WORLD WAR II - NONFICTION
"The Third Reich: A New History" 
By Michael Burleigh
A tough nut to crack, but lots of meat inside
How is a modern industrial, Christian nation seduced and led down the path of evil? Germany with past dreams of glory and empire was humiliated by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI . The country was looted for war reparations and occupied. Then comes the world depression and money is not worth the paper it is printed on, people are starving and work is hard to find. Enter a smooth talker with promises to restore Germany to her previous glory. Play on the peoples fears and past hatreds and suspicions. Stabilize the economy and provide jobs by building an arms juggernaut then buy the military by providing them with men and new weapons. Establish a new police force (Gestapo) and new military (SS) that are not part of the mainstream government. Kill or imprison those that don't agree with National Socialists policies or leaders. The people are now working, there is now food, the country is becoming stronger than ever before and the people believe they are saved and a new destiny is in store for Germany. But alas, the Germans have painted themselves into a corner and are too afraid to do anything but go along and ignore the whisperings of dark and evil deeds.
This book looks at the rise of Nazism from the end of WWI, through Weimer Republic, the great depression, the gaining of power by Hitler and his cronies, and their disastrous plunging of the world into WWII that cost millions of people their lives and almost totally destroyed Germany and devastated much of Europe and the Soviet Union. (Personally, I think that Stalin topped Hitler as despot of the century.)
This book is a bit heavy on the academic side and I
found I could only digest it in small pieces and I would not recommend it to a
casual reader. But for all that, it is a pretty good one volume history of Nazi
Germany and should satisfy those with a curiosity on the subject. There is a lot
of information in this book and I have only touched on the obvious.
Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith 2/06/2001
Available from:
Hill and Wang
A Division of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
19 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
