The Nazi Mind

From an award-winning historian comes a fresh analysis of the rise of Nazi extremism, how such thinking gained popularity, and why it is vital to fight burgeoning extremist movements today

How could the SS have committed the crimes they did? How were the killers who shot Jews at close quarters able to perpetrate this horror? Why did commandants of concentration and death camps willingly—often enthusiastically—oversee mass murder? How could ordinary Germans have tolerated the removal of the Jews?

In The Nazi Mind, bestselling historian Laurence Rees seeks answers to some of the most perplexing questions surrounding the Second World War and the Holocaust. Ultimately, he delves into the darkness to explain how and why these people were capable of committing the worst crime in the history of the world.

From the fringe politics of the 1920s, to the electoral triumph and mass mobilization of the 1930s, through to the Holocaust and the regime’s eventual demise, Rees charts the rise and fall of Nazi mentalities—including the conditions that allowed such a violent ideology to flourish and the sophisticated propaganda effort that sustained it.

Using previously unpublished testimony from former Nazis and those who grew up in the Nazi system and in-depth insights based on the latest research of psychologists, The Nazi Mind brings fresh understanding to one of the most appalling regimes in history. 

• "Why were individuals, often from cultured and well-educated backgrounds, prepared to commit mass atrocities, culminating in genocide? That is the central issue that Laurence Rees tackles. He asks good questions and has good answers. This disturbing book is timely, relevant and important."
  Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis