It was Hitler's boast that the Third Reich would last a thousand years. Instead it lasted only twelve. But into its short life was packed the most cataclysmic series of events that Western civilisation has ever known.

William Shirer is one of the very few historians to have gained full access to the secret German archives which the Allies captured intact. He was also present at the Nuremberg trials.

First published sixty years ago, Shirer's account of the years 1933-45, when the Nazis, under the rule of their despotic leader Adolf Hitler, ruled Germany is held up as a classic of its time. Some of his views have not stood the test of time but in this book Shirer explores how the Nazis commandeered the Holocaust, one of the most shocking acts of evil in modern history, plunged the world into a second war, and changed the face of modern history and modern Europe forever.

'One of the most important works of history of our time.' New York Times

'I can think of no book which I would rather put in the hands of anyone who wanted to find out what happened in Germany between 1930 and 1945, and why the history of those years should never be forgotten' Alan Bullock

The definitive biography of one of the darkest times in modern history; the twelve years when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army ruled over Germany. This is an eyewitness account of the meteoric rise and fall of the Nazi empire, including the earth-shattering tragic events of World War Two and the Holocaust.

About the Author
William L. Shirer ranks as one of the greatest of all American foreign correspondents. He lived and worked in Paris, Belin, Vienna, and Rome. But it was above all as correspondent in Germany for the Chicago Tribune and later for the Columbia Broadcasting System in the late 1930s that his reputation was established. He subsequently wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which is hailed as a classic, and after World War Two he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur. In the post-war years he wrote in a variety of fields, and in his seventies he learned Russian, publishing a biography of Tolstoy at the age of 89. He died in 1994. His Berlin broadcasts were published posthumously by Hutchinson in 1999.

Reviews
The standard work by which all others on the subject are still measured . . . Erudite, comprehensive and detailed, always lively and readable, it is the model of what a popular narrative history should be. * Guardian *
One of the most important works of history of our time. * New York Times *
In this political season, William L. Shirer's mammoth history of Hitler's Germany seems a useful guide to how a skilled demagogue can seize and destroy a great nation. * Chicago Tribune *
A splendid work of scholarship, objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions. * New York Times Book Review *
A work which everyone should read. -- Hugh Trevor-Roper



Book Information
ISBN 9780099421764
Author William L Shirer
Format Paperback
Page Count 1264
Imprint Arrow Books Ltd
Publisher Cornerstone
Weight(grams) 852g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 53mm