The twelve years of the Third Reich casts a dark shadow over history. Fierce debates still rage over many of the hows, whys and wherefores of this perplexing period.
Leading expert on German history, Martin Kitchen, provides a concise, accessible and provocative account of Nazi Germany. It takes into account the political, social, economic and cultural ramifications, and sets it within the context of the times, while pointing out those areas that still defy our understanding.
This lively account addresses major issues such as the reasons for Hitler’s extraordinary popularity, his hold over the German people even when all seemed lost, the role of ideology, the cooption of the elites, and the descent into war for race and space, culminating in the horrors of the holocaust.
Abbreviations
Authors Acknowledgements
Publisher's Acknowledgements
List of Maps
- Background
- The origins of National Socialism
- Hitler as chancellor
- Reordering society and the economy
- The churches and education
- The arts and propaganda
- The SA, SS and police
- Foreign policy
- The Shoah
- The war
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Biography
Martin Kitchen is Professor of History at Simon Fraser University, Canada and the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on German and European history including Nazi Germany at War (Longman, 1994), Europe Between the Wars (2nd extended edition, Longman, 2006) and A World in Flames: A Concise History of the Second World War in Europe and Asia (Longman, 1990).
