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Home > Modern History > National Studies > C Germany 1918-1939 > Germany 1918 - 1939: annotated bibliography

 

Hermann Göring, Speaker of the Reichstag.
Photograph courtesy of the Treu family

 

Bibliography

Arnold-Foster, M 1973, The World at War, Stein and Day.
Based on the 1973 television series, the pictures and information are very detailed.

Aylett, J F 1984, Hitler's Germany, Edward Arnold.
A useful basic text to provide a beginning to the topic.

Bessell, R 1987, Life in the Third Reich, Oxford.

Brooman, J 1990, Weimar Germany, Germany 1918-1933, Longman.
Brooman, J 1990, Hitler's Germany, Germany 1933-1934, Longman.
These two works in the same series provide a sound basic introduction and useful revision exercises.

Bullock, A 1980, Hitler a Study in Tyranny, Penguin.
A detailed biography, useful to interested Stage 6 students who like to read.

Burleigh, Michael 2000, The Third Reich: A New History. New York: Hill and Wang.

Cloake, J A 1989, Nazi Germany, Oxford University Press.
This contains useful and challenging use of evidence and would consolidate document analysis skills.

Corkery, J F & Stone, R C J 1986, Weimar Germany and the Third Reich, Heinemann.
An excellent discussion of the problems and issues of this topic.

Crew, D  1994, Nazism and German Society, 1933-1945, London, Routledge.

Elliott, B J 1991, Hitler and Germany, Longman.
Headings near each paragraph make this book useful for those quickly seeking a basic knowledge of Nazi Germany.

Evans, R  2005, The Coming of the Third Reich, Penguin
Evans has a readable account of the origins of the Third Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the establishment of the Nazi regime in 1933. He provides many insights into the political culture of imperial and Weimar Germany, the mentality of the Nazi storm troopers and the impacts of the inflation of the early 1920s and the depression and unemployment of the early 1930s.

Evans, R  2005, The Third Reich in Power, 1933-1939. New York: Penguin Press.
An evidence-based explanation of the radical reshaping of crucial areas of German society and culture from Hitler’s gaining of power to the outbreak of WWII.

Fest, J C 1973, Hitler, Penguin.
This is a readable biography, but only for those who have time (700 pp.).

Fest, J C  2002, Speer: The Final Verdict, Harcourt.

Fischer, C  2002, The Rise of the Nazis, Manchester University Press.
This considers the debates on how and why the Nazis gained power in Germany.

Fuchs, T  2000, A Concise Biographyof Adolf Hitler, Berkley.
This is a readable biography.

Gibson, R & Nichol, J 1988, Germany, Basil Blackwell.
This covers all aspects of German history from the First World War to the 1960s for students, with useful integration and study of documentary material.

Holt, R F & Pickard, A 1991, Democracy, Dictatorship, Destruction: Documents of Modern German History 1918-1945, Longman Cheshire.
A very comprehensive collection of German documents, this book would suit very able students and their teachers.

Grunberger, R 1987, A Social History of the Third Reich, Penguin Books.
Excellent research provides a wide variety of detail associated with everyday life in Nazi Germany. Good for background reading by both teachers and the more able students.

Kershaw, I 1989, The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation, Edward Arnold.
This contains excellent discussion of problems and issues associated with studying Nazi Germany; it is useful for teachers working on historiography of the period.

Kershaw, I 2001, The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich, Longman

Kershaw, I 1998, Hitler 1889-1936 Hubris, Longman (845 pages)
A detailed coverage of Hitler’s life and rise to power

Kershaw, I 2000, Hitler 1936-1949 Nemesis, Longman (896 pages)
A detailed coverage of Hitler and the Nazis in power in Germany

Kershaw, I 2008, Hitler: A Biography, Longman
The one volume combination of the two previous detailed biographies (above).

Kershaw, I 2008, Hitler, Longman (230 pages)
This is a short biography of Hitler which still covers the nature of Hitler’s power and how he used that power.

Kitchen, m 2007, The Third Reich, Charisma and Community, Longman

Kitchen, M The Third Reich – A Concise History, Longman
Particularly, Chapter 4 Reordering society and the economy; Chapter 5 The churches and education; and Chapter 8 Foreign Policy.

Lamb, R 1991, The Drift to War, 1922-1939, Bloomsbury.
Written from the British viewpoint, this book is for history fanatics who want to read everything about the period.

Laver, J 1993, Imperial and Weimar Germany, 1918-1933, Hodder and Stoughton.
Laver, J 1996, Nazi Germany, 1933-1945, Hodder and Stoughton.
These are both useful books for teachers. Each chapter has a collection of sources and questions. They are helpful for dealing with the historiography for Stage 6 students.

Laver, J 1995, Hitler, Germany's Fate or Germany's Misfortune? Hodder and Stoughton.
This very readable account is useful for students and teachers as it tries to explain the motivation of Hitler and the decisions he made as leader of Germany. Each chapter has review questions at the end and a timeline of events.

Layton, G, From Bismarck to Hitler: Germany 1890-1933, Hodder and Stoughton.
Layton, G, Germany: The Third Reich, 1933-45, Hodder and Stoughton
Both these books are very useful for good Stage 6 students and their teachers. Diagrams to explain such things as the downfall of Weimar or the rise of Hitler are clear and easy to understand.

Matheson, P, 1981, The Third Reich and the Christian Churches, T and T Clarke. Edinburgh, 128 pages.
Documents of the period 1933-44.

McCallum, A 1992, Germany 1918-1945: Democracy to Dictatorship, Heinemann Education.
This contains great diagrams and historiography for Stage 6 students. It was written specifically for the NSW HSC Stage 6 course.

McKay, M 1989, Germany 1919-1945, Longman.
This is a collection of source material with short helpful introductions placing the sources in context, followed by interesting and thoughtful questions.

Mason, K J 1996, Republic to Reich: A History of Germany 1918-1945, McGraw-Hill.
Written with the current NSW syllabus in mind, this book highlights problems and issues for Stage 6 students as well as people (e.g. Hindenburg) and events but kept in context and thoroughly supported with relevant documents, making it a very useful book.

McDonough, F 2003, Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party (Seminar Studies in History Series), Cambridge.

Newton, D 1990, Germany 1918-1945: From Days of Hope to Years of Horror, Collins Dove.
This is an excellent text; it contains document-based questions and source analysis and timelines for the period.

Nichols, A J 1989, Weimar and the Rise of Hitler, Macmillan.
This is a detailed analysis of the Weimar Republic and its downfall.

Noakes J and Pridham G, ed. Nazism 1919-1945: The Rise to Power: A Documentary Reader. Nazism Series, Volume 1; Exeter Studies in History No. 6. Revised edition. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1998. 220 pp. Use the index to help your selection.
Volume One has a selection of documents which cover from the founding of the Nazi Party in 1919 to the machtergreifung, in January 1933.

Noakes J and Pridham G, ed. Nazism 1919-1945: State, Economy and Society 1933-39: A Documentary Reader. Nazism Series, Volume 2; Exeter Studies in History No 8. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995. 412 pp. Use the index to help your selection.
Volume Two offers views of National Socialism's workings after the machtergreifung in 1933 and prior to World War II.

Noakes J and Pridham G, ed. . Nazism 1919-1945: Foreign Policy, War and Racial Extermination: A Documentary Reader. Nazism Series, Volume 3; Exeter Studies in History No. 13. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995. 640 pp. Use the index to help your selection.
Volume 3 has a range of relevant documents relating to a Foreign Policy which led to war in Europe.

Passant, E J 1969, A Short History of Germany 1815-1945, Cambridge University Press, London.
Chapter 3 covers Germany from 1918 to 1939 in about 50 pages and is an excellent overview reader of key events and the way Hitler gained power and then took Germany into a major war to fulfil his plans for a ‘New Order’.

Reece, D 2006, Growing Up Female in Nazi Germany, William Templar.

Sereny, G 2000, The German Trauma, London.

Shirer, W 1979, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Pan Books.
This is an excellent resource with a very detailed index for those who do not want to read the whole book.

Simpson, W 1991, Hitler and Germany, Cambridge University Press.
This is another excellent documentary collection.

Snyder, L 1990, Hitler's Elite: Biographical Sketches of Nazis Who Shaped the Third Reich, David and Charles.
This provides excellent biographies of Hitler's ruling elite.

Speer, A 1993, Inside the Third Reich, Warner Books.
This is a great read for the very good and interested student who wants to know all about Hitler by reading revealing anecdotes about his personal life.

Swinton, J 1995, Germany 1918-45, Longman.
This easy to read book explains clearly and concisely the concepts and events of Germany between the wars. There is no information on Hindenburg.

Tampke, J 1991, Twentieth Century Germany: Quest for Power, Nelson.
This provides a good integration of source material and review questions at the beginning of each chapter.

Thie, G & Thie, J 1992, Nazi Power in Germany, Stanley Thornes.
This is an excellent text students' assignments, covering Hitler Youth, Crystal Night, etc. It is good for consolidating knowledge.

Toland, J 1979, Hitler: The Pictorial Documentary of His Life, Hutchinson.
This is an excellent photographic reference.

Wepman, D 1992, Adolf Hitler, Burke Publishing Company.
Wepman offers a readable biography of Hitler.

Williams, S 1986, The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Germany, Macmillan.
This is a good introduction to the basic history of Germany between the wars.

Williamson, DG 2002, The Third Reich, Longman.
This edition draws on up-to-date scholarship to guide students through the maze of historical controversies concerning the Third Reich and to offer a comprehensive analysis of the key issues of the period.