The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

A History of Nazi Germany

By: William L. Shirer

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the twentieth century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.

Now, years after the end of World War II, it may seem incredible that our most valued institutions, and way of life, were threatened by the menace that Hitler and the Third Reich represented. Shirer’s description of events and the cast of characters who played such pivotal roles in defining the course Europe was to take is unforgettable.

Benefiting from his many years as a reporter, and thus a personal observer of the rise of Nazi Germany, and availing himself of some of the 485 tons of documents from the German Foreign Office, as well as countless other diaries, phone transcriptions, and other written records meticulously kept at every level by the Germans, Shirer has put together a brutally objective account of how Hitler wrested political control of Germany, and planned and executed his six-year quest to dominate the world, only to see Germany go down in flames.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a vast, richly rewarding experience for anyone who wants to come to grips with the mysterious question of how this menace to civilization ever came into being, much less was sustained for as long as it was. The answer, unfortunately, is that most of Germany, for a whole host of reasons, embraced Nazism and the fanaticism that Hitler engendered.

©1990 William L. Shirer (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“One of the most important works of history of our time.” ( The New York Times)

”A splendid work of scholarship, objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

Disturbing, but brilliant

The depth of research that Shirer undertook to write this book was astounding. An in depth look at the political history of Hitler and the Third Reich that shows how a close run thing Hitler’s rise to power was. Any student of history or politics should read (or listen to the reading of) this book. And remember.

Loved it. .

Shirer is a master class shade thrower.

The descriptions of the players is thorough. You really get a feel for what utter pathetic toadies so many of them were.

this book is on u tube, but its incomplete

wow what a amazing story, .was that real, did it just happen? written by one of the most amazing autors of our time...you will be hooked...it starts off in pre- war Berlin, and it ends up in post war Berlin...but you travel all around the world in between learn ing how the greatest generation became the greatest

amazing summary of the rise/fall, best WW2 book i've read

highly recommend, brings an beautiful perspective and level of detail that is amazing for the listener to hear!

A Timeless Story

Minor historical discrepancies uncovered in recent years have little impact on this amazingly well written (and narrated) story.

Absolutely Required

This book is long but keeps attention through meticulous detail. It doesn't drag on, and the author does a good job focusing on the political, cultural, and economic aspects, touching on military battles to frame the pace and direction of the war. I loved it, and will listen to it again.

vast scope but surprizingly palatable & relevant

for over 2 yrs now, I have delved deep into the WW II era from various vantage points – American & German homefronts, European resistance, displaced person sagas, art poaching, Communism/Socialism, & German Nazi atrocities; prior to getting involved in this study, I had heard of this bk mostly in jest, as highly academic & extremely long; I assumed it would be quite dry & far from anything I would ever choose to spend my time on, BUT, I was wrong; the author does a superior job of interjecting his thoughts, but presenting material objectively & with references; I must say I would likely not have read it in hard copy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version, & learned a lot; it really helps put it all into perspective, even if one cannot retain it in full; it IS history & academic, but is written like a story, a peek into the "behind the scenes", linking all the many aspects of the period & events into one narrative; it is all the more captivating since the author actually witnessed much in Germany as it happened & did not only research things in which he was not personally involved; the narrator does a superb job, such that you forget you are not listening to the author himself speaking; he seems to be "telling" instead of "reading"; lastly, unfortunately, history often repeats itself & mankind makes the same mistakes, rather than learning from past failures; as one listens/reads, especially in the early life of the Nazi movement, there are numerous strong parallels to what has happened in the decades since WWII, including in 2020 with the coronavirus situation & the US political party shenanigans

A long, but wholly worthwhile listen.

As stated, a long book, but eye-opening when used to view current events. There is much truth to the saying that history repeats itself. The names of the actors have changed, but the goal of world domination is the same.

Fascinating

It has to be fascinating to finish because of its length but it is truly in depth and written by someone who was there and did the research before, during and immediately after WW2. Glad I spent the time to learn more in depth what really happened.

Great history book, but incredibly homophobic

This book is great and the narrator does an outstanding job. I've read tons of books on the subject and this one is by far the most thorough and readable. I would give it 5 stars, but it's sprinkled with homophobic descriptions of gay men within the Nazi party, calling them "homosexual perverts" among other things. He often drags Nazi party members through the mud, which is fine because most of them were truly evil and had plenty of unsavory characteristics - it's just that Shirer lumps gayness in with these characteristics, implying that being gay makes you more likely to be a Nazi. He also fails to mention the mass killing of queer people in the holocaust, which is surprising in a book this big. In general, I like this author's bias (and this book is definitely biased), but his backwards view towards queerness taints his telling of the story.