Inside the Third Reich

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1. nickbaumanAug 2016
   Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich is a good accompaniment, too.
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2. bdesimoneMay 2013
   Probably the best primary account of the inefficiencies of the National Socialists was by Albert Speer, Hitler's foremost technocrat. In "Inside the Third Reich" Speer gives an account of just how much the Germans struggled to mobilize during the war. Though Speer was able to introduce streamlined methods of mass production and remove some excessive bureaucracy, what strikes me most was the admission that Germany never hit production levels seen during WWI.

   The Second World War, by John Keegan

   Inside the Third Reich, by Albert Speer

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3. MithrandirJan 2011
   Another excellent book is "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer (ex Minister of Armaments.) Definitely worth the time.

   http://www.archive.org/details/Inside_the_Third_Reich_Albert...

   http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Third-Reich-Albert-Speer/dp/068...

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4. atombenderAug 2018
   The Power Broker is a great, huge read.

   Another good one that I got recently is Arabia Felix [1], a rather obscure Danish book from 1962 from NYRB. A minor classic.

   I'm not a war buff by any stretch, but I can recommend Antony Beevor. Sometimes his books devolve into exhausting, never-ending play-by-plays of tank and troop movements, but both Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin [3] and were fascinating just for his ability to conjure up the time and place. Inside the Third Reich was similarly interesting, even it's known to be a flawed narrative.

   I also recently read Bad Blood, about Theranos, which was excellent. Literary-wise not quite on the same level, though.

   Got any recommendations?

   [1] https://www.npr.org/2017/06/17/531929925/in-the-refrains-of-...

   [2] https://www.amazon.com/Stalingrad-Fateful-1942-1943-Antony-B...

   [3] https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Berlin-1945-Antony-Beevor

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5. jstewartmobileFeb 2018
   If anyone has ever read Speer's memoirs, the striking thing is just how ordinary all of the Nazi big-baddies were.

   He'll be recounting some story of Bormann or Goering, and you'll be thinking to yourself, "That's just like Joe in HR!" or "Matt does that all the time!"

   Take the ordinary schmuck in middle-management, give him absolute power, then BAM--nazi.

   https://archive.org/stream/Inside_the_Third_Reich_Albert_Spe...

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6. markdog12Mar 2016
   Read his "Inside the Third Reich" many years ago. Had no idea until I read this article that he has been discredited. For anyone who hasn't read it, it can pretty much be summed up as "All I ever wanted to do was architecture, and I just got caught up in a series of events. I was surrounded by brutes and buffoons, and I just did my best with the situation I found myself in." Also some very valuable insights into Hitler's persona, but can you believe anything in that book now?
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