Do you guys read non-fiction books? I never used to, until I really got interested in history, which was a subject I abhorred in high school (probably due to it being taught very tediously). I've now read several very compelling books, and bought several more to read, but I made this topic to share with you what I consider probably the greatest two books I'd recently read, excluding Stephen King's.

It's a series of books by Richard J Evans, dealing with the Third Reich. It's a trilogy, with two volumes already out, and the third one being released in March.


This is probably the better volume of the two I read, simply because it covers a lot more ground. It also answers the question I had when I set out to read these books: How could such a civilized society as the Germans allow themselves to be gripped by such a vile dictatorship. Professor Evans writes like a novelist, and the book reads like a historical novel. Sure we know the outcome, but this book really lays out how it came to pass, step by step, tracing back the roots to the end of the 19th century. I'm not a history buff, so for a layman it was all comprehensive and comprehensible. It really shone a lot of light on a very dark subject matter, and was told in such a manner that wasn't just dry facts, but stories intertwined with each other to form an actual narrative. This book starts at the end of the 19th century and chronicles the Nazi party till their seizure of power in 1933.


Professor Evans continues his scrupulous look inside the Third Reich, and this second volume takes place during the "peacetime" Nazi Germany, right from where the first volume ends, in 1933, till the start of the Second World War in 1939.


This final volume of the trilogy is due out on March 19, 2009, and I already have my pre-order in, of course. This will cover the entire wartime period of Nazi Germany, including the aftermath. Should be fascinating reading, and I urge you all, if the subject piques your interest in the least, to pick up the two books already out. Highly, very highly recommended.