Beginning in the broken aftermath of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles that made German recovery almost impossible, Whittock tells not just the account of the men who rose to the fore in the dangerous days of the Weimar republic, circling around the cult of personality generated by Adolf Hitler, but also a convincing and personality-driven overview of how ordinary Germans became seduced by the dreams of a new world order, the Third Reich.

The book also gives a fascinating insight into the everyday life in Germany during the Second World War and explores key questions such as how much did the Germans know about the Holocaust and why did the regime eventually fail so disastrously?

Martyn Whittock has taught history at secondary level for thirty-five years. He is a lecturer in local history and has written numerous textbooks for the educational market and also books for adult readers, including on Viking and Anglo-Saxon history. He has been a consultant for the BBC, English Heritage and the National Trust and has written for Medieval History magazine and archaeological journals.