The Coming of the Third Reich

By: Richard J. Evans

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans’s history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as it shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian’s art and the book by which all others on the subject will be judged.

©2005 Richard J. Evans (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"[A]n impressive achievement.... [Evans'] opus will be one of the major historical works of our time." ( The Atlantic)

Relevant today

It's dry stuff. If you really want to remember all the pieces at play it would be good to take notes.

Like History class, fascinating

Interesting and engrossing. Like looking through an in-depth book without the eye strain, and seeing how an evil empire evolved.

Great subject; poor narration

What did you love best about The Coming of the Third Reich?

The facts described.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Non-fiction - no characters.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Pratt’s performances?

Maybe, but his narration is poor

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Good subject and very informative. However, threads of the story are too short and mixed with other threads. Narration is just too bland.

An excellent broad overview of things everyone should learn about

Nothing incredibly ground breaking but even as a student of mid-1900s history through many studies, this book drew connections I wouldn’t have thought to connect.

The performance started a tad dry but as the history increased in urgency so too did the tone. Altogether well done and worth a listen

Outstanding Analysis of the Rise to Power

This is an outstanding analysis of the rise of the Third Reich. Thoroughly researched and presented in a manner that endows the reader with 20/20 hindsight while providing a bird's eye view of the events and circumstances that led to the downfall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Third Reich. For anyone seeking to understand how the Nazi's could have come to power, this is the book to read. I am looking forward to the next two books in "The History of the Third Reich" series: "The Third Reich in Power" and "The Third Reich at War".

The accuracy

Very informative very moving very understanding of what happened during the years prior to the Nazis getting into power.

Great book, annoying narrator

This is a thorough and well-organized history of late Weimar Republic Germany. There are many disturbing similarities to 2010 America.

My only gripe would be the narrator, who often pauses mid-sentence (not at a comma) and reminds one of a high school student. He mispronounces even some common words. To top it off, he narrates with a sarcastic tone which makes his mediocre reading ability even more annoying. BTW, you won't notice these things in your "sample listening." It will take you about an hour of listening for him to really begin getting on your nerves.

Great book, lousy narration

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Pratt???s performances?

Absolutely not. He's the worst narrator I've ever heard, in his own unique category. His voice is pleasant and intelligent enough. His German pronunciations are mediocre (for every word that he pronounces perfectly, there's another that he totally mangles). But he's defined his turf by inventing a new way to make spoken sentence structure unclear, ambiguous, and utterly confusing: any time he seemingly (this is the only explanation I can think of) comes to a word at the end of a line that *conceivably* *could* be the end of a sentence, he assumes that it *is* the end of *the current* sentence, even if it makes absolutely no sense in the context of that sentence--and regardless of whether it has *any* punctuation after it. No punctuation = end of sentence. Comma = end of sentence. After an end-of-sentence pause with appropriate inflection, etc., he then continues on with the rest of the sentence (the part that's obviously on the next line) as if it were a sentence on its own, even though it makes absolutely no sense.

This alone makes the book almost totally unlistenable.

Unfortunately, before I started listening to anything, I bought all three books in the series. I assume the same thing is going to happen throughout. And I shall persevere, whether the narration drives me crazy or not (see my comments below about the book itself).

Any additional comments?

The author, in the preface or introduction to the book, states (I'm paraphrasing) that the book contains pretty basic information, and that if you're at all knowledgable on the topic, you might not learn anything new. I wish to disagree: I know something about the topic, and yet I find the book to be *very* educational, interesting, instructive, and the like. I think he's selling himself short. Audible just needs to find a better narrator for him.

A Pleasant Surprise

Evans not only brings an unbiased view of the process that would culminate with the empowerment of Nazism, but formulates solid lines of thought, some profound, some shocking, some a little of both, that brings to the listener a consistent picture of events and facts that translates in a deeper undertanding, accomplishing what many other traditional sources were unable to.
I found the narrator, despite some of the negative comments given, simply perfect for the job. The pauses are well intended and gives the reader the much needed time to digest the various ideas, suggestions and concepts that thrive in the text, thus assuring continuity of understanding. Several non-fiction audiobooks I've listened through Audible are read fiction style (fast paced and block bound), where plot is usually more emphasized than meaning, with disregard for the complexity contained in most non-fiction historical or scientific texts.

Fantastic content, very very poor narration

What did you love best about The Coming of the Third Reich?

A meaty plunge into the history of the origins of the main players of the third reich. It layed out in copious detail the beginnings of the Nazi regime.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Pratt’s performances?

NO NO NO!!! (altho I may be forced to since I plan to listen to the remaining two books in this triligy). He is a very.......poor......narrator.......with .........inappropriately........placed........and ........lengthy ........pauses......(are you frustrated reading my visual representation of his vocal cadence yet?) intersperced throughout his narration.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily