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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
by William L. Shirer
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The next book is probably the most famous of the ones I’ve chosen. It’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. It’s just a very good history of the Third Reich. It’s helped me a lot to understand what the Nazis did in day-to-day life in Germany, and the German public’s opinion of the war. It also gives you really, really in-depth knowledge of the war as it’s happening. I think that’s why it’s so famous. I wouldn’t rank it as highly as the other two books because it doesn’t have the same storytelling potential. But I still find it incredibly interesting on day-to-day events, from an American guy in the middle of the German Reich. Yes. He was kicked out eventually. But I think he was there from 1933 to 1941, basically on the inside. What makes the book really good is that it’s also about the buildup of Germany before World War Two. That’s helped me in my history course as well. It shows how the Nazis controlled Germany. That’s also really interesting, explaining the formation of the Nazi Party, and how it came to be. The stories of Hitler, Himmler, Göring: how those Nazi high commanders basically came from relatively normal lives—Himmler was a chicken farmer—and turned into this party that caused so much destruction.
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"The next book is probably the most famous of the ones I’ve chosen. It’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. It’s just a very good history of the Third Reich. It’s helped me a lot to understand what the Nazis did in day-to-day life in Germany, and the German public’s opinion of the war. It also gives you really, really in-depth knowledge of the war as it’s happening. I think that’s why it’s so famous. I wouldn’t rank it as highly as the other two books because it doesn’t have the same storytelling potential. But I still find it incredibly interesting on day-to-day events, from an American guy in the middle of the German Reich. Yes. He was kicked out eventually. But I think he was there from 1933 to 1941, basically on the inside. What makes the book really good is that it’s also about the buildup of Germany before World War Two. That’s helped me in my history course as well. It shows how the Nazis controlled Germany. That’s also really interesting, explaining the formation of the Nazi Party, and how it came to be. The stories of Hitler, Himmler, Göring: how those Nazi high commanders basically came from relatively normal lives—Himmler was a chicken farmer—and turned into this party that caused so much destruction."
"“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” by William Shirer. All 1,100 pages, and I wish there were more. Just finished it. I should’ve read it years ago."
"It had been weighing down a shelf for years, but I was in a gloomy mood about our politics and thought it might help me understand the historical parallels. Shirer was on the ground as Nazi power reached its heights... It is an unsettling, shocking book, but a thrilling piece of reporting."
"Reading William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich when I was about 15 put ideas in my head."