You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bagusayp 's review for:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
by William L. Shirer
As I was turning to the last chapter of this book, with the anti-fascist cantata of Hanns Eisler providing the back sound for the last days of the Third Reich, it just dawned on me how parting with this book which I have been reading in the past two months would feel weird. It’s the kind of feeling that I only felt upon parting with someone who I have known well for a long time, only to realise that I haven’t known that friend really well.
My decision to pick up this monster book to read around two months ago does not seem to be the wrong choice. This book is really enlightening about the state of Europe during the Interwar period which gave opportunities to rise for Nazism and also why the Third Reich came to its downfall despite the many advantages that Nazi Germany had during the first two years of the war.
Adolf Hitler was the key person in this story, of how a former Austrian corporal who was uneducated and almost forgotten by history after his failure in the so-called Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 finally managed to rise to power by exploiting several misfortunes in 1920s Weimar Republic. Anti-semitism directed to the Jewry is the key feature in Nazism. From the author point of view, anti-semitism in Germany did not begin with Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. It has been in existence ever since the time Martin Luther placated his 95 theses which revolutionised the European Christendom in the 15th century.
That Hitler finally managed to exploit this hatred towards European Jewry for his own gains, it’s just an eventuality of history for the German people. Save that fact aside, and add that with the rough treatment of the Weimar Republic with the terms imposed by the Allies after the First World War in the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression which hit America and Europe in 1929. And we finally have the recipe to fuel the advent of Nazism.
During the pre-war Nazi Germany period, the author worked as a foreign correspondent in Berlin which makes this book a delicious account to read as he knew the big picture of what was going on in the first year of the Third Reich. Although the author has professed in his preface that most foreign correspondents that lived in Nazi Germany during that period did not even know what was really going on in the Third Reich, his experiences there as a correspondent in the pre-war period have really made this book highly readable. The captured Nazi documents and supplements of affidavits from the Nuremberg trials simply complimented the author’s already available knowledge of the regime.
As this book was first published in 1960, there must be some revisions that need to be included with more declassified data now after the turning of the century. And it could not be said as a perfect book chronicling that period since this book highly focused on the happenings in the Third Reich. Thus leaving some parts of World War II which were fought at the other side of the world outside the picture and does not even include some important meetings like for example, Yalta Conference and Tehran Conference between the Allies. However, this is a good book for a starter to get a big picture of what really happened in Nazi Germany and its occupied areas in Europe. The sign "over 1400 pages" at the cover did not discourage me to finish it. LOL. It’s highly readable and recommended!
My decision to pick up this monster book to read around two months ago does not seem to be the wrong choice. This book is really enlightening about the state of Europe during the Interwar period which gave opportunities to rise for Nazism and also why the Third Reich came to its downfall despite the many advantages that Nazi Germany had during the first two years of the war.
Adolf Hitler was the key person in this story, of how a former Austrian corporal who was uneducated and almost forgotten by history after his failure in the so-called Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 finally managed to rise to power by exploiting several misfortunes in 1920s Weimar Republic. Anti-semitism directed to the Jewry is the key feature in Nazism. From the author point of view, anti-semitism in Germany did not begin with Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. It has been in existence ever since the time Martin Luther placated his 95 theses which revolutionised the European Christendom in the 15th century.
That Hitler finally managed to exploit this hatred towards European Jewry for his own gains, it’s just an eventuality of history for the German people. Save that fact aside, and add that with the rough treatment of the Weimar Republic with the terms imposed by the Allies after the First World War in the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression which hit America and Europe in 1929. And we finally have the recipe to fuel the advent of Nazism.
During the pre-war Nazi Germany period, the author worked as a foreign correspondent in Berlin which makes this book a delicious account to read as he knew the big picture of what was going on in the first year of the Third Reich. Although the author has professed in his preface that most foreign correspondents that lived in Nazi Germany during that period did not even know what was really going on in the Third Reich, his experiences there as a correspondent in the pre-war period have really made this book highly readable. The captured Nazi documents and supplements of affidavits from the Nuremberg trials simply complimented the author’s already available knowledge of the regime.
As this book was first published in 1960, there must be some revisions that need to be included with more declassified data now after the turning of the century. And it could not be said as a perfect book chronicling that period since this book highly focused on the happenings in the Third Reich. Thus leaving some parts of World War II which were fought at the other side of the world outside the picture and does not even include some important meetings like for example, Yalta Conference and Tehran Conference between the Allies. However, this is a good book for a starter to get a big picture of what really happened in Nazi Germany and its occupied areas in Europe. The sign "over 1400 pages" at the cover did not discourage me to finish it. LOL. It’s highly readable and recommended!