The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War

by Benjamin Carter Hett

Overview

A panoramic narrative of the years leading up to the Second World War—a tale of democratic crisis, racial conflict, and a belated recognition of evil, with profound resonance for our own time.

Berlin, November 1937. Adolf Hitler meets with his military commanders to impress upon them the urgent necessity for a war of aggression in eastern Europe. Some generals are unnerved by the Führer’s grandiose plan, but these dissenters are silenced one by one, setting in motion events that will culminate in the most calamitous war in history.

Benjamin Carter Hett takes us behind the scenes in Berlin, London, Moscow, and Washington, revealing the unsettled politics within each country in the wake of the German dictator’s growing provocations. He reveals the fitful path by which anti-Nazi forces inside and outside Germany came to understand Hitler’s true menace to European civilization and learned to oppose him, painting a sweeping portrait of governments under siege, as larger-than-life figures struggled to turn events to their advantage.

As in The Death of Democracy, his acclaimed history of the fall of the Weimar Republic, Hett draws on original sources and newly released documents to show how these long-ago conflicts have unexpected resonances in our own time. To read The Nazi Menace is to see past and present in a new and unnerving light.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250798763
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	470,445
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Carter Hett is the author of The Death of Democracy, Burning the Reichstag, Crossing Hitler, and Death in the Tiergarten. He is a professor of history at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and holds a PhD in history from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Toronto. He now lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters
Preface: The Crisis of Democracy

PART ONE: CRISIS

1. Reich Chancellery, Early Evening
2. The Meaning of Gleiwitz
3. “In the Circle of Guilt”
4. “We Are Looking for a Program”
5. “He Feels It Here”
6. “Rather Concerned re: Future”
7. Scraping at the Bars

PART TWO: MUNICH

8. “That’s What I Want to Have!”
9. “Out of This Nettle, Danger”
10. “Living at the Point of a Gun”
11. “A Dissemination of Discord”

PART THREE: WAR

12. “I Have to Tell You Now . . .”
13. “These Are Prussian Officers!”
14. “Let Us Go Forward Together”

Epilogue: “The End of the Beginning”

Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

Editorial Reviews

…fast-moving, absorbing and aptly titled…Hett concentrates here substantially on developments within the German government from late 1937 onward, but he also examines the thinking of leaders in Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, and to a lesser extent those in the other principal capitals: Paris, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna and Rome. Along the way, thanks to the author's knack for the capsule biography, we gain fascinating insights into less obvious figures, among them Hugh Dowding, an eccentric and canny architect of Britain's air defense network; Ernst von Weizsäcker, a senior German diplomat torn between his opposition to a general war and his support for German expansion; and Dorothy Thompson, the ferociously anti-Nazi American columnist and radio broadcaster.

The New York Times Book Review - Fredrik Logevall

03/30/2020

In this crisp and well-researched account, Hunter College history professor Hett (The Death of Democracy) portrays the lead-up to WWII as a “crisis in democracy” during which Allied leaders struggled to articulate an “open and international” world vision in response to the rise of totalitarianism. Hett highlights how the redrawing of central and eastern Europe following WWI inflamed ethnic tensions, and argues that the Great Depression “accelerated the trend toward authoritarian politics” across the region. He documents domestic pressures, including organized labor’s anti-immigrant stance, that contributed to President Roosevelt’s initial downplaying of the plight of German Jews, and traces the growth of Winston Churchill’s commitment to democracy through the 1930s. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union used new media technologies to weaponize propaganda, Hett explains, noting that Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds broadcast both revealed the power of radio to incite mass movements and influenced American and British efforts to sway public opinion in favor of confronting Hitler. Hett wisely introduces each chapter with vivid sketches of historical figures, including R.J. Mitchell, designer of the Spitfire fighter plane, and American journalist Dorothy Thompson, humanizing his analysis of political and military developments. This history makes a solid contribution to the understanding of the driving forces behind WWII. (June)

Publishers Weekly

[World War II's] proximate origins are the subject of Benjamin Carter Hett’s fast-moving, absorbing and aptly titled The Nazi Menace…Thanks to the author’s knack for the capsule biography, we gain fascinating insights into less obvious figures, among them Hugh Dowding, an eccentric and canny architect of Britain’s air defense network; Ernst von Weizsäcker, a senior German diplomat torn between his opposition to a general war and his support for German expansion; and Dorothy Thompson, the ferociously anti-Nazi American columnist and radio broadcaster.” ­­—The New York Times Book Review

"Crisp and well-researched . . . Hett wisely introduces each chapter with vivid sketches of historical figures . . . humanizing his analysis of political and military developments . . . A solid contribution to our understanding of the driving forces behind WWII." —Publishers Weekly

“[An] authoritative story of the 1930s and ’40s and the close parallels that exist with today’s world… An excellent read for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the thinking behind World War II.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A remarkable, authoritative journey into the events and decisions that led to the calamity of World War II. With deft writing, keen insight, and moments of narrative thrill, Benjamin Carter Hett delivers for readers a triumph of scholarship. I, for one, will not look the same at Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, and Stalin—nor soon shake the shiver of fear over how resonant the past is to our present day.” —Neal Bascomb, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter Fortress and Faster

“[A] lucid, vigorous and highly readable account of one of the great turning points of history... [Hett] is adept at extracting the colorful and telling details from the historical record and weaving them into a vast tapestry...an important and timely book.”­—Jewish Journal

“Benjamin Carter Hett has taken a well-known subject and breathed new life into it. The Nazi Menace is narrative history at its gripping best: a thrilling, fast-paced read, full of vividly drawn characters, that is elegantly written, thoughtful, and wise. He also does a superb job of bringing out the many parallels between the past and our political present. Essential reading.” —Henry Hemming, author of Agents of Influence: A British Campaign, a Canadian Spy, and the Secret Plot to Bring America into World War II

“Benjamin Carter Hett’s book combines meticulous research with clarity of prose. It provides fascinating new insight into the dramatic rise of Hitler and serves as a timely reminder that democracies are fragile creatures that in the wrong hands are open to abuse.” —Giles Milton, author of Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

“The Nazi Menace is thrilling—and chilling. In a work as panoramic as it is profound, Benjamin Carter Hett reveals how the Second World War emerged out of the crisis of democracy in the 1930s and shows that the forces at work are common to our age as well: vast disparities of wealth and need, xenophobia used to unite people, fake news, and the challenges of national security and technology. A stunning read about then, for now.” —Anna Funder, author of Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

“Thought provokingly, Hett notes that commonalities between the 1930s and today…he suggests that lessons learned by dealing with the Nazi regime could be applied today. This compelling work is highly recommended for those interested in World War II or in the history of fascism.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/01/2020

In this follow-up to his acclaimed book on the Weimar Republic, Hett (history, Hunter Coll.; Graduate Ctr., City Univ. of New York; The Death of Democracy) looks at the Nazi regime that followed. In the preface, Hett states that his objective is not to provide a comprehensive narrative of the era; but rather, to portray the exemplary events in four major powers (Germany, Britain, the United States, and the USSR) from late 1937 through the first two years of World War II. Despite a recent democratic wave after the First World War, democracy was in peril as totalitarianism proliferated around the world, most notably in Germany. Initially, the world's democracies were slow to respond to Nazism. That shifted in 1941, with the Atlantic Charter, signed by the United States and Britain, which set aims for peace. Thought provokingly, Hett notes that commonalities between the 1930s and today, with an increase in nationalism along with media used by skilled politicians to manipulate the masses. Moreover, he suggests that lessons learned by dealing with the Nazi regime could be applied today. VERDICT This compelling work is highly recommended for those interested in World War II or in the history of fascism.—Dave Pugl, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL

Library Journal

2020-05-04
Looking into the minds of World War II’s most important leaders.

In the 1930s, the world was wracked by a fundamental conflict: Should the nations be democratic, where the people decide what their governments will be, or authoritarian, where dictators make all decisions? The democracies were led by the U.S., England, and France, and the authoritarians by Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan. Hett, who has written widely on Hitler and the Third Reich, delves into why five of those nation’s most important leaders—Franklin Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, and, although his name isn’t included in the title, Neville Chamberlain—made the decisions that led to World War II. How did they see the world? What did they fear? What did they hope? What motivated them? What did they see as their strengths? Their weaknesses? In addition to a collection of minibiographies of these pivotal figures, the text is a sometimes-dry, sometimes-gripping, always authoritative story of the 1930s and ’40s and the close parallels that exist with today’s world. Though Donald Trump is never mentioned, the parallels between him and Hitler are obvious throughout. For example, Hitler wrote that a dictator must tell lies, big lies, and keep on telling them even if they are proven false because many will believe them anyway. Also, never apologize. Primarily, though, Hett sticks to the history and motivations of his principals: why Chamberlain appeased Germany at every turn; how Hitler used Chamberlain’s weaknesses to build a war machine; why Roosevelt feared that entering any war with Germany would turn America into a military state; how Churchill almost forced Roosevelt into the war by showing him what America would face with Hitler leading a totalitarian Europe; and why Stalin wanted anything but a war. The 12-page cast of characters, divided by nation, is highly useful.

An excellent read for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the thinking behind World War II.

Kirkus Reviews