The Third Reich at War
Academic Academic Secondary Sources
🇩🇪 German
The final volume of Evans's trilogy: Germany at war, from the invasion of Poland to the ruins of Berlin.
The Verdict
The definitive scholarly account of Germany at war, and the towering close of a trilogy. Richard J. Evans completes his history of Nazi Germany by following it into the conflict it unleashed — the conquests, the genocide, the home front, and the catastrophe that consumed it. What sets Evans apart is the integration: military events, the machinery of mass murder, and the texture of ordinary German lives held in a single, controlled narrative. It is long and demanding, and it is the standard one-volume history of how Germans made and experienced the war.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The authoritative history of wartime Nazi Germany
- Readers who want society, genocide, and strategy integrated
- The conclusion of Evans's Third Reich trilogy
- Serious students of the period
Look elsewhere if you want
- A short or introductory account
- Readers wanting the Allied side
- Those put off by academic length and density
Why We Rated It 4.6
Historical Context
Published in 2008, this is the third volume of Evans's trilogy, after The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power. It covers Germany from the 1939 invasion of Poland through the war, the Holocaust, and the regime's collapse in 1945, drawing on a wide range of contemporary German sources.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Allen Lane / Penguin Press (2008)First edition.
Penguin paperbackThe standard reading edition; often bought as part of the trilogy.
Read It Alongside
Hitler Ian Kershaw · 2008 · ★ 4.7
Ordinary Men Christopher Browning · 1992 · ★ 4.8
Academic 
Bloodlands Timothy Snyder · 2010 · ★ 4.6
Academic Collector's Corner
Recent; common and inexpensive, including as a boxed trilogy. Check current listings. → Check listings on AbeBooks.
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0143116714
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank · 1947 · Jewish / Holocaust
Memoir 
If This Is a Man Primo Levi · 1947 · Jewish / Holocaust
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Night Elie Wiesel · 1960 · Jewish / Holocaust
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The Fall of Berlin 1945 Antony Beevor · 2002
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Citizen Soldiers Stephen Ambrose · 1997
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need the earlier volumes first?
- It can be read alone, but the trilogy in order gives the fuller picture of how the regime rose, ruled, and fell.
- Does it cover the Holocaust?
- Yes, extensively — the genocide is integrated into the wider account of Germany at war rather than treated separately.