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Overview
A Major Study of One of the Twentieth Century's Darkest Periods
Until now there has been no up-to-date, one-volume, international history of Nazi Germany, despite its being among the most studied phenomena of our time. The Third Reich restores a broad perspective and intellectual unity to issues that have become academic subspecialties and offers a brilliant new interpretation of Hitler's evil rule.
Filled with human and moral considerations that are missing from theoretical accounts, Michael Burleigh's book gives full weight to the experience of ordinary people who were swept up in, or repelled by, Hitler's movement and emphasizes international themes-for Nazi Germany appealed to many European nations, and its wartime conduct included efforts to dominate the Continental economy and involved gigantic population transfers and exterminations, recruitment of foreign labor, and multinational armies.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"A remarkable achievement, a comprehensive history of the criminality of the Third Reich as well as of the (very limited) efforts to resist it. Burleigh has placed his narration within a general representation of Hitler's Germany, and his extraordinary mastery of the monographic literature and the cogency of his interpretation based on the notion of political religion gives The Third Reich the status of a classic." —Saul Friedländer
Niall Ferguson
A breathtaking achievement, at once broader and deeper than any other single volume . . . on the subject. —The Sunday TimesMichael Andre Bernstein
. . . an original work of interpretation in which straightforward narrative history, rigorous analytic explanation and unblinking intellectual-moral judgment are united . . . —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewPublishers Weekly
After literally thousands of books have been written on the Nazis and their history, the author who attempts another one has to have a compelling reason. Burleigh, professor of history at Washington and Lee University and author of several books on Germany, focuses on the moral breakdown that gave Hitler control of an industrial society, which then, along with the rest of the world, suffered the catastrophic consequences. Though the topic is not new, the treatment is first-rate, making this indeed a new history. For example, as he does elsewhere, in the case of the Roehm purge, he omits many of the well-known details in order to explain its significance with clarity and even verve. Burleigh treats Christian opponents of Hitler with more kindness than they usually receive, and his treatment of anti-Semitism as something quite minor in the lives of most Germans of the period will no doubt stir up controversy, as will his unusual emphasis on non-Jewish victims of the Nazis. The author emphasizes the perspectives of individuals who lived through these events, giving his book a democratic flavor uncommon since William L. Shirer's famous history. But the primary value of Burleigh's book lies in its overview of the interpretations made by others. However, the book is not without flaws: Burleigh's prejudices toward conservatives lead him to write of the feckless German officers as more heroic than they were and to sneer at the left-wing opponents of the Nazi regime who suffered far more in their struggle. And his writing is sometimes too clever. His reference to the sadistic and murderous Franz Alfred Six as a "1968er avant la lettre" is an example of both flaws at once. Such lapses are minor annoyances, though. Burleigh has produced an important work of synthesis that recapitulates an impressive array of sources. It deserves to become the jumping-off point for scholars who want to take their studies of this uniquely horrible era in new directions. Illus. not seen by PW. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|Library Journal
Burleigh (Washington and Lee Univ.) has written a masterly narrative of how Nazi racial, political, and economic ideology was applied in Germany and in those territories conquered by the Third Reich. The result is a book that reveals the complexity of daily life under Nazism. Burleigh's greatest strength is in avoiding facile generalizations about such controversial topics as whether the Christian churches supported or opposed Nazism. In addition, he prevents the text from devolving into historiographical controversies, such as the functionalists vs. structuralist debate. Burleigh is at his best when analyzing the structure of Nazi ideology and its implementation, and as such his chapter on the postwar world is probably the weakest. Furthermore, although he introduces many interesting and sometimes sympathetic characters, the reader is sometimes left wondering about their fate. Nevertheless, this book should become one of the standard volumes on the history of the Third Reich. Recommended for all libraries.--Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\Booknews
This massive history of the Nazis focuses on the moral breakdown and transformation they created in their otherwise advanced industrial society through the religious type of fervor they fomented in their followers. The human and moral element of the tale is maintained even as Burleigh traces the political and military events in mind-boggling detail. Burleigh, who has written four previous books on the subject, is currently visiting professor at Washington and Lee U. in Lexington U. in Kentucky; he is professor of modern history at Cardiff U. in Wales. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)V.R. Berghahn
Burleigh demonstrates a subtle feel for the particulars, those gray zones of life where wrenching human dilemmas confronted those who cheered and served Hitler as well as those who resisted him . . . The cumulative effect of the stories he tells over 900 pages is in itself overwhelming enough.—New York Times Book Review