THE THIRD REICH AT WAR: The Full Story of the Rise and Fall of the Most Awesome Military Machine the World Had Ever Known

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party - the "Nazis" - was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. No sooner was he installed than the Fuhrer began ruthlessly transforming the fragile democratic republic, founded only fifteen years earlier, into a brutal dictatorship - a new German empire, one that he claimed would last for a thousand years. In fact, it ended a little over twelve years later in May 1945, with total military defeat, economic and political collapse, and Hitler's suicide.

The Third Reich at War is the riveting story of those twelve years - twelve agonizing years for the entire world. The book begins with a perceptive examination of the Third Reich's tortured roots in modern European history and a forceful narrative of Adolf Hitler's irresistible rise to power in mid-1930s Germany. Successive chapters detail the ferocity of Hitler's massive war machine that ultimately came to dominate an area extending from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, and from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus.

Included are detailed accounts - with maps - of all the major land, air, and sea battle and campaigns, descriptions of Nazi weaponry and fighting tactics, fascinating profiles of Hitler's generals and henchmen, the history of Hitler's horrifying "final solution" in the death camps, and much more. From the rise of the Nazi military machine to its utter destruction, this is possibly the most complete account available in one volume. Contributions by numerous well-known historians make this all-in-one compendium thoroughly authoritative, while the many eyewitness accounts add haunting realism.

Massive in scope and exhaustive in content, The Third Reich at War is for everyone who wants to know the full story of those twelve years that shook the world.