The Coming of the Third Reich

The preface to Richard J. Evans’s The Coming of the Third Reich contains an extensive discussion of how the book would fit into the historiography of Nazi Germany. Discuss how The Coming of the Third Reich fits into histories of the Nazi Party and the history of Germany under Adolf Hitler’s rule published since 2005, the year The Coming of the Third Reich was published.

In the preface, Richard J. Evans remarks “it seems to me inappropriate for a work of history to indulge in the luxury of moral judgment” (xx). Do you agree? Why or why not? How does Evans’s approach compare to at least one other book about the history of Nazi Germany?

Richard J. Evans argues that the history of the Third Reich began with the history of the German Empire from 1870 to 1918, especially the chancellorship of Otto von Bismarck. Compare and contrast this argument to one other theory about the historical origins of Nazi Germany. Which theory do you find more convincing?