Hello,
a friend of mine has recently discovered her interest in WWII, especially the development in Germany from the rise of the NSDAP until 1945. She doesn’t have much knowledge about the matter yet so I am looking for an adequate book for her. It should be easy to read and understand, covering the period from the 1920s - 1945 with a focus on the social life in Germany.
Any help is appreciated.
In German language I could advise “Der Zweite Weltkrieg” by Raymond Cartier, a classic and it pretty much covers it all.
Thanks, but it has to be in English ;).
Why not try The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich?
This one seems to be obsolete in some aspects, I found many negative reviews about it. Have you read it?
One of the easiest reads, is by John Toland: “Hitler”.
It is factual, yet almost “novelesque” as far as reading style.
I’d not call it a definitive work, but at the time it was published (ca. 1977) it was widely thought of as being one of the most authoritative works of the 1919-1945 era, as regards Germany and the NSDAP.
Kind Regards, Uyraell.
Hi there, I was in the same boat a number of years ago. I found a love for ww2 and didn’t know where to start. I didnt have the internet either so that didnt help…
But a good place to start is any sort of book called “an illustrated history of ww2”. They are great books made my many different people and usually found in the history section of any book store. Once you read something like that with great photographs, you will soon find what you want to study more of. I hope this was a help for you.
Try to find Len Deighton’s Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk. He gives a very nice overview of Germany from 1919 to 1940 and how the Reichswehr was built into an elite mobile fighting unit with a minimal of resources—and almost ironically because of the restrictions of Versailles. He also catalogs the intrigues of the rise of Nazism. It’s also a very good, if imperfect and a bit slanted, critique of the Battle for France…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitzkrieg:_From_the_Rise_of_Hitler_to_the_Fall_of_Dunkirk