World War II was without doubt one of the most horrific and bloody wars in history with 60 million casualties and it was also the most significant events in world history. It was WW II that led to the proliferation of Communism, the Cold War, the invention of the nuclear bomb and many other important events. And at the root of all this was the ambition of one man, an Austrian corporal who dreamt of Aryan supremacy and world domination. The story of the second world war is the story of the most dangerous man who ever lived – Adolf Hitler.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich documents the story of the second world war, right from the birth of Hitler till his death and the end of the war. The author of this epic book is William Shirer, a journalist who spent many years in Germany and who extensively covered the war. This book is without doubt one of the best and most authoritative works on the second war (next only to Sir Winston Churchill’s five book series, which won him the Nobel Prize for literature).
The voluminous tome is divided into five books, each one describing in details the events that shook the world.
Book One – The Rise of Adolf Hitler
This book starts with the story of Hitler’s childhood and early life and his frustrations at Germany’s defeat in World War and it also dwells on an important topic – his morbid hatred for jews. Here was the origin of a mindless hatred which led to the most horrible genocide in the history of the world. The book also describes the birth of the Nazi Party and a failed coup attempt by Hitler, which brought him to public light.
Book Two – Truimph and Consolidation
In this book, the fall of the Weimar republic and the ascension of Hitler, first as Chancellor and then the undisputed Fuehrer of Germany are accounted. The book has an account of life in Nazi Germany and talks of Hitler’s theory of Aryan supremacy and his attempts at social engineering.
Book Three – The Road to War
The aggressive conquests of Hitler which included the rape of Austria and Czechoslovakia is described. The futile attempts of British PM Chamberlain to prevent war and how the appeasement of the European powers only fuelled Hitler’s ambitions is explained. Also highlighted is the story of the other dictator – Stalin. The cunning calculations of Stalin who entered into an alliance with Hitler to swallow Poland gave Hitler the confidence to start the war. Later on, he was to teach Stalin a lesson for trusting him!
Book Four – War
This book starts the brilliant military tactics of Germany which led to the stunning collapse of France and the whole of Europe. In a matter of weeks, Germany became the overlord of Europe. Hitler then turned his attention to Britain and launched the blitzkrieg – a series of aerial bombing on London. But Churchill’s leadership ensured that Britain didn’t collapse. Hitler then committed his biggest blunder – attacking Russia. His initial campaign was so successful that it looked as though Russia would collapse, but then a series of blunders ensured that the Russians fought back – and they fought all the back pushing Hitler back to Germany and took over East Europe, an event which led to the growth of Communism. This book also highlights the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour which led to the American entry to the war.
Book Five – Beginning of the End
Once Hitler was beaten in Russia, the allies launched their fightback with the D-Day landings in Normandy. The book brings out some interesting information about the strategic mistakes committed by Hitler, which allowed the allies to attack on the Western front. The book also describes the failed attempts to assassinate Hitler and the fall of his partner Mussolini. The book ends with Hitler being cornered – from the West by the Churchill and Roosevelt and from the East by Stalin. This book also describes in pitiless details the most horrific event of the war – the final solution, Hitler’s genocide of the Jews. The concentration camps, the horrifying experiments on the Jews and the mass murders (9 million murders) described in this book will shake you up. After reading this you understand why the West panders to Israel – the reason being their guilt as they kept quiet while the massacre took place.
Book Six – The Fall of the Third Reich
The fall of Germany and the mindless decisions by Hitler, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown is well described here. Hitler’s stay in the underground bunker and his marriage with Eva Braun is the focus. Hitler’s suicide finally brought an end to the war. The book ends with the Nuremberg trials and the execution of the Nazi leaders the suicide of Hitler’s right hand man Himmler.
The things I liked about this book:
a) Themasterful writing style of the author – If only all history books were like this, students would never hate history! You never feel this is a historical non-fiction; it is like reading a racy thriller.
b) The behind the scenes details – insights into the minds of the key people is a good feature.
c) This book is almost pictorial – you can visualise everything. The main highlights of the book are the descriptions of the battlefield scenes, the Stauffenberg assassination attempt on Hitler (shown in the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie), the concentration camp scenes – these will leave an imprint in your mind
The things I disliked about this book:
a) The size is too voluminous – the copy I read had 1600 pages with very small font. The book could have broken up into parts.
b) The author’s obvious hatred for Nazism and Hitler sometimes affects the narration, he becomes too biased.
Overall, whether you like history or not, this is a book you have to read to understand the past. For it is in the past, that our future lies. The book is a lesson to future generation on what happens when you appease evil forces – lessons we have unfortunately not learnt – as shown by recent events like 9/11.