The Third Reich at war, 1939-1945/ Richard J Evans

Concluding volume of Professor Evans exceptional social history of the rise and fall of the Third Reich. This volume covers the period of the Second World War and in particular the aspects of "conquest, subjugation and genocide". The Nazis were obsessed with racial purity and considerable efforts and resources were used to deal with (i.e. exterminate) millions of Slavs, Jews, gypsies, mentally ill, physically handicapped, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and criminals. Meanwhile the German people had been taught to expect the state to provide for all their needs including protection from enemies - when, as during the huge bombing raids on German cities, the system failed resentment was often aimed at the Nazis rather than the attacking forces. Nazism thus contained the seeds of its own destruction. The book begins with the invasion of Poland and ends with the total collapse of Germany.