'Impressive . . . perceptive . . . humane . . . the most comprehensive history in any language of the disastrous epoch of the Third Reich' IAN KERSHAW AUTHOR OF HITLER THEY STARTED AS little more than a gang of extremists and thugs, yet in a few years the Nazis had turned Germany into a one=party state and led one of Europe's most advanced nations into moral,, physical and cultural ruin and despair. In this consummate, compelling and widely acclaimed history Richard Evans reveals how and why it happened, questions whether the rise of Hitler was inevitable and dramatically re-creates the maelstrom of disorder, economic disaster, violence and polarization that gave rise to the terror of the Third Reich. 'The most gripping account I've read of German life before and during the rise of the Nazis A.S. BYATT, TIMES LITERARARY SUPPLEMENT, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 'One of Britain's most formidable historians . . . a fluent and impassioned writer, sprinkling his analysis with a series of illuminating character sketches . . . hugely enjoyable' RICHARD GOTT, NEW STATESMAN 'History on a titanic scale, the work of a fine scholar at the height of his powers' DANIEL JOHNSON, LITERARY REVIEW ' A horrifying . . . account of the tsunami of terror and sadism which burst over Germany after the Nazis took power' NEAL ASCHERSON, OBSERVER