''The Third Reich'' Trilogy is a series of three narrative history books by British historian Richard J. Evans, covering the rise and collapse of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in detail, with a focus on the internal politics and the decision-making process. The three volumes of the trilogy – ''The Coming of the Third Reich'', ''The Third Reich In Power'', and ''The Third Reich at War'' – were published between 2003 and 2008. The books are illustrated with maps created by András Bereznay. According to

Ian Kershaw Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is pa ...

, it is "the most comprehensive history in any language of the disastrous epoch of the Third Reich". It has been hailed as a "masterpiece of historical scholarship."

Books

''The Coming of the Third Reich''

The first volume, ''The Coming of the Third Reich'', was published by Penguin in the UK in October 2003 (, 622 pages), and in the US in February 2004 (, 656 pages). It describes the origins of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and the circumstances that led to its gaining control of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

, covering the period from the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1871 through the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

to 1933, when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

and the Nazis seized power in Germany.

''The Third Reich in Power''

The second volume, ''The Third Reich in Power'', was published by Penguin in the UK and the US in October 2005 (UK: , 960 pages; US: , 960 pages). It describes how Hitler transformed Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship during the 1930s, picking up where the first volume left off, and ending with the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in September 1939.

''The Third Reich at War''

The third volume, ''The Third Reich at War'', was published by Penguin in the UK in October 2008 (, 912 pages), and in the US in March 2009 (, 944 pages). It describes the entire wartime period of Nazi Germany, beginning with the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

in 1939 and completing the timeline with the end of the war and the defeat and

surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Limited-edition boxed set

To coincide with the release of the final volume of the trilogy,

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fict ...

published a limited edition

boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

() containing special editions of the three books, using heavier paper and better binding than the regular trade editions. This set is now out of print.

Similar or related works

The Origins of the Second World War ''The Origins of the Second World War'' is a non-fiction book by the English historian A. J. P. Taylor, examining the causes of World War II. It was first published in 1961 by Hamish Hamilton. Origins Taylor had previously written ''The Struggl ...

by A.J.P. Taylor (1961). * The Twenty Years' Crisis by

E. H. Carr Edward Hallett Carr (28 June 1892 – 3 November 1982) was a British historian, diplomat, journalist and international relations theorist, and an opponent of empiricism within historiography. Carr was best known for '' A History of Soviet R ...

(1939). * The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933 by Zara Steiner (2007). * The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933-1939 by Zara Steiner (2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Third Reich Trilogy, The 2003 non-fiction books 2005 non-fiction books 2008 non-fiction books History books about Nazi Germany Series of history books about World War II