleep outright, I found myself constantly ch. There are no new insights here. The Third Reich was rooted in … In 1900 Germany was generally viewed as one of the world’s most progressive, dynamic and impressive nations. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis … The Coming of the Third Reich By Richard J. Evans This first part of what will be Evans' three-volume history of Hitler's regime is the most comprehensive and convincing work so far on the fall of Weimar and Hitler's rise to power. by Richard J. Evans. ... Shirer's book cannot really deliver a history of Nazi Germany that meets the demands of the early twenty-first -century reader." But a variety of recent, large-scale narrative histories have shown that it can be done without sacrificing analytical rigour or explanatory power.”. The opening section relates the lives of Jewish students in Aryan schools and reveals that even before the laws on formal expulsion, these children already felt ostracism in … With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time. The second reason I pan this book is because it added nothing but new detail to my understanding of the formation of the Third Reich. We’d love your help. Search Tips. I wanted to read this for a variety of reasons, but the main reason was that I wanted to get a clearer picture of how a Western democracy - 1920s Germany in this instance - could devolve into a violent terroristic regime like the Nazis. Book Summary The final volume in Richard J. Evans's masterly trilogy on the history of Nazi Germany traces the rise and fall of German military might, the mobilization of a "people's community" to serve a war of conquest, and Hitler’s campaign of racial subjugation and genocide. Chapter 13- Leading Personalities of the Third Reich Summary and Analysis Hitler- Hitler used to be able to talk to everyone according to Guderian but later turns against experts and establishment advisers. Of state terror - hideous street violence, beatings and murders of political enemies in public places? Sunday October 26 2003, 1.00am, The Sunday Times. Buy this book. MICHAEL BURLEIGH. "), his focus really is on the past and on endings. As a reader of this book, The Coming of the Third Reich, will quickly figure out, such comparisons are both vicious and ignorant. Refresh and try again. The seeds of the Third Reich’s rise to power may have been sown in Bismarck’s Germany, but it required a devastating sequence of events before they were reaped in the Nazi seizure of control with which Evans ends his sweeping and dramatic narrative. Evans makes the argument that as an authoritarian dictatorship (which Germany was from 1932 on, even before Hitler became Reich Chancellor in 1933), Germany wasn't exactly an outlier in Europe. This is a great book on how Hitler and the Nazis came to power. --A. The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans charts the forces at work in Germany from the end of the Bismarck era, through the Wilhelmine period which led up to the end of WWI, then on through the years of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis from fringe group to power. As a reader of this book, The Coming of the Third Reich, will quickly figure out, such comparisons are both vicious and ignorant. When the so-called historian David Irving, who was a blatent Holocaust denier, sued some of his collegues for accusing him skuing historical sources to make his arguments, Richard J. Evans was asked by the court to be the expert witness for the plantiff in the case. There was nothing inevitable about the coming of the Third Reich. THE COMING OF THE THIRD REICH Richard J. Evans, Author. The bulk of this is a synthesis of Germany's increasingly horrifying history from 1919 to 1933. Antisemitism was no more widespread than in many other countries, representative institutions were thriving, political parties and elections an accepted part of constitutional practice. Only in the last chapter does Evans address how Nazism could have taken root. This is the first volume of a series about the Third Reich, providing a history of Germany from the formation of the Second Reich until the Nazi assumption of power during the first months of 1933. How could one of the most advanced, highly cultured, industrialized and modern nation states in Europe allow such horrors to come to pass? I wanted to read this for a variety of reasons, but the main reason was that I wanted to get a clearer picture of how a Western democracy - 1920s Germany in this instance - could devolve into a violent terroristic regime like the Nazis. Start by marking “The Coming of the Third Reich (The History of the Third Reich, #1)” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The Bismarckian Reich, Versailles, the Weimar Republic, and Germany's hyperinflation are all covered, along with the strand of antisemitism in European culture. He has great speaking abilities and willpower. Having been a Visiting Professor in History at Gresham College during 2008/09, he is now the Gresham Professor of Rhetoric. Such is certainly the case with the rise and fall of … One of the greatest problems in writing history is to imagine oneself back in the world of the past, with all the doubts and uncertianties people faced in dealing with a future that for the historian has also become the past. Its political culture was not noticeably more rooted in the past than that of rivals such as Britain or Russia. The preface is also noteworthy, explaining Evans's plan and answering (what seemed to me an important question) why these books are necessary despite epics like Shirer's, This pedestrian work is by far the weakest volume in Richard Evan's otherwise excellent trilogy on the Reich. How could one of the most advanced, highly cultured, industrialized and modern nation states in Europe allow such horrors to come to pass? The possibility of contemporary democracies falling into more radical governments fueled by hate, anger, and the politics of exclusion is possible in any country, imo. It is a terrible story not least because, as Evans makes abundantly clear, there were so many other ways in which Germany’s history could have been played out. This book tells the story of the events that happened in German politics from about 1918 to 1933 when the Nazi’s came to power. The current gold-standard survey. I am reading the Kindle edition right now. I am giving it a two star rating because Evans in his Preface has the gall to assure the reader that it is superior to William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." do we need another book on the rise of Hitler? Though I'd long been away from a general history of Germany between the wars, I found the basic facts still familiar. Why was Germany such fertile soil? The biography of Hitler won't really mean much without the context of surrounding events. Very readable, comprehensive treatment of the combination of conditions and circumstances that made the Third Reich possible, and the tactical brilliance that took advantage of them and achieved it. I'm not sure it's possible to ever answer these questions adequately, but Evans does a good job finding reasons. In this short, concluding chapter, Adams briefly mentions scientific power and politics, but despite the forward-looking chapter title, Nunc Age (Latin for "Now, take action! Well that explains quite a bit. The book starts 60 years before the rise of Hitler to the Chancellorship so that the reader gets a feeling for the political and cultural environment that led to the rise of this terrible movement. Evans was then tasked with reading all of Irving's books, tracing back all of the sources that he was citing, and writing a memorandum for the court detailing all of the instances in which Irving skued valid historical sources in order to back up his Holocaust denying arguments. 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