The Social History of the Third Reich, 1933-1945

Attempts to explain the behaviour of ordinary Germans during the Nazi era have failed to rise above the level of polemic. This book, from the author of 'The Nazi Question', provides a balanced account of all aspects of German life under Hitler.

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In this highly praised study hailed by Booklist as “disturbing, brutally honest, and scrupulously fair,” Pierre Ayçoberry, the celebrated author of The Nazi Question,combines extraordinary mastery of German history with original research for an unparalleled account of life under Hitler’s Third Reich.

Ayçoberry uncovers the struggles of individuals and social and professional groups who stood up to the pressures of the Nazi Party and often paid a high price, while he also sheds light on the attempts of others—mainly upper- and middle-class professionals—to salvage or improve their positions by casting their lot with the Fuhrer. In this complex answer to the easy judgments passed by many, Pierre Ayçoberry writes what the Washington Post Book World has called “a subtle book that eschews facile generalizations and sensational accusations, and is full of prudent qualifications and warnings that what was true in one place and one time was not necessarily true twenty miles away or one year later.”