The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

As a reporter for CBS, William Shirer lived and worked in Germany during much of the Nazi movement. Until he left in 1940, he saw firsthand Hitler's rise to power, the consolidation of that power, and the use of that power. As a fallible human being, his prejudices may show through at times, but this is not necessarily a weakness. In today's climate of political correctness, works by historical revisionists -- that purport to show that Hitler and the Nazis weren't so bad -- are not only published, but they're even taken seriously. Perhaps our modern view of Hitler has been distorted by allied propaganda and Hitler and Goerring were fun loving and lovable guys, they say. At the extreme, some revisionists even claim that the Auschwitz death camp didn't even have gas chambers - they were added later as a tourist attraction! Yeah right.

In that sense, Shirer's book, published in 1959 is refreshing. He doesn't hold back one bit with his opinions.

Hence, Quisling is "pig-eyed", Rohm is a "pervert", Goebles is "dwarfish", Goering is "corpulent", Ribbentrop is "vain as a peacock", Brauchitsch is "unintelligent", Eva Braun has the "brain of a bird", and so forth. Such epithets may offend the sensibilities of some modern day readers, but they certainly spice up the telling of what could otherwise be a boring tale. (If you don't know who these people are, buy the book. Believe me, if you read it all the way through, you will become a formidable expert in Nazi trivia).

Because "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" was finished a mere 14 years after the fall of Nazi Germany, some facts that have come to light after its publication are necessarily missing. The premier example of this would be the breaking of the secret Nazi military codes by the British. But writing this book in 1959 also had its advantages. Many of the participants were still alive when William Shirer was doing his research. Hence, when encountering a slight inconsistency in General Franz Halder's war diary [The Chief of Staff of the High Command (the OKH)], William Shirer wrote to the old General and received "a prompt and courteous reply."

Perhaps Shirer's most vivid firsthand account of all is the several page description of the French surrender in the rail car at the forest at Compiegne:

"I look for the expression in Hitler's face. I am but fifty yards from him and see him though my glasses as though he were directly in front of me... He glances slowly around the clearing, and now, as his eyes meet ours, you grasp the depth of his hatred."

Amazing stuff.

But these personal accounts only take up a very small portion of this absolutely fantastic book. Particularly well covered was Hitler's rise to power -- a story that is not often told. The Hitler that Shirer paints during these early years is a very astute political observer who shrewdly plays the German people like a violin. He promises the people what they want, plays on their fears, and is extremely ruthless to anyone who dares to oppose him.

In later years, Shirer's Hitler's political savvy falls apart. At one point Shirer calls his inner circle a "lunatic asylum". Except for very occasional bursts of brilliance, Hitler has no idea what the heck he is doing politically much less militarily and yet his fanatical followers still go along with him. Hitler's megalomania goes on overdrive until, like a Viking in a Wagner opera his body is burned in a last stand against the Russian army just blocks away from his bunker.

While making my way through "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", I can't tell you how many times I would read about a pivotal event and wonder "WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING THROUGH THESE GUYS MINDS?" I always knew the Nazi's were nuts as well as scary. This book provided all of the details I needed.


The definitive account of Nazi Germany   July 22, 2000
Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA)
116 out of 133 found this review helpful

William L. Shirer's classic "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is the most complete single volume account of the history of Nazi Germany ever written. Shirer was a journalist, not a historian and the advantages of this show in his very readable prose and his vivid descriptions (for example, often referring to Herman Goering as "the fat Field Marshall"). The book starts with the birth of the Nazi party and how it found a spokesman early on in an ex-serviceman named Adolf Hitler. The narrative continues through until the end of the war, Hitler's suicide and the final few days under Admiral Doenitz. The only warning to the casual reader is that the book's length exceeds 1100 pages and it is crammed to the brim with facts. Also, it should be noted that the book was published over forty years ago and does not include more recent information that has come to light from, for example, the former East German archives. Nevertheless, this is still a classic work of jornalistic history.


The Best Single Overview Of The Nazi Regime!   May 21, 2002
Barron Laycock (Temple, New Hampshire United States)
85 out of 98 found this review helpful

I grew up near Lenox, Massachusetts, where author William Shirer spent his last twenty years, and we often drove by the old Victorian where he lived, set back from the road as it was, with a large, lovely lawn hiding the rather reclusive author from public view. I picked up this book again to reread it once more, for I find that it is a wonderful treasure trove of personal observations and actual eye-witness history, written on the run by a man married to a German woman and living in the shadow of the nazis as they climbed into power.

William Shirer's comprehensive treatment of the curious rise and horrific fall of the Nazis in post-Weimar Germany is the benchmark volume to measure all other treatments of the era by. There are so many monographs on Nazi Germany that one reels before the list looming in a relevant bibliography. Save yourself the trouble; this book gives one exactly the kind of complete immersion in and coverage of the realities of the era that too many of the other books lack. Shirer, an American journalist stationed in Berlin as a newspaper (and later radio) correspondant during the rise of the National Socialists, was there, on the ground and at the scene witnessing many of the events he describes in such detail.

He has, of course, written extensively on these experiences, both herein and elsewhere in books like 'The Nightmare Years' and 'Berlin Diary'. But this book has to be considered his masterpiece, and is worth the time, trouble and price for this hefty best-selling volume. After all, it has never been out of print in the forty years since its original publication in the early 1960s. I promise that if you read this, you'll never think of World War Two in the same way. It is indeed a long and difficult read, but one that is well worth the effort. Enjoy!


If You Read Just One Book About Nazi Germany....   April 15, 2000
Barron Laycock (Temple, New Hampshire United States)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

This should be the one. William Shirer's comprehensive treatment of the curious rise and horrific fall of the Nazis in post-Weimar Germany is the benchmark volume to measure all other treatments of the era by. There are so many monographs on Nazi Germany that one reels before the list looming in a relevant bibliography. Save yourself the trouble; this book gives one exactly the kind of complete immersion in and coverage of the realities of the era that too many of the other books lack. Shirer, an American journalist stationed in Berlin as a newspaper (and later radio) correspondant during the rise of the National Socialists, was there, on the ground and at the scene witnessing many of the events he describes in such detail. He has, of course, written extensively on these experiences, both herein and elsewhere in books like 'The Nightmare Years' and 'Berlin Diary'. But this book has to be considered his masterpiece, and is worth the time, trouble and price for this hefty best-selling volume. After all, it has never been out of print in the forty years since its original publication in the early 1960s. I promise that if you read this, you'll never think of World War Two in the same way...


Essential to mankind   August 13, 2001
Patrick Mcgranaghan (Midwest, USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

This book is essential to mankind. Along with several other books that cover the holocaust, this book will be read by future generations to remind them of how some of the worst criminals in history came to rule a continent.

Why you should read this book:

Like I mentioned in the title of this review, it is essential to mankind. This is the foremost history of the Third Reich from a perspective inside the Third reich. The perspective of the events is at times cold, but its was written with the greatest attempts at objectivity. The reader is not automatically forced to make moral judgements by the author; Shirer gives the reader the cold facts and the reader can feel the sorrow of Germany and the world at the evil that thrived on the ignorance and naivete of pre-war policy makers. At times it can be dry and long-winded, but for the most part this book was hard to put down (I read the unabridged version in under 2 weeks). The reader will not be disappointed in this book. Shirer painstakingly studied thousands of captured Nazi documents, memorandums, orders and news releases to come up with this detailed history.

What you should expect to see in this book:

This book chronicles the life of Hitler from his ancestors to his final hours in the Berlin Chancellory bunker. The main players throughout the Nazi party are given detailed historys alongside Hitler's. Most importantly this book shows the failures of the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations and the Weimar Republic and shows how an Austrian tramp rose to the Dictator of Europe. Mussolini and Italy's dealings with the Third Reich is also given a lot of attention. The details of the diplomatic dealings with the Allies in Munich and the events that led up to the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 are thoroughly described (I counted approixmately 100 pages on the events that led up to that invasion). The accounts of the holocaust are well detailed, but are not definitive. Shirer describes the holocaust some, but the reader might desire more.

What you should not expect to see in this book:

There are no maps to speak of in this book. I would suggest that you have a few historical maps on WWII when you read this because the action can become fast paced and it might be a little hard to understand without a thorough knowledge of the geography of Europe. This book is not a military history, so don't expect it to go into detail about the weapons or other aspects of the military. I think only about 20 pages talked about Hitler's invasion of Poland, and that was mostly about his dealings with Stalin in carving Poland up. If you are looking for a military history of WWII, I would suggest Chester Wilmot's _The Struggle for Europe_ (which starts during the Battle of Britain), or Liddel Hart's _History of the Second World War_. In addition, this is not a history of the holocaust. Shirer gives an account of it, but it is by no means comprehensive of definitive. Lastly, this book was written before 1960, and a lot of new information, especially from the former Soviet Union has been uncovered which will be able to shed more light on the Eastern front.