''The Third Reich'' Trilogy is a series of three narrative history books by British historian

Richard J. Evans Sir Richard John Evans (born 29 September 1947) is a British historian of 19th- and 20th-century Europe with a focus on Germany. He is the author of eighteen books, including his three-volume ''The Third Reich Trilogy'' (2003–2008). Evans was ...

, covering the rise and collapse of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in detail, with a focus on the internal politics and the decision-making process. The three volumes of the trilogy – ''The Coming of the Third Reich'', ''The Third Reich In Power'', and ''The Third Reich at War'' – were published between 2003 and 2008. The books are illustrated with maps created by

András Bereznay András Bereznay is a Hungarian-British historical cartographer and historian, specialising in the compilation of maps for historical atlases. Born in Budapest, he left Hungary in 1978 and is based in London. Bereznay has researched and compiled ...

. According to Ian Kershaw, it is "the most comprehensive history in any language of the disastrous epoch of the Third Reich". It has been hailed as a "masterpiece of historical scholarship."

Books

''The Coming of the Third Reich''

The first volume, ''The Coming of the Third Reich'', was published by Penguin in the UK in October 2003 (, 622 pages), and in the US in February 2004 (, 656 pages). It describes the origins of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and the circumstances that led to its gaining control of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

, covering the period from the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...

in 1871 through the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

to 1933, when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and the Nazis seized power in Germany.

''The Third Reich in Power''

The second volume, ''The Third Reich in Power'', was published by Penguin in the UK and the US in October 2005 (UK: , 960 pages; US: , 960 pages). It describes how Hitler transformed Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship during the 1930s, picking up where the first volume left off, and ending with the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in September 1939.

''The Third Reich at War''

The third volume, ''The Third Reich at War'', was published by Penguin in the UK in October 2008 (, 912 pages), and in the US in March 2009 (, 944 pages). It describes the entire wartime period of Nazi Germany, beginning with the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939 and completing the timeline with the end of the war and the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Limited-edition boxed set

To coincide with the release of the final volume of the trilogy,

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

published a

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

() containing special editions of the three books, using heavier paper and better binding than the regular trade editions. This set is now out of print.

Similar or related works

The Origins of the Second World War ''The Origins of the Second World War'' is a non-fiction book by the English historian A. J. P. Taylor, examining the causes of World War II. It was first published in 1961 by Hamish Hamilton. Origins Taylor had previously written ''The Struggle ...

by A.J.P. Taylor (1961). * The Twenty Years' Crisis by

E. H. Carr Edward Hallett Carr (28 June 1892 – 3 November 1982) was a British historian, diplomat, journalist and international relations theorist, and an opponent of empiricism within historiography. Carr was best known for '' A History of Soviet Rus ...

(1939). * The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933 by

Zara Steiner Zara Steiner, (''née'' Shakow; 6 November 1928 – 13 February 2020) was an American-born British historian and academic. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Frances (née Price) and Joseph Shakow.) Her father was an outfitter who pr ...

(2007). * The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933-1939 by

(2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Third Reich Trilogy, The 2003 non-fiction books 2005 non-fiction books 2008 non-fiction books History books about Nazi Germany Series of history books about World War II