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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
after over a year of working through this book, I've finally finished it. it was very well written and I found it extremely interesting. some parts are pretty dense and the endless list of characters in the plot can be confusing at times, but it was definitly worth the read.
funny
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I read this mammoth of a book in about half the time I expected to, which was surprising. I have to admit that I enjoyed other books covering the topic much more, and in my opinion it was a bit biased, not to mention some information was wrong.
A long detailed history of Hitler's Third Reich by journalist William Shirer. Even though sometime biased the author actually was in Germany for some of these historic moments. Although a gifted story teller you can tell he is not a historian. Since the book is now over 40 years old some of the historical record has changed. I would recommend this book as a good place to learn the chronology of WW2.
Reading this again for work. Might explain my current mood. Lots of detail.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I started out reading this as an ebook and was amazed by how slowly it went. Part of my problem was trying to pronounce all of the German names in the book without having any German language background. I switched about 20% of the way through to the audiobook version and started clipping along. Really love the job done by Grover Gardner.
I pretty quickly determined that you have to keep in mind that this book is a product of its time with all of William Shirer's personal prejudices built in. I'm used to histories being written by historians and all of the efforts that they put into it trying to remove their biases as much as possible. Of course, one cannot completely remove biases. It's simply not possible as a human. Shirer's personal views really shown strongly throughout the book, but I actually liked this as it made all of the biases much easier to pick out and consider. His interpretations and conjectures were clearly his own and not obfuscated as historical truths (to me at least). I think I'll generally stick to histories as authored by historians, but there was certainly a fair amount of value here when also considering how much of Shirer's thoughts can be considered as a primary source.
I pretty quickly determined that you have to keep in mind that this book is a product of its time with all of William Shirer's personal prejudices built in. I'm used to histories being written by historians and all of the efforts that they put into it trying to remove their biases as much as possible. Of course, one cannot completely remove biases. It's simply not possible as a human. Shirer's personal views really shown strongly throughout the book, but I actually liked this as it made all of the biases much easier to pick out and consider. His interpretations and conjectures were clearly his own and not obfuscated as historical truths (to me at least). I think I'll generally stick to histories as authored by historians, but there was certainly a fair amount of value here when also considering how much of Shirer's thoughts can be considered as a primary source.
I began reading this tome last year as many began to compare then-candidate Donald Trump to Hitler and referred to him as a Facist. My goal was to understand the parallels and contrasts between the two men.
First, regarding the book itself: it's a terrific detailed account from someone who lived in Nazi Germany and referenced an enormous amount of historical records to produce this work. It was long, and yes occasionally it was a grind, and it was well worth the time to read. Some of it even feels a bit rushed, like there's more to dig into, but then how do you tell the tale of one of the most important events in the history of the Western world from Hitler's youth to the Reich's end in a form that at least approaches a digestible length?
And now, a few words about the comparisons to Donald Trump. The Nazi war machine and its successes at world domination, as well as the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the party and the German people are well out of the reach for comparisons (for now anyway). The sheer level of brutality and devastation leveled by Hitler's Reich stand out as something we need to remember is part of the reason (or maybe the entire reason) why Nazi Germany is so reviled by the World's population. There is no comparison to that in America at this time; we're not at that level.
However, there are several concerning and fair comparisons that can be made between the Nazi leader and the man who is now America's president. One is their intense level of egomania. When Hitler was about to attack Russia and attempted to drive into Moscow, Shirer writes, "... the one-time Vienna waif regarded himself the greatest conqueror the world had ever seen. Egomania, that fatal disease of all conquerors, was taking hold." Trump's outlandish self-centered narcissism boils to a level of egomania unseen at the top of American politics perhaps ever, especially when he tells crowds, "I alone can fix this" and spews his self-aggrandizing midnight tweets.
Shirer also references Hitler's "violent nature following its momentary impulses," and we are all now watching a man driven perhaps entirely by impulse of a violent nature wield the highest power in our republic. Also, both men thrived and came to power by harnessing nationalist and racist emotions in a population that felt it had once been great and was now bitter about the way the rest of the world was treating it.
And lastly, I'm particularly concerned by the stark parallels between Goebbels' propaganda ministry and the Trump team's disregard for truth and facts, preferring instead to spread "Alternative Facts" as Kellyanne Conway put it a few weeks back. In this book, Shirer writes about the headline of a daily paper he bought on a train during the run-up to Hitler's invasion of Poland: "'WARSAW THREATENS BOMBARDMENT OF DANZIG - UNBELIEVABLE AGITATION OF THE POLISH ARCHMADNESS!' You ask: But the German people can't possibly believe these lies? Then you talk to them. So many do." The countless lies of Trump the candidate and now Trump the president, and the parroting of these lies by not only his surrogates but average American people, is quite frankly terrifying when compared to the Nazi aptitude for twisting or utterly replacing the truth with what one might call "Alternative Facts."
I hear sales of George Orwell's 1984 are on the rise. For those with the time and patience at this moment in American history, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich should also be on their list.
First, regarding the book itself: it's a terrific detailed account from someone who lived in Nazi Germany and referenced an enormous amount of historical records to produce this work. It was long, and yes occasionally it was a grind, and it was well worth the time to read. Some of it even feels a bit rushed, like there's more to dig into, but then how do you tell the tale of one of the most important events in the history of the Western world from Hitler's youth to the Reich's end in a form that at least approaches a digestible length?
And now, a few words about the comparisons to Donald Trump. The Nazi war machine and its successes at world domination, as well as the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the party and the German people are well out of the reach for comparisons (for now anyway). The sheer level of brutality and devastation leveled by Hitler's Reich stand out as something we need to remember is part of the reason (or maybe the entire reason) why Nazi Germany is so reviled by the World's population. There is no comparison to that in America at this time; we're not at that level.
However, there are several concerning and fair comparisons that can be made between the Nazi leader and the man who is now America's president. One is their intense level of egomania. When Hitler was about to attack Russia and attempted to drive into Moscow, Shirer writes, "... the one-time Vienna waif regarded himself the greatest conqueror the world had ever seen. Egomania, that fatal disease of all conquerors, was taking hold." Trump's outlandish self-centered narcissism boils to a level of egomania unseen at the top of American politics perhaps ever, especially when he tells crowds, "I alone can fix this" and spews his self-aggrandizing midnight tweets.
Shirer also references Hitler's "violent nature following its momentary impulses," and we are all now watching a man driven perhaps entirely by impulse of a violent nature wield the highest power in our republic. Also, both men thrived and came to power by harnessing nationalist and racist emotions in a population that felt it had once been great and was now bitter about the way the rest of the world was treating it.
And lastly, I'm particularly concerned by the stark parallels between Goebbels' propaganda ministry and the Trump team's disregard for truth and facts, preferring instead to spread "Alternative Facts" as Kellyanne Conway put it a few weeks back. In this book, Shirer writes about the headline of a daily paper he bought on a train during the run-up to Hitler's invasion of Poland: "'WARSAW THREATENS BOMBARDMENT OF DANZIG - UNBELIEVABLE AGITATION OF THE POLISH ARCHMADNESS!' You ask: But the German people can't possibly believe these lies? Then you talk to them. So many do." The countless lies of Trump the candidate and now Trump the president, and the parroting of these lies by not only his surrogates but average American people, is quite frankly terrifying when compared to the Nazi aptitude for twisting or utterly replacing the truth with what one might call "Alternative Facts."
I hear sales of George Orwell's 1984 are on the rise. For those with the time and patience at this moment in American history, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich should also be on their list.
dark
informative
slow-paced