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Amazon.co.uk Review
Humans have a fascination with evil. We long to identify it, quantify it and understand it. To this end, newspapers frequently splash photographs of murderers with the caption, "The face of evil." Heading most lists of the 20th-century's most evil people would be Adolf Hitler but, as Michael Burleigh's tour de force makes clear, evil is not always as cut and dried as we would like. The Nazis could not have come to power and committed Germany to a policy of war and genocide without the tacit consent of the German people. This makes Germany as a whole responsible for the crimes committed in its name, but it is clearly wrong to label each and every German as evil. Through his painstaking research and direct prose, Burleigh slowly builds up a picture of a people desperate for identity and economic prosperity who, bit by bit, closed off their conscience as the price of their dreams. There was no one cathartic moment when Germany, under the Third Reich, lapsed from goodness into badness; rather there was an incremental realignment of a collective morality. Burleigh's explanation of this phenomenon is so simple and yet so obviously right, that you can only wonder that it hadn't become the generally accepted currency years back. Instead of viewing Nazi Germany in purely social, political and economic terms--though he doesn't ignore these spheres --Burleigh wraps them all into a picture of a country gripped in a religious, messianic fervour and that which had previously felt inexplicable suddenly seems crystal clear. If you want the nitty-gritty details of the Second World War and the genocide, then they are here, as well, if not better, retold than many of the other histories of this period. But it's Burleigh's take on the ordinary people of Germany that makes this book so special. Above all, with similar genocidal wars currently being fought in Kosovo, Rwanda and Iraq, it makes you think, "Would I be able to resist becoming complicit in such regimes?" This is a must for every 20th-century historian.--John Crace
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'This is a monumental book.' Richard Overy, Sunday Telegraph 'If I had to recommend one book on the Third Reich, this would be it.' Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph 'It is a breathtaking achievement, at once broader and deeper than any other single volume ever published on the subject. Indeed I would go further: it is the product of authentic historical genius.' Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times 'Happily, Michael Burleigh now fills that bibliographical gap, with a readable and highly knowledgeable account of that ghastly period. You will never be bored by this extraordinary book.' Andrew Roberts, Mail on Sunday
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A novel approach and fascinating new research.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Third Reich: A New History (Paperback)
Burleigh's history of the Third Reich carefully avoids the blow-by-blow immediacy of other classic histories such as Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". Instead, he concerns himself with the psychological landscape of the Reich; the conceits and lies that led a a nation and a continent to the brink of destruction.Readers who are looking for the whys and wherefores of defeats on the battlefield will not find them here - this is not a simple military history. Readers who are looking for moral insight into why regimes as evil as the Third Reich can develop and thrive will be richly rewarded by a masterful portrait of an evil state. Never has Arendt's "banality of evil" been better illustrated than in this remarkable book. A chilling warning of the horrors that complacency, apathy and uncritical acceptance of our political leaders can bring about. A masterpiece.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling read,
By
This review is from: The Third Reich: A New History (Paperback)
I found this book to be a thoroughly compelling read, a superb exposition of the Third Reich. This is by no means an easy read, in terms of length, subject matter and the author's pretentious use of language. I was left in no doubt of the horrors of the Third Reich, not only with the Holocaust, but of the eugenics and euthanasia programmes too. Along with the harrowing account of the Holocaust, subjects include the decline of the Weimar Republic - hated by both left and right wing groups, its massive unemployment and inflation problems - collaboration in Europe, the token resistance to Hitler within Germany, and an account of Nazism's turning Germany in to a police, totalitarian state. This is presented as a "New History", and in some way it is, for me at any rate. In discussing the Holocaust, I was previously unaware of Romania's participation in exterminating the Jews, and the horrors on the Eastern Front - the atrocities committed by the SS, Einsatzgruppen, along with Ukrainian partisans and the Soviet Union come to mind. Although people tend to focus on the evils of the Third Reich, it is important to remember that Stalin was as much a murderer as Hitler. Sadly, a common thread through all this is anti-semitism, even among victims of Nazi aggression.
The book's greatest asset, which makes it stand out, is the constant use of primary sources - accounts of Holocaust survivors, children who had escaped "euthanasia", Jewish victims of the Kristallnacht or general persecution. True to form for the historian's role as an impartial observer, Burleigh also includes accounts of their oppressors, not only hard-core Nazis but also those who joined the Nazi party, SS or other organisations, and were not necessarily card-carrying Nazis. The reason why this does not get five stars is due to Burleigh's constant use of non-everyday language - I felt this often led to too long sentences, ambiguities in meaning and a sense of "waywardness". I spent half my time, whilst reading the introduction, trying to work out what he was trying to say - complete with a dictionary. The lack of discussion of foreign policy is also a disappointing omission. The Anschluss with Austria and the occupation of the Sudetenland get a brief mention, but I would have liked a chapter on Hitler's foreign policy. After all, foreign policy and the use of force to achieve his aims, was one of Hitler's main preoccupations, so I felt this let the book down a bit. In conclusion, a recommended read.
42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Announces a challenge to the simply historical and political,
By joshwhelan@aol.com (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Third Reich: A New History (Hardcover)
It's most disappointing to read comments from readers, which misrepresent the work under review. Michael Burleighs extraordinary The Third Reich: A New History is the most subtle, sensitive and authoritative book I have yet read on this most difficult subject. Obviously a distillation of years of intense reflection, reading and research it is hard to imagine a future scholarly work that will match the skill with which Burleigh engages the reader so successfully in the moral and ethical dimensions of this terrible story. Driven by a sensibility that pours scorn on simplistic 'political' judgements, Burleigh attempts to confront the difficulty of understanding the Nazi system from a perspective (and style) which means that this brilliant work is not for those that seek easy answers. In this sense, The Third Reich is a work that announces a challenge to the simply historical or political.
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