The Third Reich in History and Memory

by Richard J. Evans

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"In the seventy years since the demise of the Third Reich, there has been a significant transformation in the ways in which the modern world understands Nazism. In this brilliant and eye-opening collection, Richard J. Evans, the acclaimed author of the Third Reich trilogy, offers a critical commentary on that transformation, exploring how major changes in perspective have informed research and writing on the Third Reich in recent years. Drawing on his most notable writings from the last two show more decades, Evans reveals the shifting perspectives on Nazism's rise to political power, its economic intricacies, and its subterranean extension into postwar Germany. Evans considers how the Third Reich is increasingly viewed in a broader international context, as part of the age of imperialism; discusses the growing emphasis on the larger economic and cultural circumstances of the era; and emphasizes the development of research into Nazi society, particularly in the understanding of Nazi Germany as a political system based on popular approval and consent. Exploring the complex relationship between memory and history, Evans also points out the places where the growing need to confront the misdeeds of Nazism and expose the complicity of those who participated has led to crude and sweeping condemnation, when instead historians should be making careful distinctions. Written with Evans' sharp-eyed insight and characteristically compelling style, these essays offer a summation of the collective cultural memory of Nazism in the present, and suggest the degree to which memory must be subjected to the close scrutiny of history"-- "Since the end of the twentieth century, our understanding of Nazi Germany has been transformed in a variety of ways. In this collected volume, Richard J. Evans offers a critical commentary on that transformation, exploring how major changes in perspective have informed research and writing on the Third Reich in the last two decades.The essays, drawn from Evans' writings over the last two decades, move from the genesis of Nazism, through its rise to political power and its economic and political intricacies, to postwar Germany, considering at each point the suppression, reappropriation, and survival of memory. Evans also explores the 'global turn' in historical studies in recent years, revealing how it has broadened our understanding of the Third Reich in an international context; considers the development of research in the area of Nazi society, particularly in the understanding of Nazi Germany as a political system based on popular approval and consent; and discusses the growing focus on postwar Germany and its subterranean continuities with the Nazi era"-- show less

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3 reviews
This is a collection of in-depth book reviews by the scholar of the Nazi party and its role in history. I read it as a follow-up to his The History of the Third Reich series. I expected something between a bibliography or "further reading" suggestions. Of course each book reviewed goes in depth often more so than Evans' series on such topics as the tragically infatuated Eva Braun, the troubling history of Krupp and other industries, and ex-Nazis surfacing in the regime of Konrad Adenauer. The reviews are very thorough and detailed pointing out positive and negative aspects of the work under consideration, including errors and discoveries. This is full of sign posts for anyone wanting to read on the subject and it stands alone from the show more series. show less

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Author Information

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38+ Works 9,327 Members
Richard J. Evans is Regius Professor of History at Cambridge University. He is the author of a trilogy on the Third Reich and, most recently, The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914. He is currently writing a biography of the historian Eric Hobsbawm.

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Pascuzzo, Philip (Cover designer)

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2015

Classifications

Genres
History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government
DDC/MDS
943.086History & geographyHistory of EuropeCentral Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech, Poland, HungaryHistorical periods of GermanyGermany 1866-Third Reich 1933-1945
LCC
DD256.48 .E93History of Europe, Asia, Africa and OceaniaGermanyHistory of GermanyHistoryBy periodModern, 1519-19th-20th centuriesRevolution and Republic, 1918-Hitler, 1933-1945. National socialismPeriod of World War II, 1939-1945
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218
Popularity
149,161
Reviews
1
Rating
(4.00)
Languages
English, German, Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
14
ASINs
5