143 reviews for:

The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic

Benjamin Carter Hett

4.21 AVERAGE

tame_rina's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark informative slow-paced

geodevine's review against another edition

5.0

dark informative tense medium-paced

library_kris13's review against another edition

3.75

dark informative reflective medium-paced

amber_dusk's review against another edition

4.0

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It’s been a while since I read about the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler, so this book was a great refresher. While I can’t particularly say I enjoyed reading it, I did feel that I came out with a more thorough understanding of how the German people ‘let’ them come to power.

I get it was apt to read this in the current US political climate, not because I think fascists are going to take over here, but because populism and racism have become more popular and I wanted to see the parallels to the past. While may today have forgotten, or never learned, that there was resistance to the rise of the Nazi, it was obviously not enough and Hindenburg was an awful example of failed leadership. Images of the Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster are a fitting memorial to the man.



One advantage that we have over the Weimar German society is the ability to look back at what happened to them. Hopefully many more people will pick up books like this to help remind us all the dangers of populism and the ideas of ‘me first.’

I would hope I am not the first to quote this famous confession, but it’s impossible not to share it:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

— Martin Niemöller

orangebug's review against another edition

4.0

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This book is hard to read but it is certainly relevant in Trump America. It is eerily frightening how Hitler & the Nazis chipped away at Germany that was ripe for the racial hatred and irrational fears of intellectual thought. One mother wrote to her daughter about the Reichstag fire and the "false news" that the nazis had set it to seize power and that foreigners just cannot understand how wonderful Hitler is... in the lead up, how they sabotaged help and betterment for all Germany to seize power, then preyed upon low class, uneducated citizens ... blame the immigrants & communists for all of societal ills! Nationalism at it's "best!" The book ends by stating that we have one advantage over 1920s & 30s Germany to never allowing this to happen again since we have their example! Hopefully there will never be the perfect storm that was Nazi Germany ever again!!!!!

clarynathanwill's review against another edition

4.0

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Read for Hist 401 a Seminar on Problems in Modern German History.

nate_gordon's review against another edition

4.5

informative reflective medium-paced

godollin's review against another edition

5.0

informative slow-paced

mattycakkes28's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

bellamartyr's review against another edition

4.0

informative slow-paced