Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful insights and detail
Review: I was always puzzled how such a patently evil group of characters could rise to power in a cultured, accomplished nation like Germany. I've read other books such as Churchill's brilliant "The Gathering Storm" (Vol I in his personal history of the war), Hitler's Willing Executioners, and so on. Shirer's book fills in an important gap as he was present as a reporter as Hitler rose to power, and highly focussed on the events of the day, and was therefore close to the machinations of the German political system. His detailed and often personal commentary on leading characters provides the reader with some sense of what it would have been like to watch what was going on as a member of the German general public. The book is extremely well documented and he frequently notes if supporting documents for events exist. There are also excellent asides about various things, such as the possible reason why Hitler used the term Fuehrer (although it just means leader, it was also used in a boys club he enjoyed as a youth).

Some people object to Shirer's descriptions of Goering's girth (whereas he didn't disparage Churchill's size) or Himmler's appearance, for example, as being unprofessional for a would-be historian. But as journalism it seems acceptable, and few would fault him for making personal remarks about these evil characters, who he often encountered in his work and despised, and indeed it added colour to the book for me. These remarks are valid descriptions, as well, and moreover frequently lend insight. Goering, in particular, had degenerated into a gluttonous character in all matters, whether that be food, jewellery, art, or clothes (there is a description by Ciano of "bloated, overbearing" [Ciano's words] Goering's boorish discussion of his jewellery over dinner, and his ridiculous furs, which remind Ciano of what a "high class prostitute wears to the opera"). There is also good reason for highlighting their physical shortcomings, sexual orientation, and perversions: the Nazis pursued eugenics and held themselves up as the master race, and often condemned others for things they hated in themselves. This is critical: As comes through strongly on every page, a preponderance of senior Nazis were arrogant, unabashed hypocrites, and were misfits of German society until they gained power via the Nazi movement.

The dominant insight I got from this book was that the Nazis were pathological liars and criminals, through and through. In the language of the day, to quote Roosevelt's frequent description of Hitler (which we discover angered Hitler), they were gangsters, though of course saying that is doing a disservice to gangsters given the magnitude of the crimes. I came away from this book feeling that to comprehend their actions better I would have to know more about the psychology of the criminal mind, and of antisocial/sociopathic/psychopathic personality disorders. I am grateful to Shirer for this work.

Rating:
Summary: A First hand account ...
Review: Nobody can be more qualified than William Shirer to write
a book on Nazi Germany, having not only seen the reich from
the inside but having assimilated most of the siezed
documentation at Nurnberg.

He gives a very good idea of what political and social reasons
led to the situation where a megalomaniac could take over
the country with the full backing of its people. The various
plots and plans made months or even a year before they were
put into operation are very well detailed.

On the cons side, however, Shirer cribs a lot about what
could have been done if the British or the American governments
were more on the alert and had not followed a policy
of appeasement of Hitler. This is justified to an extent
but a little into the book it comes in the way of the
flow of narration.

Overall it is an amazing book and a must read for any
history lover. Those who do not learn from history are
condemned to repeat it and what better way to learn from
history than read about how political games were played in
the past and how it lead to a holocaust.

As a supplement to having read this book a couple of years
back I visited the Dachau concentration camp near Munich
and it hit me full force especially in the context of this
book.

Rating:
Summary: This book will knock you on your @$$!!!!!!!
Review: I will spare everyone a stupid review by trying to make myself sound like a wannabe book critic and instead I'll get straight to the point. This book is great from the first page to the last. I didn't have much knowledge of the Third Reich before reading this book but this book easily changed that. No, it doesn't go in depth into the war but this book ISN'T based soley on the war, but on the Third Reich itself! The last 300 pages or so are incredible, mainly when it talks about the final attempt to kill Hitler and what happens to the plotters afterwards when the attempt fails! My advice is even if you aren't interested in reading about Hitler and the Third Reich, start reading it and you WILL be!

Rating:
Summary: If You Read Just One Book About Nazi Germany....
Review: This should be the one. William Shirer's comprehensive treatment of the curious rise and horrific fall of the Nazis in post-Weimar Germany is the benchmark volume to measure all other treatments of the era by. There are so many monographs on Nazi Germany that one reels before the list looming in a relevant bibliography. Save yourself the trouble; this book gives one exactly the kind of complete immersion in and coverage of the realities of the era that too many of the other books lack. Shirer, an American journalist stationed in Berlin as a newspaper (and later radio) correspondant during the rise of the National Socialists, was there, on the ground and at the scene witnessing many of the events he describes in such detail. He has, of course, written extensively on these experiences, both herein and elsewhere in books like 'The Nightmare Years' and 'Berlin Diary'. But this book has to be considered his masterpiece, and is worth the time, trouble and price for this hefty best-selling volume. After all, it has never been out of print in the forty years since its original publication in the early 1960s. I promise that if you read this, you'll never think of World War Two in the same way...

Rating:
Summary: Important but flawed
Review: It would be nearly impossible to overstate the importance of this book. It is, I believe, more pivotal in shaping the American popular understanding of Nazi Germany than any other book ever published. As such, it has helped shape everything from representations of Nazis and their victims in motion pictures to media protrayals of accused war criminals living in the United States.

As a work history, this book is also extremely impressive. Shirer makes extensive and critical use of a plethora of primary sources, including captured German documents and testimony from the Nuremburg trials, and this gives his account considerable credibility. His writing style is engrossing, making the length of the book seem less gargantuan than it is. I doubt that I would be able to identify a more comprehensive or readable single-volume history of Nazi Germany.

It should be understood, however, that Shirer does not really intend for this book to be merely a history of Nazi Germany. It is a morality tale. Shirer is aghast at the destruction and barbarity that Nazi Germany wrought in the world, and this book reads like an indictment of everybody everwhere who had a hand in allowing the barbarity to occur. Nobody can escape responsibility, not common Germans who brought Hitler to power, not the German generals who were unwilling or unable to control Hitler, not the German businessmen who profited through Hitler's various barbarities, not the Anglo-French architects of appeasement, and most of all not the Nazis themselves.

Of course, Shirer's sense of moral outrage sometimes causes some unfortunate lapses. It is rare that Shirer does not call Goering fat when Goering pops up in the narrative. Similarly, he invariably uses "fatuous" to describe Ribbentrop and reminds us on numerous occasions that Rosenberg was a "dolt." I have no idea what Goering's girth has to do with anything, and Shirer never really gives us a real idea of why he thinks that Ribbentrop was fatuous or Rosenberg was any stupider than any other member of the Nazi elite. Gratuitous pejoratives are distracting and unfair.

And then there's the matter of Ernst Roehm, Hitler's chief of the SA. Roehm and the rest of the members of the SA were a bunch of terrorist thugs who got votes for the Nazis by intimidating the opposition, but to Shirer, this thuggery is eclipsed by the fact that Roehm and some other of the SA leaders were or were thought to be gay (which Shirer consistently refers to as a "perversion"). To say the least, the credibility of Shirer's moral outrage at the racist and anti-semitic doctrine of the Nazi party is undermined by his bald homophobia.

More than that, Shirer makes no real attempt to understand why the British and the French behaved as they did in appeasing Hitler. He ascribes it to some sort of moral failing, and while this may be the case, it is only part of the story. France and Great Britain were bankrupted by the Depression. They couldn't really afford to rearm, and they were desparate to avoid a war at least partly out of a misplaced fiscal restraint. This fact does not obscure the reality that the appeasement policy was short-sighted and stupid, but at least it makes the whole thing more comprehensible. Likewise, Shirer doesn't really understand that Germany's rearmament was paid for with checks that the Reich couldn't cash without plunder. By 1939, the German economy was a house of cards that was about to collapse without a capital infusion. Unfortunately, one wouldn't know that from reading Shirer.

Finally, the emphasis that Shirer puts on different periods of the Third Reich is disproportionate. The war years, especially from 1943 to 1945, are sped through with very little detail about anything except the various plots against Hitler. It's almost as if Shirer ran out of gas after 800 pages or so. It is admirable that Shirer does not get bogged down the military details of the war, but at the same time, I would think that the war years deserve more than 25 or 30% of the book.

By all means, read this book, especially if you have only cursory familiarity with Nazi Germany. It is generally well-written, accessible, and reasonably comprehensive. Just beware of the problems with it as you are reading.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate reference on Nazi Germany
Review: This book is like the encyclopedia of Nazi Germany. It starts out by listing the failures of the Weimar Repiblic and the comming of the fascist movement in Germany. Lots of detail are given on Hitler's early life and rise to power. Continues with the Rise of the Nazi party in Germnay and how they seized power diplomaticaly through democracy. Finally concluds with the beginning of World War II, Germany['s conquests of Europe and North Africa and then the decline and destruction of the Nazi state. Also gives insightful information on all of the top Nazi party leaders. It is not easy reading but one of the best (if not THE best) books on Nazi Germany.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Top Ten Books of All Time!! A Triumph!!!
Review: One of the Top Ten Books of All Time!! A Triumph!!!
Kershaw, eat your heart out, you are an amateur compared to Shirer.Shirer was actually there, during the rise and fall. He is not only a masterful story-teller and highly acclaimed journalist, but a witness to history. Of equal importance: He gets it right!
Shirer, in this important book, explains not ony the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, but of Adolf Hitler. All other books on Hitler and Nazi Germany pale in comparison to Shirer's master work, which is truly one of the best books of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Best History book
Review: I rented this book from the library, and it is definately one of the most thorough history books I have ever experienced. It covers all aspects of the Third Reich on an extremely detailed and interesting level. The only down side (if you can call it that) is that being 1200 pages long- it takes a long time to read, so plan on having alot of free time before reading. Other then that, it is a very enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: Dated or Not - Still The Epic 5 Star Story
Review: There have been a number of new revisions concerning the history of World War II as more and more documents were found, and then made available to the general public, or at least to researchers especially documents from the former USSR.

However I still like the books such as this book that were written by the people that actually lived through the war, especially when they were there as participants and reporters. To me they have the best perspective regardless of any "discoveries" 50 years later.

Also the war was a war of raw power and material and men carried out on a very large scale. It is hard to see how smaller details would have any meaningful impact on the outcome. The Third Reich had the upper hand initially because of their superb equipment such as tanks, planes, and submarines. Their people were trained and disciplined. But once they entered the vast lands of the USSR they were swallowed by the size and winter climate as was Napolean's army 130 years before. Then the German troops had to face the Americans who could turn out planes, ships, tanks, and trained troops like cookies.

From my perspective, the basic thrust of the war was set by the large scale military power and the massive movements of men and materials. I think this is portrayed faithfully by this epic book which is 1200 pages long. It is for the most part an accurate picture of what took place. Sure things have been discovered, and things could have been done a bit different if more information was available, but for the most part these things they would have had little impact on the war and its outcome.

So for me this book remains one of the definitive stories on WW II told by people there at the scene.

Five stars.

Jack in Toronto

Rating:
Summary: An important classic....however dated....
Review: This book was one of the first histories of the Nazi era that I acquired for my library. Shirer had the unique perspective of actually being an American journalist for CBS in Berlin for many of the Hitler years. His journalistic aptitude shows itself greatly in the writing of this most important book. The book reads like a LONG newspaper article. Facts are presented and then there are extensive footnotes and references at the bottom of most of the pages for those who would like to follow up. Also, there is a wonderful index at the end of the book for those (like me!) who just want to read certain passages. Being that the length of the thing is 1500+ pages, sometimes, it is necessary to use the index!

This book is an excellent resource for someone who is just starting to learn about Nazi Germany. Shirer does an excellent job of presenting the history up to point where he did his writing. Unfortunately, his history has become somewhat dated since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 (and the Soviet Union in 1991) has allowed the secret KGB archives concerning WWII to be opened. The availablity of this new source of information may make some of Shirer's conclusions about the end of the war invalid. Therefore, I highly recommend that one also read the Ian Kershaw biographies on Hitler which were published in the late 1990's/early 2000's (Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis). These new biographies incorporate the newest information which has been released from the KGB within their pages.

Otherwise, Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is an excellent history and an instant classic of this most important era of the 20th Century. This book should be used as a companion to Hitler's Mein Kampf, as it will help the reader of that book to understand some of the things that Hitler talks about. However, one can read this book on its own...but you will find yourself intrigued and wanting to read more! This period of history is most fascinating, and Mr. Shirer's work makes it all the more so!