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Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer's monumental study of Hitler's German Empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of this century's blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.

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Long.....but Worth It	Customer Rating:
William Shirer provides a detailed book sure to fill the needs of any historian or person that is interested in this period of time. It is reflective and a masterful work. I would recommend it to any person who wants to see Adolf Hitler in depth, and this era in full light.

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

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There are few threads of thought to consider in this book. First there is a prevailing theme throughout the book represented by the German word lebensraum, meaning "more land." For the people of neighboring lands an onslaught of terror was felt. Hitler's original goal was always to conquer Russia and the Slavs as he despised Communism and the Jews that were driving the Russian state of mind as he believed it to be. This belief took root in him as a vagabond in Austria where he felt oppressed by Jewish merchants and businessmen. Secondly and ironically he always looked to the East and waged war with the West, presumably out of some poorly thought out strategy. While he held a vengeance towards France, he was willing to leave England and the West alone. Albeit his actions of bombing London for months on end contradicted even that of his many shallow convictions. Third was a theme that became a consistent irony was one where on the eve of every onslaught upon a neighboring country, leaders held out hope that "it would not happen". One could make an argument in defense of Poland and perhaps even France individually, but collectively the world leaders could not gain consensus on eminent threats or preventive action. They had to wait until the fox was in the hen house. Fourth, I am left aghast at Neville Chamberlain as he sold out the Austrians and the Czechs, but more so, the world leaders who through silence allowed this to happen. After closing the last page in this book I stand even more firmly in my view that this world of `East' or `West' ideologies owes a world of tribute and gratitude to Sir Winston Churchill. Finally, though the book incriminates Hitler, it is also about German people with Hitler as their representative and scapegoat of the servant German mind. They had eleven hundred years of practice through the first and second Reich's, and shallow convictions seemed to loom just below the surface of the German people of this time as well. to view my complete review please reference keword cigarroomofbooks

excellent	Customer Rating:
read this book when it was first published. After all these years it is even more meaningful and incisive.

Sometimes preventive war is a good idea	Customer Rating:
For those who think preventive war is always bad, you should read this book. If there was any argument for preventive war against Hitler, especially before Munich, this is it. Appeasement was useless with Hitler. It only made him stronger and bolder.

One of the most readable histories I've read

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At well over a thousand pages, one might wonder how "readable" such a history could be, but Shirer's work is excellent. I won't repeat much of the acclaim already found here. One stumbling block is that in a very few places the terminology is outdated, and most certainly not politically correct. For example, the homosexual leadership of the SA are described as "perverted" and "deviant", and its hard to say from the book whether they truly were or if this is just a 1950s label for gay. Similarly, the Japanese turned down negotiations with "Ah, so sorry, please". I doubt that's a direct quote. Those two snags aside, the rest of the book holds up exceedingly well, and there are actually very few references that are lost on the modern reader, especially compared to the writings of, for example, Churchill, which are full of references to then-current names and events that have lost their relevance over time. The thesis that the readiness to accept National Socialism was built into German culture and mythology of the day may not be a popular one, nor commonly accepted today, but Shirer provides enough supporting material that one can at least see his point. Be prepared for a lot of detail: D-Day doesn't occur until well past page 1000, for example. One thing I loved however was that the book was not full of throwaway names that appear only once. That's usually an issue for me (names and dates that will be forgotten soon after reading) and this book is largely absent of them. It's also relatively even, in that there are very few places where it drags. With few exceptions, the narrative progresses smoothly and its as much of a "page turner" as non-fiction can be.