THE THIRD REICH IN POWER, by Richard J. Evans

Narrated by Sean Pratt

Peace Through Joy and Other Nazi Propaganda Schemes Exposed

I am grateful to Richard J. Evans for this history. His matter of fact narrative somehow makes this subject come alive. One of the most intriguing aspects of Nazi Germany was how they managed to quell the resistance of the German people. They did it by ruthless totalitarian intimidation. It is a study in human depravity and weakness to stand against injustice. Be careful when reading this for you will begin to see Nazis everywhere when you realize that our government is resorting to many of the same propaganda measures the Nazis used. Hitler artificially reported the unemployment numbers by removing the jobs lost from the reporting; our government foes the same thing. And then there is Hitler’s fanatical hatred of the Jews. Here Evans does the best job at explaining this that I have read. Anti-Semitism had long been a part of European culture, but it was not officially sanctioned. When Hitler institutionalized and authorized hatred of Jewish people he allowed this evil to have free reign and it quickly became a widespread no holds barred cultural obsession not just a series of disjointed acts of closet racial prejudice. It is shameful to realize that members of the human race can actively act in this genocidal manner. It is also shameful to see the Western leaders fail time and time again to act when at many points they could have stopped this reign of terror from ever being launched.

This is one of the most fascinating periods of human history: one, because it did not happen so very long ago that we cannot relate to the world situation; two, because the characters on opposing sides, such as Hitler and Goering, Stalin and Churchill, are so dominant in their own spheres if influence to seem super human caricatures or comic book villains and heroes; and three, because WWII altered the world in which we live so profoundly that we must delve into the causes of this upheaval. I have read and listened to many volumes of lore on the Second World War and find that I still learn something new in every section of this book by Evans. I have recently listened to THE STORM OF WAR by Andrew Roberts, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by William L. Shirer. This book covers the topic from an entirely different, and more insightful, angle.

Sean Pratt again does a great job at reading giving clear pronunciation throughout. His voice is pleasant and never becomes a distraction.