The three volumes of the trilogy – The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich In Power, and The Third Reich at War – were published between 2003 and 2008. First, I found it deadly dull. We get the back-and-forth evolution of the Nazis from being focused on violence to being focused on gaining political power through legitimate channels, though with the goal of keeping that power once gained. Hi! As with most Robert Heinlein novels, the point is more the ideas than plot or character. The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian’s art and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged. This book is an overview of how or why the Third Reich happened. Evans was then tasked with reading all of Irving's books, tracing back all of the sources that he was citing, and writing a memorandum for the court detailing all of the instances in which Irving skued valid historical sources in order to back up his Holocaust denying arguments. Focused on political developments, it provides as well information about the economic and cultural bases of German life during the period. That is, in fact, the primary strength of the book, that it makes clear the very confused circumstances of Weimar Germany. But... Si vis pacem, para bellum. The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans charts the forces at work in Germany from the end of the Bismarck era, through the Wilhelmine period which led up to the end of WWI, then on through the years of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis from fringe group to power. Throughout the book, Evans several times cites Raimund Pretzel, whose posthumously published memoirs (under the pseudonym Sebastian Haffner) are very much worth reading, in part because they were written in 1939, and give an excellent first-hand overview of this time from the perspective of a politically disengaged, “Aryan” German. ISBN 0 713 99648 X. This wasn’t the case; he was installed as Chancellor through a deal with some right-wing politicians who were under the woeful misapprehension that they would easily be able to control him. It places that event within the politics and culture of Germany of the time. This is the first volume of a series about the Third Reich, providing a history of Germany from the formation of the Second Reich until the Nazi assumption of power during the first months of 1933. He may be a nice guy (or he may not be) but as a narrator, the net effect was like nails on a chalkboard. It's a great big sweeping survey with like a hundred pages of footnotes and a bibliography to point readers towards just about every fact and source Evans used. “Recounting the experience of individuals brings home, as nothing else can, the sheer complexity of the choices they had to make, and the difficult and often opaque nature of the situations they confronted. How did an extremist party lurking at the fringes of political life take over the entire government in such a shot time without ever raising the wrath of the bigger parties or of the people. I’m not exaggerating by much when I say I literally fell asleep within five pages of opening the book most of the times I read it. We may well wish that we could go back to laziness and political disengagement. This is the first book in Richard J Evan's Third Reich trilogy, and it is a brilliantly written, thoroughly researched, and engrossing journey through the history of Germany from the nineteenth century to 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. What's surprising, and what informs my new understanding, is Evans's idea that what happened in Germany wasn't unique at all. At Amazon, Richard J. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich. “The Coming of the Third Reich” is the first volume of British historian Richard J. Evans’ masterful three-volume history of Nazi Germany. This is the first book in a trilogy by Evans about the Third Reich which was clearly written with the layman in mind. These conditions included not only the historical context in which they lived, but also the way in which they thought, the assumptions they acted upon, and the principles and beliefs that informed their behavior. This is an excellent chronicle of those years. We get the early version of Hitler’s management style, designed such that “the most ruthless, the most dynamic and the most efficient would rise to positions of power within the movement.”  We also get the early usage of bemoaning violence publicly, but condemning it vaguely enough that the rank-and-file take the condemnation as an endorsement (something we see in recent cut-rate American political violence, but as I say, we have thin gruel compared to 1920s Germany). Most cultures throughout history have been terrible. But our society is, certainly, over-permeated with politics in every aspect of life, not the least indication of which is the tiresome comparison of the Third Reich to everything that happens (meant not as an argument but as a way to shut people up, of course). This pedestrian work is by far the weakest volume in Richard Evan's otherwise excellent trilogy on the Reich. My inclination is that it is because so much more has been revealed in the intervening years and because Evans has left out much drama and personality to focus on the facts of the events themselves. Despite many people’s best efforts since then to use this period for analogies, none of this history really teaches us anything new, other than those who want power are prone to use any means to hand, and that in the modern world, those include propaganda, forced conformity, and seizing emergencies to expand both. . 0 comments: Post a Comment. One reason for this is that we tend to care about Germany because, deep down, we feel that Germany is, and Germans are and always have been, Just Like Us—rational, civilized Westerners. Richard J. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich. This book tells the story of the events that happened in German politics from about 1918 to 1933 when the Nazi’s came to power. Nor is there now unseemly violence in Congress, as there was in Weimar (and in the run-ups to both the Spanish Civil War and the American Civil War). Propaganda becomes more effective; Horst Wessel, a seedy minor thug, is turned into a hero. We get the various ideological struggles and workings-out of Nazism, including the sometimes-more, sometimes-less emphasis on left-wing elements such as socialism. The book starts 60 years before the rise of Hitler to the Chancellorship so that the reader gets a feeling for the political and cultural environment that led to the rise of this terrible movement. The books are … But, this book fell flat for me for two reasons. However, as a recent adherent to Eastern Orthodoxy, I approach analysis, as opposed to knowledge, of Orthodox theology as presumptively... You have likely never heard of the Finnish Civil War. In America government service has usually lacked the prestige it does on the Continent, with a high percentage of civil servants being placeholders, or those who lack gumption and the ability to succeed in other areas of life. No stunning new insights which is probably a good thing. We get the personalities involved, some who played a role in later years (Himmler; Goebbels), some who later dropped away or died (Strasser; Röhm). Superb. Almost always one reads a book of future-looking political theory long before or long after its substance has been proven or disproven. In it, Evans tells the story of what happened in Germany from the end of World War I (1918) to the consolidation of power by the Nazis in mid-1933. Evans does a good job of tracing the development of the Nazi movement in Germany. The Great Dep. As a reader of this book, The Coming of the Third Reich, will quickly figure out, such comparisons are both vicious and ignorant. The emphasis, perhaps, is more on violence than on political maneuverings, but that’s hardly revisionist. Germany, on the other hand, had fifteen years of constant disorder and violence in the streets, where hard men across the political spectrum risked life and limb to foment disorder and raise the banner of their political views. MICHAEL BURLEIGH. How could democracy be replaced so easily? But Germany’s instabilities are inconceivable to us. How did an extremist party lurking at the fringes of political life take over the entire government in such a shot time without ever raising the wrath of the bigger parties or of the people? EMBED. Buy The Coming of the Third Reich: How the Nazis Destroyed Democracy and Seized Power in Germany New Ed by Evans, Richard J. ... Shirer's book cannot really deliver a history of Nazi Germany that meets the demands of the early twenty-first -century reader." Certainly, the goal of... We live in an age lacking dynamic leadership. No, not the Wuhan Plague. do we need another book on the rise of Hitler? 1: Aufstieg, trans. At times the running litany of names got tedious and didn't add to overall understanding; I'd have preferred fewer details at times and more analysis. Nothing in this book is new, as the author, Richard Evans, freely admits. Evans notes that “The conflicts that rent Weimar were more than merely political or economic. Evans notes the increased use of violence and torture by the Nazis as soon as they gained power, calling it, contrary to myth, “makeshift sadistic anarchy,” rather than organized (at this stage). This is the first book in Richard J Evan's Third Reich trilogy, and it is a brilliantly written, thoroughly researched, and engrossing journey through the history of Germany from the nineteenth century to 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. We’d love your help. The first volume of a three-volume overview of the history of Nazi Germany. The Coming of the Third Reich (Downloadable Audiobook) : Evans, Richard J. : There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand than Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. My inclination is that it is because so much more has been revealed in the intervening years and because Evans has left out much drama and personality to focus on. Having been a Visiting Professor in History at Gresham College during 2008/09, he is now the Gresham Professor of Rhetoric. Evens turns to analysis of political structures in the next section, “The Failure of Democracy.”  Here he talks about the poorly structured political institutions of Weimar democracy and their shallow roots, the difficulties proceeding from which were compounded by economic turmoil, including hyperinflation, resulting in social turmoil of various kinds. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. New (for me) insights into the general features of ultra right-wing or nationalist movements and the unfortunate social / economic forces that enable them to thrive. In the life of every World War II buff, there comes a point where he or she must ask this question: Have I read enough books about the Nazis? About The Coming of the Third Reich “The clearest and most gripping account I’ve read of German life before and during the rise of the Nazis.” —A. January 25th 2005 Evans balances several factors in his narrative - the expected story of political struggles in Berlin and the economic crises of hyperinflation and the Great Depression - he also includes some sections on personal diaries and narratives. My core “why” is money. We get the range of movements later associated with the Nazis, but which earlier had totally separate (and often originally much greater) influence on society, such as the Steel Helmets. The minutiae of political and social groups and their various motivations was convoluted, but Evans explains it in ways easy to follow. This is hubris ind. In America, the civil service today, the administrative state, takes the lead in the destruction of the rule of law and imposes a leftist ideology in a vast range of areas of life on the people though its arbitrary and largely unappealable authority, by creating mechanisms explicitly designed to avoid constitutional rule and to be immune to democratic oversight, such as regulatory “guidance.”  We’ll see if Trump is able to hack this overgrowth back, preferably with napalm. Dewey: 943.08: Edit. That opus is in my distant teenaged past, and for that reason it's hard for me to say definitely that Evans's work is an improvement on the understanding of those tumultuous years. Next Evans covers the road “Towards the Seizure of Power.”  The Depression intervenes; the very real threat of Communism grows (and the Germans were very much aware that Communist power would lead to mass slaughter on a scale just as great as that Hitler ultimately implemented, as it has every place Communism has ever gained power). After more than half a century, the Third Reich retains its extraordinary Anyone read this on Kindle? This is a great book on how Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It is also somewhat frightening to read this while the RNC was on. I have always been aware of the great Shawnee Indian war chief Tecumseh. When the so-called historian David Irving, who was a blatent Holocaust denier, sued some of his collegues for accusing him skuing historical sources to make his arguments, Richard J. Evans was a. The Coming Of The Third Reich summary: The Coming Of The Third Reich summary is updating. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world's most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time. Of course, there have been innumerable books about this topic. The Great Depression and the unemployment it brought; the failures of the Weimar Republic on so many levels - many people despised it, and the Nazis nurtured this hatred; Hitler's enormous charisma; Germany's humiliation in losing the First World War, and the extremely onerous economic reparations meant the populace was hugely nationalistic; Hitler's political deals with other German leaders like Hindenburg and von Papen, who thought they could control him when of course it was he who would do the controlling. I'm no historian so cannot comment on the accuracy of what Evans writes, but I was impressed with his thoroughness and readability. The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged. First, I found it deadly dull. Thus, American bureaucrats have rarely viewed themselves as a true elite; they have always had a chip on their shoulder, since most citizens look down on them. It’s not that history follows a random walk, like the stock market. They couldn’t have been more mistaken. Drawing upon documents that were only released after the downfall of the U.S.S.R. as well as other newly discovered source materials, Evans has written a new benchmark by which all other histories of the rise of Nazism will be measured. But this book just fell flat for me. — Elvis Presley. Why was Germany such fertile soil? I was shocked to learn how the Nazis were abetted by parties that were conservative or anti-democratic or pro-monarchist and even Catholic. One thing is clear to the reader of this book, the first of massive trilogy covering the Third Reich, and that is there is little evidence that we are heading the way of 1920s and 1930s Germany—but that if we are, it has nothing at all to do. I'm not sure it's possible to ever answer these questions adequately, but Evans does a good job finding reasons. The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans charts the forces at work in Germany from the end of the Bismarck era, through the Wilhelmine period which led up to the end of WWI, then on through the years of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis from fringe group to power. Refresh and try again. Of state terror - hideous street violence, beatings and murders of political enemies in public places? In this book, the same bad people do the same bad things that anyone who has read about this period already knows about. But a variety of recent, large-scale narrative histories have shown that it can be done without sacrificing analytical rigour or explanatory power.”. This is a special review. This edition was published in 2004 by The Penguin Press in New York. I read a lot about Germany and WWII, so I was really looking forward to this book! I am not sure that there are better works I have read on the rise to power of the Nazi's. We think that, in essence, “there but for the grace of God go I”—or rather, since we lack humility, we think “there, but for my good efforts, go my political opponents, where they really want to go.”  Either way, though, the fear is that since the Germans are like us, we may someday follow their path. Large-scale success, exceptions to the general rule,... Inflation, like most society-wide monetary happenings, is always complex and often incompletely grasped. No spam, obviously. . Evans writes: "Shirer's book was universally panned by historians. While many of the facts are known, Evans rekindles a sense of. With a mother raised in Nazi Germany, I have a real interest in how the Nazis came to power, and this book provides a lucid and readable explanation. Unemployment and economic despair fuel the search for new solutions and scapegoats. There seemed to be no area of society or politics that we immune from politicization.”  Evans notes, for example, that turnout was “no less than 80 percent of the electorate in most contests.”  We, of course, don’t have that level of political engagement, nor are we likely to, between rational indifference, laziness and ignorance. Only in the last chapter does Evans address how Nazism could have taken root. Very few, if any, I suspect. The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J Evans Penguin/Allen Lane £25, pp480. Third Reich (First Volume) Newsday, 29 February 2004 THE COMING OF THE THIRD REICH, by Richard J. Evans. He is also sure to include the institutional continuations between Imperial and Weimar Germany, and the importance of "scientific racism" in Nazi thinking. Evans begins with the first of six sections:  “The Legacy of The Past.”   Here he covers the period of the Bismarckian Reich and World War I, focusing on what Evans views as the progenitors of the Nazis, nationalist and anti-Semitic movements of the late 19th Century. I haven't see any photos yet. Nonetheless, this is an interesting book of history, and just because it’s not a warning, per se, does not mean that it does not contain interesting lessons. That opus is in my distant teenaged past, and for that reason it's hard for me to say definitely that Evans's work is an improvement on the understanding of those tumultuous years. It’s standard history with nothing new which hasn’t already been said in the past century. Clear and well written. 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