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sherrimc 's review for:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
by William L. Shirer
This book weighs heavy, and not just because it's over 1,000 pages (or 57 hours of Audible listening). It's hard to read a book that documents some of the most terrible things human beings have ever done to each other. So why read it? To understand how and why something like this could happen in hopes that it never happens again.
Shirer does an excellent job given the scope of what he covers in years, events, and number of people and countries involved. Despite the all these moving parts and details, he never loses the thread of the story about how someone like Hitler could ever come to power, and why he and his regime ultimately failed. For much of the time covered in the book, Shirer was in Berlin reporting for news outlets in the United States. This gives his writing the confidence and immediacy of a first hand observer.
As I listened, I was disheartened to learn that Great Britain, France and even the German generals had so many missed opportunities to stop or hinder Hitler's rise to power. But hindsight is 20/20, and perhaps it isn't fair to judge now that we know how the story went. It is also frightening to read about all of the thousands of regular people who didn't directly participate in the most vile acts of Hitler's regime, and yet, made these horrible things possible because of their silence and apathy.
Shirer does an excellent job given the scope of what he covers in years, events, and number of people and countries involved. Despite the all these moving parts and details, he never loses the thread of the story about how someone like Hitler could ever come to power, and why he and his regime ultimately failed. For much of the time covered in the book, Shirer was in Berlin reporting for news outlets in the United States. This gives his writing the confidence and immediacy of a first hand observer.
As I listened, I was disheartened to learn that Great Britain, France and even the German generals had so many missed opportunities to stop or hinder Hitler's rise to power. But hindsight is 20/20, and perhaps it isn't fair to judge now that we know how the story went. It is also frightening to read about all of the thousands of regular people who didn't directly participate in the most vile acts of Hitler's regime, and yet, made these horrible things possible because of their silence and apathy.