Factoids

Two months ago I finished the third volume of Richard J. Evans’ three volume history of The Third Reich. It is entitled The Third Reich at War. The first volume, The Coming of the Third Reich was the best volume by far. Then the second volume, The Third Reich in Power. The third volume is the least effective. The first volume is written to some extent as a chronological narrative and makes very compelling reading. The second volume is more topical and a little slow and dull in passages. The third volume is encyclopedic with each chapter seemingly covering a different topic. It is very interesting but not a page turner. I wish every one purchasing this set would read it from cover to cover as I have and not treat it as a reference work. It is too important and comprehensive for that. It may well be the most readable history of The Third Reich written so far. My main complaint with The Third Reich at War is that there are things reported in it that seem implausible or that no one was in a position to know at the time. For example, it states that the destructive power of Zykon B was not discovered until at a room in a concentration camp at which it was being used as a pesticide a rat was found dead. This is certainly fiction as the potency of the cyanide gas was already well known and indeed was described in the manufacturer’s instructions. In addition, figures concerning the extermination of inmates at the various concentration camps seem to be accepted uncritically from other sources. In short, the last volume seems to be full of factoids.