Richard J. Evans'The Coming of the Third Reich: How the Nazis Destroyed Democracy and Seized Power in Germany explores how the First World War, the Weimar Republic and the Great Depression paved the way for Nazi rule.
They started as little more than a gang of extremists and thugs, yet in a few years the Nazis had turned Germany into a one-party state and led one of Europe's most advanced nations into moral, physical and cultural ruin and despair.
In this consummate and compelling history, t he first book in his acclaimed trilogy on the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, Richard Evans reveals how and why it happened, questions whether the rise of Hitler was inevitable and dramatically re-creates the maelstrom of disorder, economic disaster, violence and polarization that gave rise to the terror of the Third Reich.
'Monumental ... gripping ... the definitive account of our time'
Andrew Roberts, Daily Telegraph
'Impressive ... perceptive ... humane ... the most comprehensive history in any language of the disastrous epoch of the Third Reich'
Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler
'The most gripping account I've read of German life before and during the rise of the Nazis'
A.S. Byatt, Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year
Sir Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His previous books include In Defence of History , Telling Lies about Hitler and the companions to this title, The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich at War.
Review
"Richard J. Evans's "The Coming of the Third Reich"...gives the clearest and most gripping account I've read of German life before aznd during the rise of the Nazis."--A. S Byatt, in the "Times Literary Supplement"
"Richard J. Evans's "The Coming of the Third Reich" is an enormous work of synthesis--knowledgable and reliable..."--Mark Mazower in the "New York Times Book Review"
"[A] first-rate narrative history that informs and educates and may inspire readers to delve even deeper into the subject."--"Booklist"
."..Brilliant..."-"Washington Post"
"The generalist reader, it should be emphasized, is well served. ...The book reads briskly, covers all important areas--social and cultural--and succeeds in its aim of giving "voice to the people who lived through the years with which it deals."--"Denver Post "
"One finally puts down this magnificent volume thirsty, on the one hand, for the next installment in the Nazi saga yet still haunted by the questions Evan poses and so masterfully grapples with."βAbraham Brumberg, "The Nation"
"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 gall of Weimar and Hitler's rise to power."β"Foreign Affairs"
About the Author
Richard J Evans is Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. His previous books include In Defence of History and Telling Lies About Hitler. He lives outside Cambridge.