Book Summary and Reviews of The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans

The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans

The Third Reich at War

by Richard J. Evans

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  • Mar 2009, 800 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The final volume in Richard J. Evans's masterly trilogy on the history of Nazi Germany traces the rise and fall of German military might, the mobilization of a "people's community" to serve a war of conquest, and Hitler’s campaign of racial subjugation and genocide.

Already hailed as "a masterpiece" (William Grimes in The New York Times) and “the most comprehensive history… of the Third Reich” (Ian Kershaw), this epic trilogy reaches its terrifying climax in this volume.

Evans interweaves a broad narrative of the war's progress with viscerally affecting personal testimony from a wide range of people—from generals to front-line soldiers, from Hitler Youth activists to middle-class housewives. The Third Reich at War lays bare the dynamics of a nation more deeply immersed in war than any society before or since. Fresh insights into the conflict’s great events are here, from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Stalingrad to Hitler’s suicide in the bunker. But just as important is the re-creation of the daily experience of ordinary Germans in wartime, staggering under pressure from Allied bombing and their own government’s mounting demands upon them. At the center of the book is the Nazi extermination of Europe’s Jews, set in the context of Hitler’s genocidal plans for the racial restructuring of Europe.

Blending narrative, description and analysis, The Third Reich at War creates an engrossing picture—at once sweeping and precise—of a society rushing headlong to self-destruction and taking much of Europe with it. It is the culmination of a historical masterwork that will remain the most authoritative work on Nazi Germany for years to come.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. It is the culmination of a historical masterwork that will remain the most authoritative work on Nazi Germany foryears to come." - Publishers Weekly.

"Perhaps the best of an impressive series." - Library Journal.

"Starred Review. A resounding victory in historiography." - Kirkus Reviews.

This information about The Third Reich at War was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Richard J. Evans

Richard J. Evans is professor of modern history at Cambridge University. His previous books include In Defense of History, Lying About Hitler, and the companions to this title, The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power.

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