The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Anybody with a strong interest in World War, holocaust, Nazi propaganda may consider this as bible of all books ever written about the dangerous Third Reich. Nowhere can one get a concise yet factually accurate book with a proper timeline to boot. The author, who is a world renowned historian and journalist throws light on each and every aspect of Hitler as well as the Third Reich's short life. A must read if you're not repulsed by a fat book. It lives up to the name of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."

Some users/readers may have stated that the volume of the book may be a downside rather it's a definite upside. When you want a thorough account as to why the Third Reich even existed and Hitler and what led people to anti-semitism, the World War and the death of 6 million innocent Jews one cannot expect a book of a few hundred pages. In fact once you get into it you wish there were more.

Also, great service by Flipkart, it was delivered within one business day in a severely robust package. Two thumbs up to Flipkart.

At the outset, this is a big book so it will take some time to realize it paints a xenophobic and rubbish picture of the events during the time of the Third Reich. It is important to note that the author was a journalist, not a historian.

First off, it paints an incomplete, much less informed, picture of the events leading up to the rise of the Third Reich and, eventually, WW2. The whole fact of excessive war reparations imposed by UK and France in the ‘Versailles Treaty’ is simply glossed over. JM Keynes wrote an almost prophetic book (1919) anticipating how these excessive reparations is likely to turn the German people desperate. Secondly, the author hardly makes a mention of internal resistance and attempts to depose Hitler and end the war; citing simply that these Generals had "their own agenda". Worse, there's no mention of how UK, France and the recently consolidated US, practically owned the world economy by colonizing the most important parts of South-East Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and the Americas, and how Germany didn't want to be left behind economically. Or how German attempts to "take its share" of economy and its rapid technological development shook the fatcats of UK/France who were living off of bonded labour in the colonies (E.g: India produced a lot of cheap food for UK even when Indians were starved to death).

No doubt the Nazis portrayed the worst of human tendencies. But, basically this book conveys that all Germans are bad natured and that their culture deserves to be demonised and feared. The author has tried to drive this point home forcefully. This is possibly the one of the worst accounts of (yellow) journalism masquerading as history. Unless you're a 12 year old wanting to read a sensationalist novel, there are (much) better books out there.

I read this book around 10 ago back and then again a few year back. you litereally feel the dynamics of german politics. And get a deep view of economic, political and social understanding of germany.
A warning for the reader... you have to commit yourself to reading the same. It is no browse. A patient and perseverent mindset is necessary to complete this tome of a book.
But highly recommended. Shirer is an author who knows how to write ... and turn an otherwise insipid account of dry history into an interesting and involved read.
Buy it!!
PS: WWII buffs.. dont get it. get a plain WWII book, you wont be able to read it for the sake of war excitement adreanilin. Checkout the number of pages.

This book is a must read for all admirers of history. The period of the second world war was fascinating in many ways and in school we are or were taught just the main aspects of the war. But this book goes into a lot of detail and it is very successful in giving the reader an insight in the mind of HITLER and his cronies. The only drawback of this book is when u reach the stage where the writer describes the scenes of war at various places. If the reader is not aware of his geography of Europe then he needs to sit with a map of that continent near by. But overall i say again an EXCELLENT read. HEIL HITLER or should i say HEIL WILLIAM SHIRER.

I had heard good reviews about this book from people and decided to add it to my collection. Must say its worth every penny spent. An excellent and probably the most detailed account of events leading to and during World War 2. The only downside is that too many facts mean that you need to seriously sit down and focus on the contents to gather the mental picture. Too many names and facts can get confusing at times. But then Im just nitpicking. Its a must-have book for anyone enthusiastic to learn about WW2 and/or Nazi Germany in good, accurate detail. One of the stars in my literary collection!