''The Third Reich'' Trilogy is a series of three

narrative history Narrative history is the practice of writing history in a story-based form. It tends to entail history-writing based on reconstructing series of short-term events, and ever since the influential work of Leopold von Ranke on professionalising his ...

books by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

historian Richard J. Evans, covering the rise and collapse of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

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, 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 ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and the circumstances that led to its gaining control of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, covering the period from the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

in 1871 through the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

to 1933, when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939 and completing the timeline with the end of the war and the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Reception

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for ''The Coming of the Third Reich'' out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', and '' Literary Review'' reviews under "Love It" and '' Independent'', '' Sunday Telegraph'', and '' Observer'' reviews under "Pretty Good" and '' Sunday Times'' review under "Rubbish". On Bookmarks Magazine May/June 2006 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, ''The Third Reich in Power'' received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Otherwise, reviewers place Evans’s work atop the ever-expanding heap of World War II histories". On Bookmarks Magazine Jul/Aug 2009 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, ''The Third Reich at War'' received a (4.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Evans receives a hero’s welcome in the press as he lays his final World War II tome, a towering, somber achievement of scholarship and narrative, to rest".

Limited-edition boxed set

To coincide with the release of the final volume of the trilogy, Allen Lane published a limited edition boxed set () 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'' by A. J. P. Taylor (1961). * '' The Twenty Years' Crisis by E. H. Carr'' (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