The Wages of Destruction

The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

De: Adam Tooze

Narrado por: Adam Tooze, Simon Vance

"Masterful.... [A] painstakingly researched, astonishingly erudite study.... Tooze has added his name to the roll call of top-class scholars of Nazism." (Financial Times)

An extraordinary mythology has grown up around the Third Reich that hovers over political and moral debate even today. Adam Tooze's controversial book challenges the conventional economic interpretations of that period to explore how Hitler's surprisingly prescient vision - ultimately hindered by Germany's limited resources and his own racial ideology - was to create a German super-state to dominate Europe and compete with what he saw as America's overwhelming power in a soon-to-be globalized world.

The Wages of Destruction is a chilling work of originality and tremendous scholarship that set off debate in Germany and will fundamentally change the way in which history views the Second World War.

This audiobook contains a downloadable PDF of tables and figures from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Adam Tooze (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"One of the most important and original books to be published about the Third Reich in the past twenty years. A tour de force." (Niall Ferguson)

"Tooze has produced the most striking history of German strategy in the Second World War that we possess. This is an extraordinary achievement, and it places Adam Tooze in a very select company of historians indeed.... Tooze has given us a masterpiece which will be read, and admired; and it will stimulate others for a long time to come." (Nicholas Stargardt, History Today)

"It is among Adam Tooze's many virtues, in The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy, that he can write about such matters with authority, explaining the technicalities of bombers and battleships. Hovering over his chronicle are two extraordinary questions: how Germany managed to last as long as it did before the collapse of 1945 and why, under Hitler, it thought it could achieve supremacy at all." (Norman Stone, The Wall Street Journal)

Excellent

This is an area in which I have/had ZERO knowledge. If you had told me I’d enjoy a book about economics I’d not believed it. I enjoyed this book immensely. The writing, information and detail was outstanding! Wish I could give 6 stars.

Great Read

Highly engaging read. Hard to put down. Explains economic and ideological rationale for what is often written off as idiosyncratic miscalculation.

Wish I had now about this book earlier.

it was absolutely a brilliant analysis that tied the war, ideology, and world economy together. If every dictator knew about this resource, the world would have been a different place.

Superb

This book helped me to challenge many assumptions that I had held about WWII. Absolutely fascinating.

Excellent and Unique View

Best I have read in terms of tying German strategy with economic realities Germany faced after WW1 and in going up against Russia and the United States. Clearly and logically explained and well narrated.

Great economic history of Nazi germany

Rich and illuminating history of how the nazi regime managed to almost win a world war despite poor economic preconditions.

answers a long awaiting question

very nice and elaborate.
also manacung in how similar the third reich's economic system was to what we currently have.
only issue is how the writter keeps on using the derogatory term "Capitalism" to indicate free markets... the Communist propaganda is a hard habit to loose.

Enlightening perspective enhanced by narration

This is an enlightening perspective on how economic and financial challenges affected the Nazi regime’s prosecution of its European war on two fronts. Tooze’s historiography is dense with fresh facts, data, analysis, and hence, insightful conclusions. I would recommend some familiarity with WWI, WWII and Europe between the two wars. And perhaps some knowledge of post-WWII Europe. Also helpful would be a knowledge of economics. Simon Vance, as always, gives a clear and pleasant narration, fostering one’s comprehension and entertainment.

War is economics!

All wars today are basically economical, and affect all centers of life, from production down to the basis of life, the people.

A fascinating backstory from a financial perspective highlighting how toxic nationalism combined with racism can be.

It is quite amazing to read through just how much the Nazi regime managed to do with the Sword of Damocles constantly swinging above its head. These are lessons that we should heed today.