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siddhu 's review for:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
by William L. Shirer
"In our new age of terrifying, lethal gadgets, which supplanted so swiftly the old one, the first great aggressive war, if it should come, will be launched by suicidal little madmen pressing an electronic button. Such a war will not last long and none will ever follow it. There will be no conquerors and no conquests, but only the charred bones of the dead on an uninhabited planet"
Simply Wow!!
Interested to know how an Austrian vagabond managed to become the dictator of a powerful nation?
Interested to know how he prepared the country to war in just 5 years after he came to power?
Interested to know how he managed and mastered the technique of bloodless victories (Austria and Czech)?
We just have to pick this up and read..
So many stories... so many plots..so many twists.. so many intrigues.. so many murders... and unfortunately this isn't any fiction. All this had happened. More than 6 million lives lost due to whims and delusions of very few! Surprised to know how even non-bureaucrats played their roles in vain to avoid the war. Reading this has been one hell of a ride.
The major problem I have with this book is "the lack of maps". It is very difficult to follow the battle formation/strategies and descriptions without maps, that too the current Europe looks far different than in 1939.
The other problem, though I find it a bit insignificant is, personally I find the author biased in describing a few personalities and we can clearly sense through his writings. For example, throughout the book, he keeps referring to Herman Goering as "The Fat Reich Marshal" and Hitler's personal doctor as "The quack physician". At some point, he refers to Stalin, mentioning that he did a mistake cutting a deal with Hitler and hence will pay a price. Sometime later, he mentions it as an advantage, since he gets hold of Balkan regions which shares a boundary with Germany.
Regarding the Holocaust, it is restricted to just one chapter in this book and it would be the darkest of all! Please do note that this covers mostly from German point of view. There are descriptions about Dunkirk evacuations and Normandy landings but we wont get to know much details regarding the same( plans and executions). Battles in Asia and Russian battles in Finland are not covered (just a mention).
Nevertheless I would recommend each and every person who is interested in second world war to pick this up and read. Once the war starts, you wouldn't be able to put it down!!
Never was so much owed by so many to so few.
Simply Wow!!
Interested to know how an Austrian vagabond managed to become the dictator of a powerful nation?
Interested to know how he prepared the country to war in just 5 years after he came to power?
Interested to know how he managed and mastered the technique of bloodless victories (Austria and Czech)?
We just have to pick this up and read..
So many stories... so many plots..so many twists.. so many intrigues.. so many murders... and unfortunately this isn't any fiction. All this had happened. More than 6 million lives lost due to whims and delusions of very few! Surprised to know how even non-bureaucrats played their roles in vain to avoid the war. Reading this has been one hell of a ride.
The major problem I have with this book is "the lack of maps". It is very difficult to follow the battle formation/strategies and descriptions without maps, that too the current Europe looks far different than in 1939.
The other problem, though I find it a bit insignificant is, personally I find the author biased in describing a few personalities and we can clearly sense through his writings. For example, throughout the book, he keeps referring to Herman Goering as "The Fat Reich Marshal" and Hitler's personal doctor as "The quack physician". At some point, he refers to Stalin, mentioning that he did a mistake cutting a deal with Hitler and hence will pay a price. Sometime later, he mentions it as an advantage, since he gets hold of Balkan regions which shares a boundary with Germany.
Regarding the Holocaust, it is restricted to just one chapter in this book and it would be the darkest of all! Please do note that this covers mostly from German point of view. There are descriptions about Dunkirk evacuations and Normandy landings but we wont get to know much details regarding the same( plans and executions). Battles in Asia and Russian battles in Finland are not covered (just a mention).
Nevertheless I would recommend each and every person who is interested in second world war to pick this up and read. Once the war starts, you wouldn't be able to put it down!!
Never was so much owed by so many to so few.