Black and white

I am finished with The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans and I am ready to report on it. It is an account of the early history of the Third Reich in black and white. The Nazis are black–they are ruthless, arrogant and often cynical. On the other hand, the Jews and resisters are white–they are noble, loyal to the German nation and courageous. The section on the activities of the Nazi Party in the few years after Hitler’s becoming chancellor are replete with tales of beatings and torture. Several years ago I read William L. Pierce’s (author of The Turner Diaries) comment on a story of torture during the period of Hitler’s rule. Pierce said that the Nazis did not torture people: “They didn’t do things like that.” These writers are not both right. I would think that the Nazis did torture people because in general they glorified violence. Hitler was known to encourage his troops to be brutal towards the enemies in occupied territory a little later on in his dictatorship during the war. This clearly and powerfully written book is the best book I have ever read on the subject the Third Reich and I have read over 20 books–most of them biographies and some of them excellent like Ian Kershaw’s Hitler and David Irving’s Hitler’s War. Especially impressive is the way the author weaves social history into his narrative account.