Hitler's Endgame (A historian brings his trilogy on the Third Reich to a close)

Wall Street Journal ^ | APRIL 3, 2009 | MOIRA G. WEIGEL

[nickcarraway]

Richard J. Evans's new book "The Third Reich at War," which covers 1939 through 1945, is the final installment of his critically acclaimed history of Nazi Germany. Mr. Evans, who holds the Regius Professorship of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, began his trilogy when he decided that there was no survey of the Nazi era that he could recommend. Like his previous books, "The Coming of the Third Reich" (2003) and "The Third Reich in Power" (2005), "The Third Reich at War" incorporates a wide range of primary sources, from the personal papers of German generals to the testimony of Holocaust survivors.

The Wall Street Journal: So many books have been published on World War II. What is new here?

Mr. Evans: I'm trying to be comprehensive, to show Nazi Germany and Nazi society at war in every aspect. In addition to the much better known military aspects, I try to deal with culture, literature, the arts. And I have human experiences -- diaries, letters, personal testimonies.

Was it inevitable that a government like the Third Reich would emerge in Germany? If so, when did it become inevitable?

In "The Coming of the Third Reich," I try to say that it was not inevitable while pointing out that the Weimar Republic did, in fact, bring Nazism. The crucial point to remember is that in the 1928 elections, Nazis scored less than 3% of the national vote. By 1932 they were by far the largest party, with one third of the vote. So it's the Depression. More than one third of the work force is unemployed by the middle of 1932. Businesses have crashed; banks have bankruptcies; people are disoriented by terrible inflation. It's a desperate situation.

[martin_fierro]

So many books have been published on World War II. What is new here?

I think Mel Brooks covered the last unaddressed facet.

[RedStateRocker]

ALL RIGHT!!!

Having read the first two I have been waiting.

“Coming Of The Third Reich” and “The Third Reich in Power” were so good, so in well put together. There just is no way one single book is going to go into the depth AND breadth necessary, IMHO.
Perhaps not the most rip-roaring ‘can’t put it down’ books, but the first two are eminently readable and not stinting in the complex sort of analysis that those of us who do NOT care for the simple reductionism of either the “Great Man” or “Forces of History” paradigms crave.

[Loyal Buckeye]

I'm reading the "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". I find it informative and like that it was written by someone who was really there.

While I understand it is not considered authoritative by some, I find it to be a good read.

[buridan]

Unaddressed or undressed?

[Kimmers]

May I recommend a German movie with sub titles

“Downfall” It is the story of Hitler told by his stenographer.....good film

These books sound great.....

[SunkenCiv]

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[RedStateRocker]

William Shirer was a great writer, but his perspective was closer to that of People magazine than deep political analysis, IMHO. Not to take away from his craft, indeed “Rise and Fall” is required reading and the fact he was so well aquatinted with the third reich from before he had to leave meant he could make quick and effective use of the captured documents soon after the war. the Third Reich was really the first government to collapse completely but leave behind tons of documents, but Evans can spend hundreds of pages on what Shirer covers in a few.

If you like William L Shirer, “Berlin Diary” REALLY rocks; it is all in ‘real time’ so it gives you a great idea of what you or I would have seen and experienced if we (presumably speaking German) were there, during the Nazi rise to power, seeing things unfold day by day, really intense even in light of knowing what was going to happen five or ten years.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Thanks for taking the time to inform me about “Berlin Diary”. I’ll check it out.