The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation - 40th Anniversary Edition

by Ian Kershaw

Overview

'The best short introduction to the study of Hitler's Germany.' - European History Quarterly

The 40th-anniversary edition of Sir Ian Kershaw's ground-breaking study of the Third Reich. With a brand new foreword by Mary Fulbrook, The Nazi Dictatorship covers all the major themes and debates relating to Nazism including the Holocaust, Hitler's authority and leadership, economics in the Nazi state, Nazi foreign policy, German resistance, and the aftermath. Regarded by many as the world's leading authority on Hitler and the Third Reich, Kershaw has redefined the way we look at this period of modern European history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350537996
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/13/2025
Series:	Bloomsbury Revelations
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.45(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Sir Ian Kershaw was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield, UK. Among his other publications is the internationally acclaimed biography Hitler (2 vols, 1998 and 2000). He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the 40th Anniversary Edition by Mary Fulbrook
Preface to the Bloomsbury Revelations edition
Abbreviations
1. Historians and the problem of explaining Nazism
2. The Essence of Nazism: form of fascism, brand of totalitarianism, or unique phenomenon?
3. Politics and economics in the Nazi State
4. Hitler: 'master of the Third Reich' or 'weak dictator'
5. Hitler and the Holocaust
6. Nazi foreign policy: Hitler's 'programme' or 'expansion without object'?
7. The Third Reich: 'social reaction' or 'social revolution'?
8. 'Resistance without the people'?
9. 'Normality' and genocide: the problem of 'historicization'
10. Shifting perspectives: historiographical trends in the aftermath of unification
Suggestions for further reading
Index