I have just finished the final volume of Richard Evans trilogy on the Third Reich, and I have to say it is a tour de force. The first volume (The Coming of the Third Reich) explores the social, political and economic factors that allowed for the rise of of extreme right wing nationalism in Germany and the early days of the Nazi party itself. The second volume (The Third Reich in Power) details the events in Germany after the Nazi party took power and the initial expansion of the Reich in central Europe prior to the outbreak of World War II. This, the final volume, explores the last years of the Reich from 1939 to 1945.

The books are well written, easy to read and clearly aimed at a general audience. In volume three do not expect a military history of WWII. The author concentrates on events in Germany and occupied Europe with a focus on the policies and practices of the Nazis and the thoughts and reactions of ordinary Germans. There is, of course, a lengthy analysis of the "final solution" and the exterminatory policies pursued against Jews, in particular, but also against others that the Nazis deemed to be "unworthy of life". One interesting question, that even today remains a point of discussion, is did the mass of ordinary Germans know what was being done in their name against the Jews and others? The author presents significant evidence that many, perhaps the majority of, Germans must have known what was going on and certainly that the military was often complicit in these actions, especially on the Eastern Front.

The history of the Third Reich may seem to many to be part of the distant past. But it is easy to forget how a determined minority can distort a democratic process and seize power for themselves, how an entire country can be mesmerized by a charimatic and malevolent individual, and how easily the most barbaric events can become commonplace.

As a long time reader of history and the history of the WWII era in particular, I have no hesitation in recommending this work to all readers with an interest in the period.

HIGHLY DISAPOINTED , THE TITLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ''LISTINGS AND DEATHS IN THE CAMPS.'' THEN AFTER ALL THAT WE READ HOW BAD IT TURNED OUT FOR THE GERMANS IN THEIR BOMBED CITIES. I DON'T THINK ANYONE REALLY CARES WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE PEOPLE. I GOT MORE OUT OF '' STALINGRAD'', SOME VERY BUEATIFUL WORDS WRITTEN ABOUT HOW THESE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS COULD GO ON AGAINST HUGH ODDS, READ IT.

I just started the book last night and had to put it down. The writing is just too amateurish; that is, it has no style, thus boring/tedious. Furthermore, the author seems to prefer using only simple sentences, thus it is choppy and lacks rhythm. Too bad; I expected more from such a "thick" book on such an important topic. So much for all the REVIEWS!

This is the 3rd of a trilogy which examines, essentially, the rise and fall of the Third Reich. I suggest reading all three in order. This third volume is simply astounding in it's depth, breadth, and detail. At times it's difficult to read as atrocity after atrocity is described in somewhat clinical detail. But the context of the atrocities is discussed at length gaining the reader a fuller understanding of how the Nazi's became as fully despicable as they did.

It is well worth reading all three books. But the third is the best. Chilling, realistic, historically accurate, dispassionate though gripping.

Three thick volumes is the new minimum for a survey of Nazi Germany geared toward the general reader. The final installment of this series seamlessly continues the story to its conclusion, which is welcome indeed. Being steeped in Nazi history for the duration of three long books is a fatiguing exercise in misery; one can only imagine what it must have been like to actually live (or die) amongst the carnage of such a hideous moral vacuum. "The Third Reich at War" does a spectacular job answering the basic questions of how and why the Nazi regime (and greater Germany itself) was able to indulge in genocide, unprecedented levels of military violence, and all other manner of horrors. Highly specific geopolitical considerations and deep analysis of military tactics are largely glossed over in favor of a wider (and more inclusive) cultural perspective; this is principally an effort to illuminate the forest without entirely dispensing with the trees.

The pace and style throughout is consistent, smoothly erudite, and unflaggingly interesting. It is especially helpful to have previous histories and perspectives reevaluated and subtly adjusted (or refuted) by diligent and meticulous data mining. The overall effect is one of volatile history settling - at long last - into a semblance of substantiated truth.

My favorite of the three books. Very readable, thoroughly and broadly researched but kept within the focus of the Third Reich. This is not a history of the Second World War. Fascinating telling of the climax to an unbelievably horrible movement in world history.

The last of Evans Trilogy. For those who have an interest in the Holocaust, this is one of the defining books in the subject. Outstanding scholorship

If you read one book about the Third Reich it should be this one. The author, Richard Evans gives this subject a new look. Naturally this book is a history book about the Third Reich. The new look is that the story is told from the German side, but what I would call a cultural look.

So many past books just hit the political points or a summary of the battles. Those things are so important but it turns the past events into a meaningless array of names, facts, places and things like that. People loose a proper perspective of what the event was. You forget the event touched millions in a wide variety of ways.

This book does just that. You learn about the events from a German point of view. You get not only the event but how it touch the average person on the street. Through that you learn more about the event.

An example of this comes out in many different ways. The old subjects will take new meaning. For example you learn that the actions against the Jews gradually escalated over time. It wasn't until 42 the killing became wholesale. The book reminds the reader that the "Final Solution" killed more than just Jews. Christians, Gypsies, Slavs, and other groups were also a victim of the camps. The author does a good job of telling the story of average life in Germany during the bombings. Those are just a few new twists to the story of the Third Reich.

This book is enriching for whom ever reads it. You will not view WWII the same after reading this book.

I have just completed all three volumes in Richard Evans' series. All are excellent - well researched, well written, and compelling reading. This is all the more impressive when one considers how gruesome is the content of much of the books - the cruelty, the hatred, the nastiness of the time. However, reading this history is important to understand the depths to which an entire society can sink. Finally, it is also somewhat scary to look at the almost eerie parallels or near parallels with some aspects of modern society.

Many of the other reviewers have already offered far more in-depth reviews than this, I shan't reapeat this here. I shall simply sum up: excellent reading.

This excellent sequel to Evan's two other books on the subject, (The Coming of the Third Reich, and The Third Reich in Power), is rich and compelling. Evan's has a masterful command of the data, bringing both quantitative history and anecdotal accounts together into a complex and emanently readable account of one of history's most tragic and diabolical episodes. A must-read for anyone interested in this area of military and social history.

Most histories of WWII in Europe concentrate on two things: the battles themselves, and the holocaust. Evans, while not by any means ignoring or belittling the importance of these events, gives a more universal picture: he tells us about the daily horror that was the Nazi occupation of other countries even apart from the persecution of the Jews, and tells us much about the economic and logistical issues of the war.

Evans shows conclusively how, despite a few lucky triumphs, Germany was -- at least from the time the invasion of England was canceled -- strategically defeated, being in a war with the British empire, to say nothing of the USA's help; this is even before the attack on the USSR. Germany taking on the world's three largest powers, each of which could out-produce it, was insane.

What's more, Evans shows -- giving many details -- the incredible corruption and inefficiency of the Third Reich, in both production and occupation. (The "Ostministerium", Rosenberg's "ministry of the east", became known as the "chaostministerium", for example.) In a case of poetic justice, the Nazis' hare-brained racial politics caused such enormous damage, not just to the people in the conquered countries, but to the German war effort, that defeat was even more certain more or less since 1940 than otherwise would have been the case.

While these issues in general are not new, Evans does a very good job in giving numerous details and evidence for his thesis, much of it previously not known to most readers, and in giving these issues their proper importance. One cannot finish reading Evan's book and still believe the romantic picture of "German efficiency" or the German (or Hitler's) "military genius", an impression that has much more to do with their general staff's fancy-looking uniform and post-war enshrinement of the Nazis as supermen (if evil ones) by Hollywood than with any relationship to reality.

I consider World War II to be behind only the American Civil War in my area of historic interest, and yet, I learned new things from this book.

Among them, Evans debunks the simplistic myth that Germany was not on a "total war" footing until after Stalingrad.

Evans, without going overboard into stereotyping, also documents well how average German civilians knew about what was being done to Jews, and were, in the majority, indifferent even to the extermination camps, with fair-sized minority support. At the same time, a minority within Germany knew the actions were wrong and, as the war turned bad, even saw that as divine judgment against their country.

Also, although it took a bit to get used to it, the Anglicization of things like "Fuehrer" as "Leader" kind of made some things come to light; however, I've never seen it done for Wagner titles.

Evans also does a good job of detailing just where top brass stood on their relations to Hitler, the Party, etc., as the war unfolded, and the degree to which they accepted, even supported in some cases, atrocities against Jews in occupied areas or against Russians on the Eastern Front.

Overall, this is probably a border 4/5 star, but, its depth and the fact that it's drawing the attention of Holocaust deniers definitely bump it over the top.


Note that no serious review of this book gives it less than three stars; complaints are either about the Kindle edition (Amazon, either fix Kindle releases or at least provide a way for Kindle quality to be reviewed separately from an actual book) or else are from Holocaust denier types.

Only once in a great while does an exhaustive and comprehensive history narrative succeed in every goal set out by the author. The Third Reich at War is most certainly that book. The historiographical focus is to tell the story of the Third Reich's war years not merely from the perspectives of the soldiers fighting or of the inexplicable march towards the Holocaust but to tell the social, diplomatic and economic stories as well as demonstrate how they were completely intertwined. As such, Evans demonstrates masterfully that to tell the stories individually, as has been the case in so many prior efforts, results only in their diminution individually.

For the most part the book is laid out chronologically although there is some understandable overlap in the stories of military vs. diplomatic vs. racial policy, etc. This is done so almost completely incongruously so that the flow of the narrative is never harmed. This is probably Evans greatest feat outside of his contribution to the scholarship; for a 700+ page book, it reads like a bestselling novel at times and is NEVER a chore to wade through.

As far as the abovementioned scholarship, it is absolutely top notch with analysis of previous work, as well as many original sources. This, in fact is also accomplished without damaging readability in the slightest. One example is his work on the role of Romania in the radicalization of Jewish persecution leading up to the mass murder as policy. Evans emphasizes the extent of Romanian involvement in this radicalization and points out that outside of Germany, they had the dubious distinction of coming in second in the number Jews murdered during the war. Another example is his synthesis of the sources extant regarding the so-called Rosenstrasse demonstrations against the deportation of mixed-marriage Jews from Berlin in early 1943. Although minor, these examples point to Dr. Evans phenomenal scholarship. Indeed they do him credit for the fact that he is willing to do the research on such a minor portion of the narrative.

The military and racial policy sections of the story in this massive book are equally impressive. Working from original sources, as well as secondary ones from giants such as Col David Glantz, Evans effortlessly tells the story of the early successes and massive errors throughout in a fascinating manner. With clear vision he convincingly describes these two as inseparable and provides ample evidence to back up his claims. Most important for those particularly interested in the history of the holocaust, Evans argues that the question of when the decision by Hitler to actually begin institutional extermination of the Jews, which has consumed the pages of so many historians, such as Browning and Friedlander, is irrelevant. The decision was a fait accompli by the time the Wannsee conference occurred due to the constant nudges of action in a more and more radical direction. This is a central point and effectively argued by Evans.
In short, The Third Reich at War is a phenomenal book and furthermore, one with virtually no weaknesses in either readability or scholarship. BUY THIS BOOK... especially in the trade paperback version as you can do so under $20! You won't regret it as this book is destined to take up a prime spot in just about every bookshelf.