Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25017 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

The Economist, October 29, 2005
'Evans's magisterial study should be on our shelves for a long time to come'

Richard Overy. Literary Review, November 2005
'Magisterial ... the sheer speed and scale of this transformation [of German life is] brilliantly brought to life'

Synopsis
"The Third Reich in Power" examines how it was possible for a group of ideological obsessive to remould a society famous for its sophistication and complexity into a one-party state directed at war and race hate. Richard J. Evans shows how the Nazis won over the hearts and minds of German citizens, twisted science, religion and culture, and transformed the economy, education, law and order to achieve total dominance in German politics and society. Drawing on an extraordinary range of research, blending narrative, description and analysis he creates a picture of a dictatorship consumed by visceral hatreds and ambitions and driven by war.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating Insight Into A Dark Time....
Very detailed and extensively researched work.
One chapter in particular I found fascinating - examining the association between the Nazi party and Classical music - obviously Richard Wagner is the most notable name-check here. Absorbing to read which composers were officially endorsed and the ones that were 'black listed' by The Third Reich.

A good read for dark days.

How To Handle A Country
This is a superb book and a fine companion piece to RJ Evans first work in this trio. It is an once utterly engaging and terrifying when one sees the true callous nature of those in power.
It's true genius is the narrative flow and the clarity brought to the governance of a nation once revered for it's poets and thinkers.
I eagerly await the final book, The Third Reich At War.
Evans is brilliant.

Good, no doubt about it
I am an A-level student who just took the exam for the 'Life in Hitler's Germany 1933-1939' module. My teacher is not the best in the world and so when I bought this book I was looking for an authorative, interesting and accessible text. I found it.

Firstly, there is no need to worry if you hadn't read the companion book 'The Comming of the Third Reich' as what you need to know is nicely summed up in a prologue. 'The Third Reich In Power' manages to cover the social aspects of the Third Reich, and along the way gives an idea of the political structure of the Nazi reigme. There is a intensely satisfying attention to detail in Evans' book which clarifies a lot of things which you may not realise you don't know the actual specifics of. The level of analysis is very high, which is both objective and offers the author's personal conclusions. The level of research comes through with the sheer amount of sources/maps included, as well as relevant figures and satistics. This may alienate some more casual readers but I found you can take or skip-over detail acording to need/interest.

What is perhaps most enjoyable about this book is the fact that alongide the conventional important facts are also stimulating sections that I didn't expect, these include looks at the indvidual lives on people under the Third Reich that reveals a lot about the time and even a section looking at the kind of dreams and nightmares the German people had during Nazi rule. These sections are much more relevant than they sound, and it was refreshing and engaging to find them here.

At the begining I called this text accessible, and it is, but remember this is not a revision guide. It will take time to read it becuase it is quite long and, if you are reading it with the view to pass an exam like I was, there will be a huge amount of information that is not strictly relevant to your specification. I did find, however, the comprehensive look this book offered helped me truly understand what I did need to know and I often included interesting points raised by the book in essays. The only criticism that can be made of the book is that perhaps the sections are not given clear enough titles,therefore quick reference is difficult.