A Concise History of the Third Reich (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism) (Paperback)

by Wolfgang Benz (Author), Thomas Dunlap (Translator)
Key Phrases: eastern workers, National Socialist, Third Reich, German Reich (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Does anyone really need yet another book on Nazi Germany? After the masterworks of Richard Evans's multivolume history and Ian Kershaw's two-volume biography of Hitler, a certain ennui sets in. Benz is a leading German historian, the director of Berlin's Center for Research on Antisemitism. In this book, he sets out to accomplish what he did previously in The Holocaust: provide a concise, authoritative account, this time for the entire history of the Third Reich. At this he succeeds. Everything is here: the rise of the Nazi movement, the establishment of the dictatorship, culture, war, Holocaust and, finally, the collapse. Yet the treatment is flat, almost textbooklike. So many of the major interpretive issues that have engaged historians worldwide and the broader public in Germany are absent. For instance, Benz writes of the Hitler youth organization, but overlooks the question of how to incorporate into our interpretation of the Third Reich the experience of girls in the organization who often felt a sense of emancipation from the strictures of home and church. What were the connections between other forms of persecution and the Holocaust? How modern was the Third Reich? A concise interpretive work would have made for a much more satisfying book. B&w photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Benz's history of Germany covers the period from January 1933, when President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor, to Germany's surrender in May 1945. Originally published in Germany, the book examines such issues as the consolidation of power, the crisis and the triumph of the dictatorship, society under the Nazis, economic and social discontent with--and opposition to--the National Socialist state, and the persecution and murder of the Jews. Benz also discusses the nation's road to war and the war itself, daily life in wartime, and, finally, the collapse of the Third Reich. With 137 black-and-white photographs, this book will provide readers with a good foundation for understanding modern Germany under the rule of a madman. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (December 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520253833
• ISBN-13: 978-0520253834
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #348,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)