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A review by wynwicket
Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe by Mark Mazower
5.0
Easily the most compelling book I've read this year, Hitler's Empire detailed Germany's domination of Europe from the 1930s to 1950--and the aftermath. From Germany's initial goal of uniting all the "Germanic peoples" in Europe under a single flag, to forced migration, attempted genocide, forced labor, political back-stabbing, and mass murder, this is a sad, scary story.
But it's a fascinating one. Rather than focusing strictly on the political power of a few men (Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Stalin, etc), as many history books do, the book focuses on the everyday administration of the Third Reich--how it was expanded and run by ordinary people, some with evil motives, others just doing what they were told. Hitler's regime is presented as a splintered one, with various parties with widely differently philosophies fighting amongst themselves--in particular, the Nazi Party proper and the SS. The Holocaust is covered from a political, as well as an administrative point of view: logistically speaking, *how* was all that horror accomplished? Who collaborated with the Nazis and why? How did comparatively powerless countries fight back, even before the Americans joined the war? And what happened after Hitler's death?
An emotional roller-coaster for me, this book took a long time to get through, but I'm now much more aware of the staggering effects of Nazism on other countries in Europe, especially Italy, Poland, and Greece, and my heart goes out to those in affected countries who struggled to put the pieces back together after so many nations were torn apart.
I'm left with additional questions, and I suspect this book is just the beginning of my forays into World War Two history.
But it's a fascinating one. Rather than focusing strictly on the political power of a few men (Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Stalin, etc), as many history books do, the book focuses on the everyday administration of the Third Reich--how it was expanded and run by ordinary people, some with evil motives, others just doing what they were told. Hitler's regime is presented as a splintered one, with various parties with widely differently philosophies fighting amongst themselves--in particular, the Nazi Party proper and the SS. The Holocaust is covered from a political, as well as an administrative point of view: logistically speaking, *how* was all that horror accomplished? Who collaborated with the Nazis and why? How did comparatively powerless countries fight back, even before the Americans joined the war? And what happened after Hitler's death?
An emotional roller-coaster for me, this book took a long time to get through, but I'm now much more aware of the staggering effects of Nazism on other countries in Europe, especially Italy, Poland, and Greece, and my heart goes out to those in affected countries who struggled to put the pieces back together after so many nations were torn apart.
I'm left with additional questions, and I suspect this book is just the beginning of my forays into World War Two history.