A very detailed and interesting work, albeit a slow read. The book painstakingly paints a picture of the events that led to the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. Details like the administrative structures of the Third Reich were especially interesting to me. This work is a great history lesson about admiring authoritarianism. The echoes to modern days are somewhat scary.

The book laudably elucidates the fact that Hitler did not just suddenly spring to power out of nowhere but that his rise to power was the culmination of a long historical development and that he had widespread support of the German people, economy, and military. Although I was somewhat aware of it, I was aghast of the amount of intrigue that the democratic system of the Weimar Republic enabled. The people in power made the system into such that it served staying in power rather than the best of the people. To some extent, this is also true to democratic systems in general, and I find that disturbing.

What I did not enjoy was the casual homophobia cultivated by the author. Sure, it is an old book, but the discriminatory views being dated did not make them any less distasteful to read. Toward the end of the book, I also found the detailed description of battles a bit boring to read. Then again, I have never been that interested in war history.