There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand. In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central...

Chronicles the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, from the 1939 invasion of Poland through Adolph Hitler's suicide, and provides testimonies from a variety of people, which includes soldiers, Hitler Youth activists, middle-class housewives, and more.