I picked this one up on a whim in the book store and ended up buying it. I am glad I did – it was surprisingly good. I have read a few books on World War II, and I know the basic facts of it quite well. However, I learnt quite a bit about Germany before the war, when the Nazis were taking over.
There is quite a mix of objects included in the book. Each object has one or more pictures (of good quality) and a couple of pages of discussion. Through the stories of the various objects you get a good overview of the third reich. There are several themes represented by many objects, for example weapons (Stuka airplane, Luger gun), Hitler (Mein Kampf, Berghof), and the holocaust (the gate to Birkenau, poison gas). Many objects deal with how the Nazis came to power and how they tightened their grip on it – very chilling, and something I didn’t know much about.
The book feels well research and is a very easy read. Each object is a good starting point for describing some aspect of Nazi Germany before and during the war. The sum of the stories is quite fascinating, and I learnt a lot I didn’t know. ( )

The danger of a book like this one is that it could encourage the fetishistic collection of Nazi memorabilia. There is already a fairly large community of people who collect such things, and some (including members of Britain’s royal family) have even been known to dress up in Nazi uniforms (all in good fun, of course). But the skilful hand of Roger Moorhouse ensures that this will not be the case with this book. As many of the objects discussed here show, the German Nazis were murderous barbarians. The art they collected was often mediocre, their ideas half-baked (Moorhouse points out that Hitler’s Mein Kampf was largely unreadable) and the one thing they excelled at — murdering innocent and defenceless people — is shown in some detail. Many of the objects are familiar, but others seem to be quite rare finds. Beautifully illustrated in full colour. Highly recommended. ( )

A fascinating insight into the Third Reich with lavish illustrations, shining a light on many unknown elements of the regime and providing a valuable and engaging history lesson the way. The author clearly knows his subject inside out and brings a laser focus to the material, which in other hands could easily have become a trivial exercise. Highly recommended if you want to know how the regime came to power, held on to that power but was ultimately defeated. ( )

The Third Reich in 100 Objects

Roger Moorhouse is one of Europe’s top experts on the Nazis and the Third Reich, who has published over the years some of the most important studies on various aspects of the Reich and its people. This book has been collated by an expert and it also happens to be the first of its kind covering the Third Reich and the Second World War.

What this gives the reader is a wide range of objects that illustrate all aspects of life of that period, from politics to normal, mundane life. Some of the objects are bizarre others are sinister and many could be considered rather ordinary if it were not for where they were from and what they were used for. It cannot be any way be said that it could be an easy task to limit yourself to just 100 objects to define the Third Reich.

The first object that is recorded is Hitler’s Pain Box that had been looted out of his desk in his Munich apartment, by the Belgium war correspondent Robert Francotte. Some of the usual suspects are here such as Mein Kampf, The Berlin Olympic Stadium of 1936, and the Hitler Youth Uniforms being examples of this.

There are also objects that you may not expect to be included such as Rudolf Hess’s Underpants, the Wilhelm Gustloff Bracelet and the Prinz Eugen Propeller. Which all help to make this a fascinating account of the objects concerned in the book.

Each of the objects in this book, besides pictures of the item concerned there is a detailed description of each item. This gives you an idea of why it was included in the book and the fascinating history each object holds.

The premise, the research and intent of this book as a different way of looking at the Third Reich, makes this truly an interesting book. As I am sure Roger Moorhouse would explain there is very little left to discover about the Third Reich as a library of books are usually published each year, all covering very much the same subjects, with nothing very new added.

This book does bring a different way at looking at the Third Reich and therefore makes this book, readable and interesting. ( )