Thoughts on a book?
I have a copy of a book titled "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - A History of Nazi Germany" authored by William L. Shirer. It has a copyright date of 1960. It is a fairly large book at 1143 pages.
Just wondering if anyone has read it. Is it a worthy read or a waste of time?
I read it along time ago and from what i remember it was a pretty good read, it seemed to be more about Hitler than the Reich in general. I reckon Shirer got most of his facts and info from his time as a journalist in Germany during the 30s!..
Thanks very much Gunny! I was looking at the foreword and he mentions being there during the birth of the Third Reich. I was wondering if it was any good because I don't have a lot of time to sit and read, and at over 1000 pages I will be quite some time with this one.
I read it 20 years ago or so...don't remember much. I think at the time it was one of the definitive books but I'm sure that there has been much more research and information that has come to light since then. Also, (and I will defer to those in our midst in academia who devote their lives to this), every generation has a different view and interpretation of the source materials.
Just my two cents.
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Thanks MAP! I think it will be good.by MAP
He didn't really rely on interpretation of sources it seems, he was living in Berlin during the '30s, whereas todays' authors have very scant few survivors of that timeframe left to interview, and fewer still that may still be of sound and solid faculties in their advanced years.
Going to give it a shot!
If you want a good book, or books at the same level of analysis, find those of Richard Evans, The Coming of the III. Reich and so forth.
Shirer's book is state of the art ca. 1959, and it is ok as regards what he saw, himself. If you want eye witness accounts, such as they are,
there are shelves of them, but whether they are accurate is another question. I am not a hobby historian, either. I do this for a living,
which I won't go into here. You can read my posts. There are shorter, introductory text books, also, if you want.
Let me say this: there are also a lot of junky books on the III. Reich and people waste much time with them.
I grew up with the Shirer book as a kid, and it appeared at the end of the 1950s. You can read his Berlin Diary, which is from the war, or earlier, and get
much of the same. His comprehension of German history was very modest at best. I am pretty extreme when it comes to histories of the III. Reich. There are some very sound summaries.
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 02-28-2017 at 01:22 AM.
Fest is a fifty year old classic, but it holds up, because Fest was better at it than Shirer; the Benz is maybe the best here, and Burleigh is very good, too. It is like
Evans, but Evans is better, probably. Overy is a real expert, too.
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 02-28-2017 at 01:23 AM.
I greatly appreciate your input FB! I noticed in some photos you recently posted that you have a good many books and had wondered if this one was among them.
I generally (and perhaps wrongly) attribute more weight on a subject to someone who was there or involved, but you truly cannot grasp the scope of the forest from within the trees.
Perhaps I will pursue some of your suggested authors either online or at the local book store.
Thanks to yourself, MAP and Gunny for your opinions and suggestions!
I read Shirer's book in 1960 right after it was published. It was an excellent factual account of what was happening at the time in Germany from the begining to the end.. If I recall correctly, Shirer was a journalist stationed in Berlin in the 1930's
BOB
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