The Third Reich: A New History

When well treated, we read about this period that did not end fast enough wishing the books about them did not have to end. This book epitomizes that irony. It simply defines the difference between having real understanding of the Germany on which Hitler left his brutal stamp and not having it. Burleigh's explanation of the socioeconomic forces of dehumanization makes the mass murder of the Jews seem a natural outcome of a once-great society's mostly voluntary descent into barbarism. His description of the euthenasia program tells you all you need to know about what else would become possible, and how easily it was to turn and entire culture on its head.Another fine aspect of this work is that while it does not flinch at looking hard at the ugliest chapter in European history, he does not stare mawkishly at the bizarre figures of Hitler, Goering, Goebbels and the like. Indeed the reader is expected more or less to know the members of the cast. I agree with the other reviewers that this book is now a standard entry in World War II histories and among studies of modern European history as well.

I am a World War II buff and have read many histories of the European war and the Third Reich. But I keep coming back to this one. I’ve read this 3 times over the last 20 years, learning something new each time. It is still the best and most accessible history of the Third Reich. No other Ww2 authors have the first hand knowledge and experience by being present at the time this history was actually being made.

This book was far more satisfying than anything else I have read about the Third Reich. The author combines both intellectual history and descriptive history, with great detail from "ordinary" people's diaries. He also ends a number of explanations with wry or ironic observations about the twists and holes in Nazi thinking or actions. I know that 900 pages sounds like a lot, but I strongly recommend this book over any others I have read.

Michael Burleigh has written a most scholarly, and yet richly readable, new history of the Third Reich. It is "new" in the sense that he combines a theoretical approach - nazism as a pseudo religious force in its mass appeal inside and outside Germany - with abundant material on the lives of everyday people. His chapter headings are thematic, rather than strictly chronological, and include sub sections such as "See You In Siberia" and "The Generals Who Dithered". The nazi attempts to dominate and exploit the economic life of Europe and beyond are particularly well discussed. The volume is a useful contrast with Ian Kershaw's recent, excellent biography of Hitler since Burleigh has written a more international account: his particular remit is to analyse the impact of nazism as a huge political force across frontiers. He is impressively adroit in tracing the pro and anti nazi sentiment in eastern Europe and Russia. There is, for instance, some fascinating insight into the Tatars of the Ukraine who were deported by Stalin's police in cattle truck journeys lasting up to three months. The author's final chapter covers the years 1943 to 1948 where it is explained that denazification had a short life from 1945 since the allies and the Russians soon had much greater global problems to address. There are a few slips in the text, for example the main Nuremburg war criminals were not hanged "at dawn" (page 804), and this reviewer felt that nazi and anti nazi media propaganda could tell us more of the international dimension than is revealed in the book. None the less, this is an insightful tome, full of sound judgments and interesting sidelights on virtually every page. Just for the record, Burleigh has no truck with revisionist sentiments about the personalities and policies of the Reich. Here is the story of a criminal gang who brought Europe to its knees.

I had to buy my own copy so as to never forget mankind's tragic ability to descend into evil and chaos.

Informative but written in what i found to be a constantly irritating and pretentiously 'academic' style.

I won't say much about this monumental work of scholarship.I must, though, throughly disagree with some of the comments below that it is somehow inaccessible to to the general reader. My copy is covered with marks, notations, and underlinings of what I thought on first reading was absolutely wonderful prose. Most notably, and surprising given the topic, Burleigh pulls off the amazing task of using humor to illustrate some of his most serious points. First rate scholarship and superb writing.

As expected

Language is not simple. not a good book to read easily. Not recommend for reading

What I like most about Burleigh's mammoth study on the Third Reich is its ability to get inside this evil regime to determine what ultimately caused its collapse. His findings point to a complex political system called national socialism that promoted both racial purity and world domination. To show how impossible these two mega goals were, historian Burleigh takes us on a very detailed tour of the Third Reich, from top to bottom, as it struggled to assert itself. We get to see the plan in its bits and pieces, as Jews were annihilated, Poles humiliated, Slavs demonized, Brits threatened, Italians flattered, French divided and everybody else living in fear. So how big was this crack brain and unwieldy plan to control the world? Small to start with in terms of ideology but growing in strength as it caught on with the public. Eugenics, euthanasia, marriage laws, oath of allegiance, concentration camps, blitzkrieg, collaboration, culture, and total war all became two-edged swords that Hitler and the Nazis used to try to build their impossible dream. Dogging it from within was rampant political corruption, growing disunity within Nazidom, dwindling military resources, unbelievable incompetence by territorial administrators, and the wholesale slaughter of Jews.The push back from without came in many forms: partisan resistance, key military victories and timely alliances. Read this book if you are looking to understand why the Third Reich lasted no longer than twelve years.

I am a professional battlefield guide. I read books like this to fill out the background to the events and characters involved in the warfare on the ground that is the subject of my tours. I reckon this is the best single volume account of the 3rd Reich. I have read Kershaw's two-volume, 1200 page biography of Hitler and his book "The Hitler Myth", an account of the God-like fantasy view Goebbels created around Hitler, which held the German people in such thrall.A book covering some of the same ground as "The Third Reich" is Mark Mazower's excellent "Hitler's Empire". Mazower's book is less wide ranging, less detailed in the account of the Nazi's rise through the 1930's, the period when Hitler formulated the vague notions of world dominance which the rest of his revolting gang put into practice.This book describes in great detail the social and political aims and policies of the National Socialist regime, from Hitler's beginnings as a beer-hall ranter to a man who infected the people of Goethe, Bach and Beethoven with the politics of hate and violence and succeeded in persuading them to act out his appalling vision. The general perception of the Nazis is that the evil of their regime is known, principally as the brutal military invaders of Russia and Western Europe. But the full extent of the evil, evil that penetrated right down into the foundations of German society itself, is not revealed unless by books such as this. Be prepared to think to yourself, as I did, "I knew it was evil. I had no idea it was so profoundly evil."

Truly impressive.

With great expectations I bought this book. Delivery and packing had the class of Amazon, superb. The same can't be said about the contents of the book. Being a WWII buff and having read masterpieces like The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich by Shirer, history of WWII by Liddel Hart, Third reich at war by Evans, I found it pale in comparison. Without describing the events as they happened, Burleigh tries to pass his own judgement almost page by page. The language also is very unfriendly and proves to be a drag and is fit for reading only by students of english literature.