National Socialist Rule in Germany - Norbert Frei

Norbert Frei's lucid and accessible history of Nazi rule in Germany is a thorough introduction to events from the appointment of Hitler as Reich Chancellor in 1933 to the end of the Second World War.
The book outlines the development of Nazi rule in three phases. Beginning with an analysis of the regimentation of German society, which is shown to be based on terror and violence, Norbert Frei goes on to discuss the period of consolidation in which the "Fuhrer myth", aided by economic and foreign policy success, found acceptance in German minds. Finally, he looks at the war and increasing radicalization, which resulted in the Holocaust and the monstrous projects of social and racial purification of German society undertaken in the name of modernization.

Norbert Frei's incisive history demonstrates that the path to catastrophe was not an inevitable consequence of the "Fuhrer State" and that there were possible turning points. Combining "classic" political history with the findings of new research into the history of everyday life and including original documents, the book will be essential reading for students of modern history.