The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933 [Paperback]

Professor William Brustein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 1998

Why did millions of apparently sane, rational Germans join the Nazi Party between 1925 and 1933? In this provocative book, William Brustein argues that Nazi supporters were no different from citizens anywhere who select a political party or candidate they believe will promote their economic interests. The roots of evil, he suggests, may be ordinary indeed. "A fascinating story of how ordinary Germans joined an extraordinary party for ordinary reasons. . . . Brustein has written an important book. The database is impressive, the theory is provocative, and the conclusions are scary."-Jeffrey Kopstein, American Political Science Review "An important book on the social origins of the Nazi Party from 1925 to 1933. . . . Its conclusions are significant."-Richard J. Evans, Jewish Chronicle "The most useful part of this book is the group of chapters in which the author analyzes the material interests of different classes and the responses of the various Weimar parties."-Stanley Hoffmann, Foreign Affairs "The Logic of Evil . . . is destined to become an important contribution to the sociology of Nazism and other extreme political movements."-American Journal of Sociology "Combining new historical data with acute attention to the problem of individual decisions, Brustein makes frighteningly clear how Nazism could be a reasonable choice for Germans in the 1930s. An important contribution to understanding how radical movements attract followers, and to understanding the rise of the Nazi Party."-Jack A. Goldstone, University of California, Davis William Brustein is professor and chair of the department of sociology at the University of Minnesota

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

How the Nazi party found roots and then flourished out of an educated, modern society is a question that haunts the 20th century. In The Logic of Evil, William Brustein, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota, offers an intriguing argument: the citizens of Germany who supported the Nazis were motivated by economic self-interest. He says the Nazis' popularity increased because of their "superlative success at fashioning economic programs that addressed the material needs of millions of Germans." Brustein provides impressive evidence to back his thesis; he and a research team went through the files of 42,000 Nazi party members and found a disproportionate number in occupations who benefited from the Nazis' economic programs. His is an argument that deserves serious merit, particularly given the blatant economic appeals some current leaders make to their constituencies. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Brustein (sociology, Univ. of Minnesota) uses 42,004 observations of members from the Nazi Party master file for this academic examination of the social origins of the party prior to 1933 and why members joined. Richard Hamilton's Who Voted for Hitler (Princeton Pr., 1982) and Thomas Childer's The Nazi Voter (Univ. of North Carolina, 1983) have examined why Germans voted for the Nazi Party, but Brustein's use of such a massive database brings out new interpretations that will cause some debate. In a reasoned narrative, Brustein notes that most Nazi followers were motivated chiefly by commonplace and rational factors rather than by Hitler's appeal or charisma. In other words, they voted their pocketbooks. Are the Germans of 1933 guilty of letting loose a great evil because they did not see the ramifications of thinking only of their pocketbooks, and should they have anticipated what was to come? Brustein answers no to both questions. His important book should be on the shelves of all academic libraries and all public libraries with a strong Holocaust collection.?Dennis L. Noble, Sequim, Wash.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300074328
• ISBN-13: 978-0300074321
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,588,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How Average Germans Voted for a Madman, September 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933 (Hardcover)

William Brustein's work raises fascinating concepts which deserve serious consideration. One of these, often ignored or overlooked by many historians, is the possibility that average Germans did not see the Nazis as the 'radical right.' Instead, Burstein's contention is that the Nazi leadership was astute enough to position themselves between two dramatically opposite viewpoints: the Moscow-subservient Left(such as the KPD and SPD) and the slash-and-burn 'free market' efforts of the Bruning administration to cut government spending under the weight of a world-wide depression. Claiming the ground of 'good patriotic Germans,' while still demanding the salvation of the massive social welfare system, the Nazis endeared themselves to millions. The average German saw the men in brown as the saviors of the welfare system they had come to know and love, and turned out in droves to vote them into office. In essence, Burstein contends that the Nazis ran as moderates between two extremes. The weakest part of his book is the last chapter where he attempts to draw modern parallels which simply do not fit his own analysis. But the major contribution of the work is in line with current scholarship that tends to debunk the notion that a type of societal 'madness' griped the Germans, leading to a madman's election to high office. It is becoming more certain that average Germans did what most people do in any society: vote for the middle between two extremes. Burstein's work is worth serious consideration to students of National Socialist politics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well described analysis of the German people's election of Nazis, March 26, 2011

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Diverse "bobh" (Glendale, WI, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933 (Paperback)

Hitler was the leader of the Nazi political party. And over a 12 year span, the Nazi party's influence grew stronger each year. The Nazi's didn't violently seize control, as did the Bolsheviks. The Nazi's were elected by the Germans. This book explains the causes for making the Nazi party appealing to a majority of Germans. The author breaks down the German citizenry into different classes; economic classes (rich, middle, poor), labor classes (non-working rich, white collar, blue collar, self-employed, farmers), male and female. Breaking out the people into different groups helps give a clear picture of why the Nazi's were popular.

The writing is very good. I'm not an academic, but i was never lost, or frustrated with the traditional academic pompous wring style of using arcane words when a more common word describes the situation just as clearly. Most of all, I could see how our American democracy could be a place for a fringe group to grow popular, given the right combination of economic and political setbacks.

The author is able to communicate a lot of ideas in under 150 pages, and an intelligent use of Appendices. My goal was to understand how Nazi's could be elected, and this book explains it clearly.