The Third Reich at War

De: Richard J. Evans

Narrado por: Sean Pratt

The final volume in Richard J. Evans’s masterly trilogy on the history of Nazi Germany traces the rise and fall of German military might, the mobilization of a “people’s community” to serve a war of conquest, and Hitler’s campaign of racial subjugation and genocide. Already hailed as “a masterpiece” (William Grimes in The New York Times) and “the most comprehensive history… of the Third Reich” (Ian Kershaw), this epic trilogy reaches its terrifying climax in this volume.

Evans interweaves a broad narrative of the war’s progress with viscerally affecting personal testimony from a wide range of people - from generals to front-line soldiers, from Hitler Youth activists to middle-class housewives. The Third Reich at War lays bare the dynamics of a nation more deeply immersed in war than any society before or since.

Fresh insights into the conflict’s great events are here, from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Stalingrad to Hitler’s suicide in the bunker. But just as important is the re-creation of the daily experience of ordinary Germans in wartime, staggering under pressure from Allied bombing and their own government’s mounting demands upon them. At the center of the book is the Nazi extermination of Europe’s Jews, set in the context of Hitler’s genocidal plans for the racial restructuring of Europe.

Blending narrative, description, and analysis, The Third Reich at War creates an engrossing picture - at once sweeping and precise - of a society rushing headlong to self-destruction and taking much of Europe with it. It is the culmination of a historical masterwork that will remain the most authoritative work on Nazi Germany for years to come.

Listen to previous volumes in Richard J. Evans' Third Reich trilogy.©2009 Richard J. Evans (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Masterful….Evans demonstrates a fluent style and a sweeping grasp of the Third Reich’s history and of the enormous historical literature….Evans narrates the Reich’s end in gripping fashion as the Allies closed in on Germany. Evans’s fellow historians as well as a broader public will listen to this work, not quite with pleasure, for there is little joy in this story, but with admiration for the author’s narrative powers.” ( Publisher’s Weekly)

Great history well spoken but...

I cannot understand why a history of this quality would have such affectations both from the writer and the narrator. The author in his preface says he's going to Anglicize certain German words for ease of understanding. Mein Kampf becomes "my struggle" and Der Fuehrer becomes "the leader". These two German terms are so well known that it's hard to listen to their being spoken this way. "The leader" is often confusing. Which leader are we talking about now?

The narrator has done a great job with German and other language terms. But there are glaring mistakes. For example the Reichstag is not pronounced as tag as in license tag but as tahg with a soft g, almost a ch sound. Other such gaffs should have been caught in the editing.

All this makes for a feeling of amateurishness, marring an otherwise superb history.

All three volumes are topical and sequential but not a narrative history with in depth treatments of many important topics like the origins of racial policy and the economics of the Reich. How did Hitler pay for rearmament? It's easy engrossing listening that explains a great deal about how a well educated population could be psychically captured by a lunatic. It's a lesson that will endure.

Outstanding book

With each chapter the book continue to grow with the reality of what really happen to the people of the 2nd WW. Sometimes you find youself feeling so guilty of how lucky we as American, living in the land of the Free, actually live so pieacefully. You can't help but to try and put yourself into that period of time and to realize that we are so blessed to not have been a victim. How one Man one party can rule and control the minds of millions. This book is a must for every young person ( a should read! ) actually, it's a should read for everyone who wasn't there and there minds still don't comprehind what actually took place. After you start reading or listion to this book you can't put it down.

Great Book
KM

Elegant all around

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Beautifully read and beautifully written. You get a good picture of what life was like in Nazi Germany during the war.

A bit rushed at the end

Only because the previous work was so finely detailed. I wish there was a fourth book Germany after the war. Great and expansive read. Well worth my time.

Interesting look at the War

Would you consider the audio edition of The Third Reich at War to be better than the print version?

No idea

Would you be willing to try another book from Richard J. Evans? Why or why not?

Probably not as I was only interested in that exact topic

What does Sean Pratt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

No answer

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

No

Any additional comments?

Competent History of that topic, nothing startling or any new slant.

Fitting Conclusion

A fitting conclusion to Evans’ magisterial trilogy on the Third Reich. Well read, with very few flies in the ointment. Well worth your time.

Excellent

These books bring me into the Germany of Nazi period in a visceral manner.
Superb.

There will be no 4th Reich

Despite how long the book feels, the narrator did a great job of staying neutral vocally but you can hear the pain in the most horrific parts of the war narrative. Excellent work.

Fantastic narrative

Evans' presents a very clear recapitulation of the events of Third Reich in WWII. His excellent prose shows Germany's gradual transition to a total war economy and the perversion of the Nazi's descent into promoting fanaticism in its last days. This Book along with Ian Kershaw's The End present a decent picture of the Third Reich at war.

Thanks Hitler: The Failure of the Nazi State

Thanks Hitler is a quote from a photo of a graffiti scrawl on one of the columns of his destroyed Chancellery. Its message is equivocal. Does it blame Hitler and his hardcore coterie of Nazi true believer gangsters for forcing or beguiling them along the path of death and destruction and incalculable inhumanity? Victims or dupes? The Nazi terror apparatus was certainly very powerful as the author notes but it was never numerically large in relation to a population of 8o million. The Nazi Party ran the State which in turn operated the institutions of government, including the military. The fake Nazi propaganda of the time was disseminated thru radio and large circulation media and ranting Hitler speeches. All controlled by a small % of the population. Why did the overwhelming majority go along with the megalomania of a fake charismatic leader then? Why the acceptance or acquiescence of the majority in being accomplices in mass killings. An answer lies in the numerous diaries and interviews of ordinary people reviewed by the author. A recurring theme is that they just "wanted to make Germany great again" as urged by their leader. And they were willing to follow someone who falsely claimed to have found the way, whatever it took. regardless of outcome. Sad.