Episode 100: Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Hitler’s Beneficiaries: How the Nazis Bought the German People: Plunder, Racial War and the Nazi Welfare State, Gotz Aly A fascinating study of how the Nazi’s used economics to bind ordinary Germans to the Nazi state even after it should have been self-evident that the war could not be won. A found this to be a useful book to help me understand how the German people fought for so long, and so fiercely, for such an abhorrent regime.
The German War: A Nation Under Arms 1939-1945, Nicholas Staargardt A terrific book that explains the war as seen through the eyes of the German people-both military and civilian. What I found so compelling about this book is that the author relies very heavily on letters written between friends and family, which provides an honest, and oftentimes shocking picture of how ordinary Germans viewed the war.
War and Economy in the Third Reich, R.J. Overy Anything written by Overy is known for its thorough research and deeply thoughtful writing. This book is no exception. For a non-economist like me, it really helped me understand how, exactly, the Nazis paid for the war and kept the conflict going.
The Coming of the Third Reich: How the Nazis Destroyed Democracy and Seized Power in Germany, Richard Evans Evans is amongst the best contemporary historians of the Third Reich. His trilogy of Nazi Germany is an amazing account of Germany during the war years. This first volume does a great job of clearly explaining the murky marriage of the Nazis and the captains of German industry.