The Third Reich has surely been the subject of more books and articles than any other topic in European history. Although it is certainly possible to imagine new discoveries of relatively minor features of Nazism or of the Nazi period, it is difficult to imagine someone uncovering facts about…

In his foreword, this book’s excellent translator, Robert E. Goodwin, describes the author, Rüdiger Safranski, as a “raconteur.” This is an apt characterization: Highly intelligent and extraordinarily well-read, Safranski brims with intellectual self-confidence. He is firm in his convictions and in…

The Third Reich hovers over German history.