The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

A History of Nazi Germany

By: William L. Shirer

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the twentieth century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.

Now, years after the end of World War II, it may seem incredible that our most valued institutions, and way of life, were threatened by the menace that Hitler and the Third Reich represented. Shirer’s description of events and the cast of characters who played such pivotal roles in defining the course Europe was to take is unforgettable.

Benefiting from his many years as a reporter, and thus a personal observer of the rise of Nazi Germany, and availing himself of some of the 485 tons of documents from the German Foreign Office, as well as countless other diaries, phone transcriptions, and other written records meticulously kept at every level by the Germans, Shirer has put together a brutally objective account of how Hitler wrested political control of Germany, and planned and executed his six-year quest to dominate the world, only to see Germany go down in flames.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a vast, richly rewarding experience for anyone who wants to come to grips with the mysterious question of how this menace to civilization ever came into being, much less was sustained for as long as it was. The answer, unfortunately, is that most of Germany, for a whole host of reasons, embraced Nazism and the fanaticism that Hitler engendered.

©1990 William L. Shirer (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“One of the most important works of history of our time.” ( The New York Times)

”A splendid work of scholarship, objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

excellent work.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to be better than the print version?

read the book 30 years ago. now that I'm almost 80 I enjoyed listening to it as i fell asleep.

What other book might you compare The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to and why?

roman empire. napolean and france.

What didn’t you like about Grover Gardner’s performance?

he is a great narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the absolute brutality of the Nazis towards Jews and slavs. The depravity of the top echelon of the leadership of Hitlers henchmen. The lack of remorse by the instigators and implementers of the final sollution. The idea that modern day Germans lectured us on our conduct in the Vietnam war--given their collective history. On a trainride from Dresden to Praque some years ago, 3 teenage German girls berated Ronald Reagon to my family and I as a threat to world peace and the US as an evil empire--seemingly they never heard of Hitler, the Austrian Anschluss, the rape of Checkoslavakia, the attack of Poland, the murder of the jews and slavs etc. Evidently the vaunted German Hoch Schules, Gymnasiums etc leave out the history of Germany from 1937 to 1945.

A masterpiece

Every adult on the planet would benefit from listening to this book. It is revealing and enlightening though chilling how relatively quickly nations can lose their hard won freedom when they allow criminals and lunatics to take control of their governments. It’s a lesson for the ages!

Trumpers

I hope everybody who supports Donald Trump would read this book and notice the similarities between Donald Trump and the main character of this book

It stays a powerful story

I’m amazed that for a few decades humanity went crazy. First of all no lessons learned from WW1 and then a few years later the brutal change by cultures to facism communism and brutal political dedication to savagery. But then, this could be applied to any year on earth when humanity joined.

long but well done

This really sheds light on how the Despicable that man really was. We would certainly have been better off without him

Worth every second

The story and the story teller are nothing short of phenomenal. Please read this book

Excellent Contemporary Commentary.

Mr. Shirer’s well researched tome on the rise and fall of the Third Reich is made all the more captivating because he actually lived in Germany as Hitler rose to power. He witnessed and reported on Hitler’s accomplishments and betrayals as they occurred.

His research after the war is equally impressive in fleshing out what he had witnessed as this monumental tragedy unfolded on the world stage.

Mr. Gardner’s narration compliments this book in that his tone and inflections kept me on the edge of my seat. I had always meant in my youth to read this book I’m finally glad I was able to learn its contents from beginning to end.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how a civilized nation such as Germany could be led to ruin as it was so long ago.

Must listen

Great book for any history fan. I wish it had been a must read while in high school as it was enlightening. Glad I listened to it now.

57 hours went really quick. Even though I knew how it ends I still was gripped to hear what was going to happen next.

One of the most interesting books I've ever read

Having studied at a German University in my youth, resided in a Northern European country in my early adulthood and be living in the United States in 2017, there was no better book that I could have just finished reading.

Sad but brilliant

A brilliant fact based retelling of a sad time in human history. Necessary reading and listening material.