Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent. The standard for understanding the Nazis.
Review: I feel unworthy writing a review of this work, but I was so impressed with it that I feel moved to do so. I had been putting off reading this book for years, simply due to its volume--over 1100 tightly packed pages. But believe me, anyone who wants to understand how WW2 came to be, and what the Nazis were all about, should read this one.

William Shirer was a journalist in Europe during most of the Third Reich's duration, and his first-hand experience with the major figures of the era give this book a wonderful, authentic feel. This is not a dull work of scholarship (as I had feared!) It is a priceless well-written and thorough history of the Third Reich. Shirer himself notes that perhaps a better history could be written 50-100 years following the war, with the benefit of detached perspective. However, this book proves that the opposite is also true--had Shirer not written this book we might never have had the opportunity to read a thorough work on this topic by one who observed much of the actual events and who saw and met many of the key figures of the Third Reich.

Neville Chamberlain springs to life as one of the most craven politicians ever. Other figures of the time are vividly portrayed. After completing this book I felt that I had a much better understanding as to why the sellout at Munich, and World War II in general, have had such a profound effect upon the politics of the modern era--not merely because of the horrific death and destruction that the war entailed, but because of the tragically bad decisions that resulted in the war itself.

Anyone who wants to understand the European portion of WW2 should read this book. And a great read it is.

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Summary: My interest surprised me!
Review: I hated history in grade school. But was encouraged by a co-worker to try the book. Now, nine months later, I've just completed reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich : A History of Nazi Germany, a fascinating 1100-page collection of details. The style reminds me of James Michener's affinity for detail. Amazing how one person---apparently a close relative to Jiminy Cricket---could have witnessed so much history. The thought of accomplishing what William L. Shirer has overwhelms me.

Thanks Mr. Shirier.

I'd recommended this book to anyone who is fascinated by human behavior and appreciates detail.

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Summary: nazi fully documented history
Review: a well written, easily flowing, history of hitler's rise
its pretty amazing how all of the info was gathered here

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: The fact that at the very start of the book Shirer makes it clear that his target while writing this book is to be as objective as possible clearly highlights his maturity not onl as a journalist but also as a successful history writer. Through out the whole book Shirer makes sure that arguments are based on quotations and other sources of evidence of which there was no shortage as he had complete access to all the caputred German documents. He also acknowledges that there might be certain prejudices of his involved in the book in the way he interpreted facts. This incident too clearly highlights the fact that he took extreme care of the objectivity of his work. There are not many places in the book where one can see the author's interpretation somewhat independent because Shirer has based the vast majority of his argument on evidence. This is the most impressive characteristic of the book.

However, I felt while reading the book that the author in some cases placed too much emphasis on events on the sideline although related to Nazi Germany but perhaps it was not necessary to put so much details in narrating those events. For example, the tremendous amounts of detail given to the planning of invasion of Poland and the details given about German treatment of Czekoslovakia and Austria sometimes drag down the narrative somewhat.

Overall, it is a classic work on Nazi Germany and some of the evidence and quotations presented in the narative from the top Nazi officials in staggering. Sure enough, Shirer had a big advantage of being stationed in Berlin until 1940 later moving to Paris so he could examine the scene much closer than any other historian writing an account later would. However, it must be said that the placing of facts within the narrative and the expression in the book is extremely impressive. I would recommend anyone buying this book to buy 'This is Berlin' by the same author. It is not a book but a series of reports made by Shirer from Berlin for CBS and NBC in New York.

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Summary: Still the best book on Nazism, by a reporter who saw it all
Review: William Shirer's book has been an incredibly well-sold book for many years now, largely due to the fact that he was a reporter in Germany for an American news agency during the years that Hitler and his political party grew from being a rabble-rousing minority party to the only one. He provides details about all aspects of the Nazi rise, and implementation of their beliefs and dogmas upon the people. The sheer size of the book, coupled with its small text, can be daunting for some readers at first, but the book's well-written and organized effort make it very compelling and authoritative so many years after its first publication. We used this book in my International Baccalaureate class, and only in specified selections, but the book was so well-written and compelling that most of the students went back and read what they didn't have to afterwards. This book would serve anyone well seeking information on how Nazism took hold, how it ruled its people, and what caused its inevitable problems. Shirer's unusually lucky access to all that happened as a witness makes this a fantastic resource.

Rating:
Summary: More than three stars, less than four
Review: Lest anyone mistake the three star rating for rejection or dislike, let me say up front that Shirer's monumental work is absolutely informative, eye-opening, and, as so many reviewers have said, probaby *should* be read by just about everybody, not just those with an interest in World War Two.

That being said, there are some criticisms to be had. First is the length. I have nothing against 1000+ page books per se. Shirer's work, however, could have been several hundred pages shorter but for his near obsessiveness toward recording every detail. The days leading up to the invasion of Poland, for example, are told almost in "real time." Second is the complete lack of maps. There is very little more frustrating than to be bombarded with place names and to have only a rough idea of where these places are. Third is the lack of focus on the Germans themselves, especially once the war starts.

Some parts of this book do stand out. Shirer's two chapters on life in Nazi Germany and the occupied countries are both gripping and horrifying. Shirer's forays into his own recollections are also welcome diversions from the endless barrage of Nazi documents, memoranda, and diaries and are, perhaps, the best parts of the entire work. And Shirer's account of the Nazi party's rise is fascinating reading, and shows that, indeed, Hitler and Stalin had more in common than one would have thought.

All in all, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a worthwhile read. It is not great "literature" in the sense that Gibbon or Will Durant are (contrary to what some others have suggested), but it is an investment in time and attention that will pay off for the reader.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive history
Review: If you can only stand to read one book on Nazi Germany this is the one to pick. This book was written in 1960 and is still superior to any other book on Nazi Germany in print.It explains, without any psychobable or political correctness what Nazism was, why it was so attractive to the German people and how Adolf Hitler almost got away with conquering the world.

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Summary: Extensive and insightful but with very alarming conclusions
Review: The work of William Shirer is without a doubt an enourmous historical effort, that goes into depths and internals of the Nazi Germany as few other works. It brings to light the multitude of facts, transcripts and first-person perspectives about the Nazi leaders.

However, it makes a several important omissions. First, it concetrates primarily on the leaders of the Nazi Germany and doesn't research well enough the underlying empire (industrialists, people, antisemitism, foreign relations, etc). It wasn't just a bunch of maniacs who managed to ruin and bled Europe almost to its death. Secondly, the book is unbalanced in its treatment of the Allied and Soviet role in the war.

But the most alarming, if not shocking, is the final conclusion of the author about Germany and German people. Being born in Russia, I'm well aware that Soviet and modern Russia, despite the casualties suffered which are orders of magnitude greater than those suffered by the Allies, always stressed that it fought against Nazi Germany and Nazism, and NOT against the German people. Any author's generalizations about the German people simply don't agree with the philosophies of the Allied forces, which fought against any racial or ethnic prejudice of Nazism.

Rating:
Summary: Unbiased, truthful.
Review: Finally, a book on the Third Reich that doesn't focus solely on its persecution of the Jews. This book would be recommended to anyone who didn't live during that period so they realize that the Nazi reign of terror reached much further then one religous group. Mr. Shirer is to be commended.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read!
Review: This was probably the very first book I read (I must have been 13 at the time) on what would turn out to be my very long and exhausting search for the truth about the man called "Hitler". This book set the standard for many others to follow. Although it is certainly not without its flaws, it is nevertheless full of important facts. It numbers among the best books on the subject and offers readers some very valuable facts about Hitler and his Reich.