The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich : A History of Nazi Germany [Mass Market Paperback]

William L. Shirer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1991

Before the Nazies could destroy the files, famed foreign correspondent and historian William L. Shirer sifted through the massive self-documentation of the Third Reich, to create a monumental study that has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind--now in a special 30th anniversary edition.
"One of the most important works of history of our time."
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

William L. Shirer's THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH is a monumental study of the 20th Century's most frightening moments. Now, 53 years after the end of World War II, it may seem incredible that our most valued institutions, and way of life, were threatened by the menace that Hitler and the Third Reich represented. Shirer's description of events and the cast of characters who played such pivotal roles in defining the course Europe was to take is unforgettable.

Benefiting from his many years as a reporter, and thus a personal observer of the rise of Nazi Germany, and availing himself of some of the 485 tons of documents from the German Foreign Office, captured by the First Army, as well as countless other diaries, phone transcriptions, and other written records, meticulously kept at every level by the Germans, Shirer has put together a brutally objective account of how Hitler wrested political control of Germany, and planned and executed his 6 year quest to dominate the world, only at the end, to see Germany go down in flames.

The combination of personal recollection and amassing of historical evidence distinguishes this book as one of the great historical works of any time. For instance, he recounts that, from his apartment in Plosslgasse, in Vienna, he personally witnessed how perhaps half of Vienna's 180,000 Jews bargained their way to freedom in 1938.

Shirer explains that Hitler believed that France and England were too weak to pose much of a threat to his ambitions to subjugate Czechoslovakia, and later Poland. The momentary relief of Russia as a threat to his domination of Europe as a result of the flurry of diplomatic activity that proceeded his invasion of Poland is fascinating. There is no relief, throughout his narrative, of the brutality of Hitler and such a large contingent of Germans who populate this narrative.

Although 1600 pages long, this is such a richly rewarding experience for anyone who wants to come to grips with the mysterious question as to how this menace to civilization ever came into being, much less was sustained for as long as it was. The answer, unfortunately, is that most of Germany, for a whole host of reasons, embraced Nazism and the fanaticism that Hitler engendered.

For another book that deals with this problem, why so much of Germany lent its support to Hitler, I heartily recommend HITLER'S WILLING EXECUTIONER'S, by Daniel Goldhagen, published by Vintage Books. Although filled with perhaps more statistical details then the non-professional historian would need, this book helps to adumbrate the themes in Shirer's great book.

George Davidson, Director of Production, The Ballantine Publishing Group

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 1600 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449219771
• ISBN-13: 978-0449219775
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

249 of 272 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important but flawed, February 24, 2000

By 

John A. Cusey (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich : A History of Nazi Germany (Mass Market Paperback)

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this book. It was the first comprehensive popular history of Nazi Germany to appear in English, and it is probably more responsible than any other single source for shaping the way that Americans think about Nazi Germany, World War II, and the Holocaust. More than that, this is an estimable work of history. Shirer has done an admirable job of combing through the mountains of primary source material that the Nazis left behind and assembling a coherent and comprehensible narrative from it.

Of course, it would be a mistake to view this book as simply or even primarily a work of history. It is intended as an indictment of the evil and barbarity that the Nazis perpetrated in Germany and across Europe for more than twelve years and as an indictment of the men and women in Germany, in France, in Great Britain, and elsewhere who allowed that evil and barbarity to occur. Shirer is not content to point out that Hitler and Himmler and Goering and Frank were monsters; he also is intent on showing how complicit the German Army and the German people were in what happened and how the ignorance, stupidity, and cowardice of the politicians of the West and the Soviet Union actively assisted Hitler's monstosities in coming to pass.

The reader can almost visualize Shirer shaking in outrage when he considers the evil Hitler wrought with the help of the rest of Europe. This outrage is, in many ways, both the book's greatest asset and its greatest shortcoming. While Shirer's indignation makes this a great moral work, it also causes him to be more than a little unfair to some of his subjects and to present the history as being more one-dimensional than it in fact was. Shirer never tells, for example, that one of the principal reasons that Chamberlain and Daladier were willing to appease Hitler was that the Depression had bankrupted both Britain and France. They believed that they could not afford to rearm so that they could stop Hitler militarily, and so they sought to get the best deals they could at the bargaining table. Their policy was, of course, dangerously short-sighted, but it is unfair to both men to suggest that their policy was almost solely the result of cowardice.

Then, too, is the fact that Shirer almost invariably describes Rosenberg as a befuddled dolt, Goering as fat, and Ribbentrop as vacuous. It is readily apparent to the reader that he does so because he feels he must constantly reiterate their lack of praiseworthiness, but it is disconcerting to the reader. I am at a loss to explain what Goering's girth has to do with anything, or what it was about Rosenberg's writing that made him any stupider that most Nazis. While I believe that Ribbentrop deserves almost all of the calumny that can be heaped on him, Shirer never makes a real case for his vacuity.

Finally, it must be said that Shirer appears to run out of steam towards the end of the book. All of World War II is covered in the last 25% of the book, and many important topics, including the Holocaust, get short shrift as a result.

These criticisms should not be taken to mean that I believe that this book is not meritorious or that it should not be read. On the contrary: one would be hard-pressed to find a better, more comprehensible, more accessible one volume book about Nazi Germany. It ought to be the starting point (but not the ending point) for anyone interested in World War II or Nazi Germany.

129 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive account of Nazi Germany, July 22, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich : A History of Nazi Germany (Mass Market Paperback)

William L. Shirer's classic "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is the most complete single volume account of the history of Nazi Germany ever written. Shirer was a journalist, not a historian and the advantages of this show in his very readable prose and his vivid descriptions (for example, often referring to Herman Goering as "the fat Field Marshall"). The book starts with the birth of the Nazi party and how it found a spokesman early on in an ex-serviceman named Adolf Hitler. The narrative continues through until the end of the war, Hitler's suicide and the final few days under Admiral Doenitz. The only warning to the casual reader is that the book's length exceeds 1100 pages and it is crammed to the brim with facts. Also, it should be noted that the book was published over forty years ago and does not include more recent information that has come to light from, for example, the former East German archives. Nevertheless, this is still a classic work of jornalistic history.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential to mankind, August 12, 2001

By 

Patrick Mcgranaghan (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich : A History of Nazi Germany (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is essential to mankind. Along with several other books that cover the holocaust, this book will be read by future generations to remind them of how some of the worst criminals in history came to rule a continent.

Why you should read this book:

Like I mentioned in the title of this review, it is essential to mankind. This is the foremost history of the Third Reich from a perspective inside the Third reich. The perspective of the events is at times cold, but its was written with the greatest attempts at objectivity. The reader is not automatically forced to make moral judgements by the author; Shirer gives the reader the cold facts and the reader can feel the sorrow of Germany and the world at the evil that thrived on the ignorance and naivete of pre-war policy makers. At times it can be dry and long-winded, but for the most part this book was hard to put down (I read the unabridged version in under 2 weeks). The reader will not be disappointed in this book. Shirer painstakingly studied thousands of captured Nazi documents, memorandums, orders and news releases to come up with this detailed history.

What you should expect to see in this book:

This book chronicles the life of Hitler from his ancestors to his final hours in the Berlin Chancellory bunker. The main players throughout the Nazi party are given detailed historys alongside Hitler's. Most importantly this book shows the failures of the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations and the Weimar Republic and shows how an Austrian tramp rose to the Dictator of Europe. Mussolini and Italy's dealings with the Third Reich is also given a lot of attention. The details of the diplomatic dealings with the Allies in Munich and the events that led up to the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 are thoroughly described (I counted approixmately 100 pages on the events that led up to that invasion). The accounts of the holocaust are well detailed, but are not definitive. Shirer describes the holocaust some, but the reader might desire more.

What you should not expect to see in this book:

There are no maps to speak of in this book. I would suggest that you have a few historical maps on WWII when you read this because the action can become fast paced and it might be a little hard to understand without a thorough knowledge of the geography of Europe. This book is not a military history, so don't expect it to go into detail about the weapons or other aspects of the military. I think only about 20 pages talked about Hitler's invasion of Poland, and that was mostly about his dealings with Stalin in carving Poland up. If you are looking for a military history of WWII, I would suggest Chester Wilmot's _The Struggle for Europe_ (which starts during the Battle of Britain), or Liddel Hart's _History of the Second World War_. In addition, this is not a history of the holocaust. Shirer gives an account of it, but it is by no means comprehensive of definitive. Lastly, this book was written before 1960, and a lot of new information, especially from the former Soviet Union has been uncovered which will be able to shed more light on the Eastern front.