Rating: 
Summary: A reflection on current times??? Fear and hate driven?
Review: As I skimmed, read, and peruse this book, the similarities between those times and now are astounding.
The last chapters especially show how the Christian Right and other parties who had hatred and fear of homosexuals, liberals, jews, etc. were a major part in voting Hilter into office and helping him stay in office. In a desire to eradicate liberals and other viewpoints, they raised up a tyrant.
A democracy that was felled by similar hate and fear that has been developing and has taken a stronghold of the USA government at all levels. The right wing started censoring people and books as we see happening today. Searches, arrests and beatings as we have today. Currently, we have many locked up without due process. Science was also changed.
Are we on the same 'slippery slope' as the Third Reich? Is our right wing ideology creating a 'monster' built on hate, prejudice, and fear? How can modern society prevent this from happening again?
History has always been a great teacher. Perhaps we can find some of the answers in history. A great book that shows how ordinary patriotic people were brought along on a dangerous path by those who had hate and fear in their hearts.
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Summary: Masterful First Volume Of Planned Trilogy On Nazi Germany!
Review: As Karl Marx once wrote, people make their own history, but not under conditions of their own choosing. So it is that academic Richard J. Evans from Cambridge University approaches the superb first volume of the planned trilogy of a complete history of the rise and fall of the Third Reich, "The Coming Of the Third Reich", recognizing the existential constraints people living in the era of National Socialism faced. As Professor Evans puts it, not only are men constrained and shaped by the unique and quite specific web of cultural and social conditions in which they are enmeshed, but they also view these particular conditions through a particular perspective, and through the prism of a socially prescribed set of values, beliefs, and ideologies. Thus, the author argues that in the vast bibliography of works covering the history of the Nazi era, no one has yet covered the epoch in a fashion that does justice to the complex welter of ways, as sociologist C. Wright Mills would phrase it, in which biography and history meaningfully intersect such that one can appreciate what it was like for an individual to live in the times of the National Socialists, and to experience life on the ground as real people who lived through the turbulent 1930s and 1949s did.
Indeed, this trilogy is offered in a brilliant attempt to render such a comprehensive history that makes sense of how it that such a baffling and troubling phenomenon could arise in what was considered the most economically, socially, and culturally advanced society of the early 20th century. This volume recounts the story of the origins of the Third Reich in 19th century Germany, from the its very beginnings as Bismarck's foundling empire, through the events of the First World War, and the turbulent unrest and dissatisfaction of the Weimar years. It also describes the rise of the National Socialists through what the author describes as being an ingenuous combination of electoral success and massive political violence that took place in the chaotic epoch of the Great Depression. The book's central theme centers around how the Nazis managed to forge a one-party dictatorship in a democratic society so quickly, and with so little organized resistance. This volume is, much like William Shirer's classic effort in "The Rise And Fall of the Third Reich", a narrative account of the events surrounding the events of the Nazi era. It is a massively documented effort to document the story of the Third Reich in chronological order, and much as Shirer did, attempts to "give voice to the people who lived through the years" of Nazi rule. The author is quite passionate in voicing his own concern that history once more render for the reader an intelligence recounting of the experiences of ordinary individuals, of the sheer complexity of the their existential constraints and available options, and the often incomprehensible choices they faced. So, what Evans aims to give to the reader in the early 21st century is a better understanding of the Nazi era by recreating all of its elements, in all their complexity and interweaving perplexity, thus reminding readers that, as L.P. Hartley said, "the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there". Given the fact that it remains as important today as ever to understand both how and why the Nazis came to power with such speed and relative ease, it is critical to better appreciate the nature of life in the Third Reich, to comprehend why their opponents failed to stop them, and to better realize the nature and the operation of the machinery of the Nazi regime once it had grasped the reins of power. Moreover, it remains crucial to understand the complex mechanism through which the operation and goals of the Third Reich so quickly and fatefully engulfed the rest of Europe and then the world in such a bloodbath of carnage and ruin. For while the 20th century has no shortages of such catastrophes, including the soviet purge of the 1930s, none of the other such events had such terrifying and cataclysmic consequences for the rest of the world. What Evans offers us here is the masterful opening volume of a trilogy explaining in excruciating detail and breathtaking comprehensiveness the story of how Germany led Europe and the rest of the world into the depths of Hell. It is a book well worth the time and effort to read it. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, quite good.
Review: Despite some adulatory reviews below, which are so unusually informed, thorough, and specific they seem as though they were written by the author's colleagues (I'm sure they weren't!), this book is not as strong as Professor Evans' best book, "Rituals of Retribution: Capital Punishment in Germany 1600-1987". That work is exceptional. Do buy it.
This one, like his books on historiography and the Deborah Lipstadt trial, seems a bit tendentious. The talented and clearly enthusiastic professor covers a vast amount of narrative territory, and touches on important issues, but moralizes ad nauseam. I wish he trusted his readers to make up their own minds without having to steer them to moral conclusions.
That and a lack of original theses are the book's only flaws. Annoying as they are, these weaknesses don't prevent this being a solid and reliable text, useful for high school students and undergraduates alike. I wish I could give this book three-and-a-half stars, but Amazon doesn't allow that option.
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Summary: Excellent!
Review: I am no scholar, but this book was easily read and provided facts I must have missed in my school days. I would recommend to the average reader and history buff...
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Summary: A fine start to the planned trilogy
Review: I am not a fan of Richard J. Evans' habit of pontificating and moralising all the way through his books, but this annoyance cannot erode my belief that the fellow has researched and written a fine book. It is aimed at a wide and therefore unspecialised readership, and contains less originality that I expected, but the topics it covers receive thorough, persuasive and readable analysis of the highest order. This is indeed a very good first work in a trilogy.
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Summary: A great success!
Review: I can only comment that the book is, without qualification, outstanding.
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Summary: Overview With A Different Angle
Review: I have read perhaps more than a hundred books on the Third Reich from almost every angle possible. This morning, I finished the Coming of the Third Reich then I read the reviews posted here to see just how different perceptions affect other readers' understanding of the material. After digesting some of the commentary, I wondered if we had read the same book.
This is the first time I've read a book by Richard Evans so I can't compare and contrast with his other work on the same subject. At no point did I detect excessive moralizing or self-congratulatory passages. I would urge those who have not yet read the book to read the preface. Its very important. Evans explains that he is breaking no new ground but that this book is primarily for the edification of those who know little or nothing about Hitler or the Third Reich. It is an overview with different angles than those of Shirer, Kershaw, and Burleigh and that is part of what makes this book so useful. Rather than dwell on the poverty of Hitler's youth and his anti-Semitism, though Evans does cover these, the focus is on the political, economic and social situation of the ill-fated Weimar Republic and how it became fertile soil for extremism.
Evans has written a coherent, interesting, and fast-paced explanation for the rise of the Nazis to the top of the extremist crop of political fringe groups that got their start following WWI. It is useful to remember that out of the ashes of defeat in the war, myriad extremist groups popped up in Germany like mushrooms in a Mississippi cow pasture after a spring shower.
The Weimar Republic was a fractious cacophony of partisan squabbling. Many Germans rejected its legitimacy and after twelve years of abject political failure despite the constant shuffling of Cabinets, millions were ready for a strong leader to take control and restore German pride and economic clout.
Many party leaders vowed to dismantle the Weimar system should they come to power, but only Hitler and his Nazi Party promised to do so while restoring Germany to its rightful place in the world. People increasingly began to see Hitler as a decisive leader and the Nazis as a youthful, dynamic movement that had the capabilities of fulfilling its promise. The Nazi Party was the first to use technology and science to further its aims and to build support.
Innovations like focus groups that we take for granted today were potent weapons in the Nazi political arsenal then. With the guidance of Goebbels and others, Hitler learned to tailor his speeches to his audience. Where his anti-Semitic harangues were not working, he dropped any talk of the Jews. When he spoke to workers, he spoke against capital. When he spoke to industrialists, he emphasized the party's program for individual initiative and profits for those who earned them.
The book shows that at no time was Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor inevitable, that the Nazis were actually seen by many, including some of their own worried leaders, to have already peaked in electoral support and that much of the support they had was soft. It was only a matter of tenacity coupled with luck on Hitler's part and stupid overconfidence on the part of others that got him a shot at running the country to begin with. Of great interest to readers are the electoral maps which show the relative strength of the Nazis around the country in a series of elections. It is interesting to note that one area where the Nazis lacked substantial support was in the south focusing on Munich and southern Bavaria, the birthplace of Naziism.
Evans brings to life the daily street violence from the left and the right that had ordinary people living in fear. Hitler had promised a dictatorship time and again, but no one was more surprised than the mass of the people when that is exactly what he gave them.
I highly recommend this book, even if you already think you know about all there is to know about Hitler and the Third Reich. Trust me. You don't. I sure didn't! And I'm looking forward to learning more in the next volume!
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Summary: Author is too involved but knows his facts
Review: I know too much about the author from his book; more than I usually would in a work of historical non-fiction. He's too involved and annoys me by showing all the time what HE thinks and what morality WE should have. But aside from this, which other reviewers noticed as well, the book is especially thorough and informative. The Weimar Republic was not as chaotic as I had previously thought. But the seeds were sown, to use a chliche, during that period of political try-out and experiment. Socialism did not have much of a chance, not while the military and industrial sectors were so interlocked and mutually sustaining. Evans makes clear that both sectors prevented the blossoming of a true democratic spirit.
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Summary: A FAULTLESS study of great interest to everyone
Review: I rate this book as the work of a highly talented researcher and writer. Brilliant.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but...
Review: I think this book is a good counter-point to Michael Burleigh (The Third Reich: A New History). In my opinion Burleigh's work is much better but Evans work is still worth reading. I also strongly suggest The Kings Depart by Richard M. Watt which covers the end of WWI in Germany better than any other work (Amazon only has used copies but B&N re-released it a few years ago and may still carry new copies).
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