McDonough, Frank

This massive history of the Weimar Republic offers readers a clear narrative about a complex political structure. It shows how missteps in leadership led to one of the most horrific episodes in modern European history.

This is a lengthy book, which sometimes moves from event to event and from subject to subject without any transitional passages. This is, however, a minor criticism, as McDonough packs a great deal of information into a narrative that still manages to hold readers’ attention throughout. Pair with the first volume for a solid history of World War II.

McDonough largely succeeds in writing a nuanced overview of the early days of Nazi Germany and creating a work that will bridge the divide between popular and academic audiences. It will pair well with the second volume, The Hitler Years: Disaster, 1940–1945.