The Nazi Party 1919-1945: A Complete History [Paperback]

Dietrich Orlow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

This is the only complete historical account of the rise and fall of the political party known in Germany as the infamous NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party). It covers the entire period of the Nazi Party’s existence, from its humble, desperate beginnings in 1919 to the catastrophe of 1945 and its banishment as a criminal organization bent on genocide and war as a result of the Nuremberg Trials. The Nazi Party was a model of fanatical political efficiency in furthering the goals of Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship and at the same time one that attracted many careerists and undesirable elements of society.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vaksberg (Stalin's Prosecutor) unsympathetically traces the fascinating life of the Russian writer who became the so-called father of Soviet literature but who died in 1936, at age 68, under suspicious circumstances. Drawing on new archival research and interviews, the author focuses on Gorky's activities as a cultural and political figure. Vaksberg starts with his subject's rise to literary prominence at the end of the 19th century and his imprisonment for anti-tsarist activities. Early on, Gorky opposed the Bolsheviks and spent several years in exile in Italy. But he began supporting the Stalinist regime after returning home in 1932. Eventually, Vaksberg writes, Gorky became "hostile toward any information from the West, while any propaganda from the east was the ultimate truth." Vaksberg's writing, and the able translation, show stylistic flair, and the author knows his subject well. However, he ends by arguing that Gorky died not of complications from tuberculosis but of a poisoning by Stalinist officials. The thesis has been offered before, and Vaksberg provides little new evidence to support his claim. 30 b&w photos. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Dietrich Orlow is professor emeritus of history at Boston College, and the recognized authority on the history of the Nazi Party. He lives in Washington State.

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Enigma Books (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 192963157X
• ISBN-13: 978-1929631575
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,640,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Haven for Losers, March 19, 2009

By 

HomoSardonicus - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nazi Party 1919-1945: A Complete History (Paperback)

I first read this work in its original two-volume format almost 25 years ago when taking a graduate course on Nazi Germany. My professor, now sadly deceased, told me about an experience he had as an American student in the Third Reich. He was riding the streetcar in Berlin he always took to school; people knew who he was and largely accepted him--except on one particular day. That day was December 11, 1941, the day Hitler declared war on the United States. All at once he became a non-person, an alien from another planet. Not long after, he returned to the US through the American embassy. I relate this only because it enabled me to vividly remember this book and its contents--the Nazi Party was no longer a fact of history, but a moment someone I knew experienced.
While an organizational history of the NSDAP may not be to everyone's taste, it explains why 'Die Partei' collapsed so completely in 1945, even though Hitler retained his popularity up until the very end. The Fuhrer remains an object of demented romanticizing to this day, but not the party he led. Although purporting to be a revolutionary movement, like the Soviet Communist Party, it was never allowed to completely dominate society like its Russian counterpart; a conscious decision on Hitler's part. After taking power in 1933, Hitler largely ignored the party, except for its public and deceptive rituals. He never wanted the Nazi Party to become so functionally important that it might one day threaten his position, so he left it to decay, giving his old cronies sinecure positions without any real power to do any damage to him. The party became a haven for losers; anyone in Germany who wanted to be upwardly-mobile shunned applying to the party's leadership academies, knowing full well that it would be a career road to nowhere, preferring instead the more glamorous and powerful SS. The author dryly describes the party organization as a dumping ground for human wreckage--sexual perverts, drunks, psychopaths, and a variety of other misfits. They were losers, but Hitler evidently felt he owed them something because of their loyalty to him. Read this book; it's never dull and even amusing at times, considering the subject matter. If you're interested in the nuts-and-bolts of the Nazi movement and its functional and social unimportance, go no farther, Orlow knows his stuff!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, January 16, 2011

By 

Stephen Campbell "Author" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Nazi Party 1919-1945: A Complete History (Paperback)

This is a book about the Nazi Party. Yes, that sounds pretty simple but I think it needs to emphasized for the purpose of this review. You will not get a lot of information about the SS or the Holocaust. If that is what you are looking for then, as the author states, you will need to read elsewhere.

What you do get is two books. Yes, it was originally published in two volumes. Why I say two books is you get an extensive look at the formation of the Nazi party, its evolution, and the personalities who rose or lost power within it along the way. All of this revolves around Hitler and his decisions along the way. The other book was a study on how to organize a political party to take control of a state.

I found his description of the synthetic society that was created for Party members extremely interesting. Also his idea of Hitler as a myth leader, how it evolved, and how it was the source of Hitlers power. His description of Gauleiters as being derivatives of Hitler was also very interesting.

An interesting book.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realist history of the Balkans since 1989, May 3, 2010

By 

Rogerio de O. Souza "RogerioRotgarius" (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Balkan Inferno: Betrayal, War and Intervention 1990-2005 (Paperback)

I just read Johnson's "Balkan Inferno" and I am really shocked. Johnson is a jornalist and has lived in the Balkans for long time. He was capable to write a History of the Balkans with speciall attention with the events from 1989 on.
He organized the book in a very interesting way: each chapter is divided in three parts: the first one deals about events happened from 1989 till 2000; the second part show an historical approach from the Middle Ages to the present; and the third part is a chronological narrative of the events from 1989. He writes with deep knowledge of the facts and intends to present us an impartial view, specially about Serbia and her demonization by the world press. Johnson was present in the very eye of the stormy facts that he narrates and can offers a very substantial narrative about them.
The book focuses in each country of the Balkans, including Kosovo.
A very readable book. Everyone thar reads it will enjoy it.
Rogerio de Oliveira Souza
Rio de Janeiro
BRAZIL