The Third Reich in Power (2005)

A grand, extensively researched history of the nazi reign up to its megalomaniacal prompting of war in September 1939. From Hitler's ascension to power in 1933, rearmament and war were the goals, damned be anyone who frustrated them. The cult of personality is a menace we should always be suspicious of. ( )

This second book covers 1934 to 1939 before the outbreak of war. Again the focus is events happening inside Germany. Foreign policy is ignored until the last section of the book. The same topics are covered with new material appearing in the first and last sections. For reasons I don't agree with, the author uses a thematic approach, as opposed to a chronolical one. This approach makes the book weak, especially if you've read the first book. Information was repeated too much for my taste, and the book lost momentum in the two back-to-back sections (eight chapters) on economics. This wouldn't happened with an chronoligal approach.

For those who are interested in the pre-war years, I recommend sticking with the first book. There is not much additional information here, and the rewards are too small considering the 712 page time investement. People who would really benefit from this book, are those who didn't read the first one, and those who have never read a history on Germany. Those who are familiar with this period may get a tad bored. Proceed with caution.

Table of Sections

The Police State [Good Review]
This section concentrates on state control. Night of the Long Knives, SS and Crushing the Remaining Enemies, Court System Injustice, Concentration Camps & the Gestapo

The Mobilization of the Spirit [Repeated From First Book]
This section concentrates on propaganda and repression. The propaganda movie Triumph of the Will, Movies, Radio, Education, Print Media, Arts, Classical Music.

Converting the Soul [OK]
This section concentrates on religion. Nazi and the Protestants, Nazi's and the Catholics, Nazi's and the Pagans, Nazi's Take Over Schools and Youth Program, Attack on the Universities.

Prosperity and Plunder [Started to Get Bored]
This section concentrates on economics. Autobahn, Volkswagen, Economic Programs & Reducing Unemployment, Preparing for War, Aryanization of Jewish Businesses.

Building the People's Community [Fell Asleep]
This section concentrates on social classes and economics. Farming, Treatment of the Aristocracy, Artisans and Shopkeepers, Labour Front Corruption, Strength Through Joy Organization, Class Antagonism, Worker Conditions, The Unemployed and Destitue, Winter Aid for the Poor, Cutting Welfare Payments.

Towards the Racial Utopia [Interesting But Nothing New]
This section concentrates on racial discrimination. Sterilization, Abortions, Gypsies, Black Germans, Woman Made into Baby Makers, Nuremberg Laws, Antisemitism, Night of Broken Glass, Forcing the Jews to Leave Germany, East-Central Europe Persecution Against the Jews.

The Road to War [Good Review]
This section concentrates on foreign policy and rearmament. Austro-German Relations, Hitler-Mussolini Relations, Remilitarization of the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia Annexed, Soviet-German Pact, Poland Invasion, Britain Declares War on Germany. ( )

Part 2 of the trilogy. Describes the social programs and diplomatic maneuvers that happened once Hitler took power. ( )

This is the second volume (published in 2005) of Evans' trilogy. I read the first volume, The Coming of the Third Reich, on 9 Oct 2009. This volume extends from tthe summer of 1933 to Sep 3, 1939, and traces how the Nazis took over Germany, body and soul, during that time. It is not pleasant nor easy reading, at least until the final chapters when the way Hitler drove to war is set out , which reading while not pleasant expounds the way Hitler sought to have war, even though his brain-washed people still did not want such, in contrast to the giddy German joy in July 1914. ( )

While I've seen this book described as a work of 'popular history', the detail to be found within its pages doesn't correlate with the threadbare, simplified image that the term 'popular history' conjures up for me.

Evans provides innumerable statistics on all facets of German social and cultural life to satisfy any scholar, while also managing to provide a readable narrative that never gets too bogged down in the figures.

Unlike some historians, he isn't interesting in taking on the role of moral arbiter; he has enough respect for the reader to let him make his own mind up about the material. Of course, he doesn't fail to mention the contradictions and irrationalities that defined the Nazi ideology and subsequent actions, but it's very hard not to!

There's a lot more to say about the book, but you'll learn a lot more from reading it than you ever could from a review. The only thing that needs to be said is that the three volumes are an ideal introduction to the complex and ever-changing climate that defined the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, and should be required reading for any student who is new to this period in Germany's history.