Synopses & Reviews
A Major Study of One of the Twentieth Century's Darkest PeriodsUntil now there has been no up-to-date, one-volume, international history of Nazi Germany, despite its being among the most studied phenomena of our time. The Third Reich restores a broad perspective and intellectual unity to issues that have become academic subspecialties and offers a brilliant new interpretation of Hitler's evil rule.
Filled with human and moral considerations that are missing from theoretical accounts, Michael Burleigh's book gives full weight to the experience of ordinary people who were swept up in, or repelled by, Hitler's movement and emphasizes international themes-for Nazi Germany appealed to many European nations, and its wartime conduct included efforts to dominate the Continental economy and involved gigantic population transfers and exterminations, recruitment of foreign labor, and multinational armies.
Review
"A breathtaking achievement, at once broader and deeper than any other single volume . . . on the subject." (Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times)
Review
". . . an original work of interpretation in which straightforward narrative history, rigorous analytic explanation and unblinking intellectual-moral judgment are united . . ." (Michael André Bernstein, Los Angeles Times Book Review)
Review
"A remarkable achievement, a comprehensive history of the criminality of the Third Reich as well as of the (very limited) efforts to resist it. Burleigh has placed his narration within a general representation of Hitler's Germany, and his extraordinary mastery of the monographic literature and the cogency of his interpretation based on the notion of political religion gives The Third Reich the status of a classic." --Saul Friedländer
Synopsis
Michael Burleigh's The Third Reich presents a major study of one of the twentieth century's darkest periods.
Until now there has been no up-to-date, one-volume, international history of Nazi Germany, despite its being among the most studied phenomena of our time. The Third Reich restores a broad perspective and intellectual unity to issues that have become academic subspecialties and offers a brilliant new interpretation of Hitler's evil rule.
Filled with human and moral considerations that are missing from theoretical accounts, Michael Burleigh's book gives full weight to the experience of ordinary people who were swept up in, or repelled by, Hitler's movement and emphasizes how international themes for Nazi Germany appealed to many European nations. It also focuses on the Nazi's wartime conduct to dominate the Continental economy and involve gigantic population transfers and exterminations, recruitment of foreign labor, and multinational armies.
Synopsis
What happened when Germany's elite as well as most of its citizens chose not to think for themselves and to favor instead a politics based on faith, hope, hatred, and sentimental regard for their own race and nation? The consequences were catastrophic. Michael Burleigh's account of the moral breakdown and transformation of an advanced industrial society in the heart of Europe is a clearheaded assessment of the history, effects, and meaning of National Socialism in Germany.
Filled with human and moral considerations that are missing from more theoretical accounts, The Third Reich gives full weight to the experience of ordinary people who were swept up in, or repelled by, Hitler's movement. It restores a broad perspective and intellectual unity to issues that have become academic sub-specialties and offers a brilliant new interpretation of Hitler's evil rule.
About the Author
Michael Burleigh, William R. Kenan Visiting Professor at Washington and Lee University and Distinguished Research Professor in Modern History at Cardiff University, has written six other books on modern European history. He lives in Lexington, Virginia.