Where to Start Reading About Nazi Germany: 30+ Book Picks from Expert Berlin Guides
Interested in reading about Nazi Germany, but unsure where to start?
Knowing where to begin can be daunting, and while I always recommend to just start with the topic that interests you most, I thought it would be even better to take the recommendations of not just me, but my three tour guide pals, Pip Roper, of History Flakes podcast fame, Matti Geyer from www.toursofberlin.com, and Finn Ballard of www.finn-ballard-tours.com.
The four of us got together to chat that you can watch and enjoy on YouTube where we talk all about the books focused on the Nazi period that we think make either great starting points, or have left a big impression on us. They range from general histories of the period such as those by Richard Evans, personal memoirs looking at surviving the Battle of Berlin to life as a black child in Nazi Germany, and from drug use among the Nazi leadership to novels that give us a sense of what living in Germany during that time must have been like.
You can check out the list below, but I recommend watching the YouTube video of the four of us chatting so you can get our thoughts and opinions on each of the books. I think you’ll like it!
Third Reich Book Recommendations
Below are all the books we talked about, I’ve tried to break them down into different little sections just to break it up a bit.
General Histories of Third Reich & WWII Germany
The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans
The Third Reich in Power, Richard Evans
The Third Reich at War, Richard Evans
The Hitler Conspiracies, Richard Evans
Hitler’s People, Richard Evans
The Third Reich: A New History, Michael Burleigh
Why Hitler Came Into Power, Theodore Abel
Memoirs & Diaries from People Who Lived in the Real Nazi Germany and its Concentration Camps
Maus, Art Spiegelman
A Woman in Berlin, Anonymous
The End, Ian Kershaw
Berlin Soldier, Helmut Altner
An Underground Life, Gad Beck & Frank Heibert
Queer History in Berlin
Gay Berlin, Robert Beachy
The History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
KL, Nikolaus Wachsmann
Ravensbrück, Sarah Helm (Click here to hear all about Ravensbrück on the History Flakes Podcast, and click here to hear 3 in-depth prisoner experiences of the camp)
In-Depth Books on Nazi Germany and WWII
Berlin 1936: 16 Days in August, Oliver Hilmes
Dietrich & Riefenstahl, Karin Wieland
Destined to Witness: Growing up Black in Nazi Germany, Hans Massaquoi
Different Drummers, Michael H. Kater (Swing Jugend on the History Flakes podcast)
Anna and Dr Helmy, Ronen Steinke
The House by the Lake, Thomas Harding
Wannsee, Peter Longerich
Stella Goldschlag, Peter Wyden (Click here to hear Matti’s Stella Goldschlag podcast episode)
Blitzed, Norman Ohler
Hans and Rudolph, Thomas Harding
Unwillige Volksgenossen, Peter Longerich
Books on the Battle of Berlin
Bloody Streets, Aaron S. Hamilton
The Battle of Berlin 1945, Tony Le Tissier
Berlin Battlefield Guide, Tony Le Tissier
(The Battle of Seelow Heights on the History Flakes podcast)
Novels set during the Third Reich
Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada
Little Man, What Now?, Hans Fallada
HHhH, Laurent Binet
Thank you
If you found this helpful, useful, or interesting, then you may like my other YouTube videos. You can also follow along on Instagram or TikTok for more Berlin history in bite-sized form with regular uploads (usually twice per week!)
