I like big books (and I can not lie)

It's been a while since I read something that was too heavy to lift, so I put on my back brace and lugged around a book that is holding down bookshelves all over America: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer.  You've probably seen the big book with the swastika on your parents book shelves, but has anyone actually read it?  Because let me tell you, it's 1147 pages.  Not including the bibliography or index.  Of course, if you account for the pictures, that brings it down to about 1147 pages, and then, once you take out the maps its down to 1147 pages.  That's right, 1147 pages with nary a picture or map to be found.  But don't worry, there are footnotes!

You all have a basic idea of the story.  Hitler starts up the Nazi party, gradually picks up some seats in the legislature during the 20s and then manages to get himself named Chancellor in 1932.  Over the next half dozen years he tells the same story over and over again, pushing around pretty much the rest of Europe.  Basically, he tells them, "Hey, I really need X, and if you just let me have it, then we'll be good, and we can all live together happily".  Over the 1930s, X happens to be, no more reparation payments over WWI, no more limiting Germany to a tiny little army, no more limiting Germany to a tiny little navy, Austria, part of Czechoslovakia, all of Czechoslovakia, and finally half of Poland.  It takes a depressingly long time for other European powers to figure out that he's got a never-ending list of stuff that he wants.  So, they have a big ol' war, he's pretty much crazy, he kills pretty much everyone he doesn't like (which is a lot of people) and finally he kills himself.  There you go, if you have small hand writing, I think you can get that on a 3x5 card.

The book was published in 1960, and extensively references captured Nazi documents, which provides interesting insight in to the fact that they were all crazy.  Page after page left me completely dumbfounded that 1) anyone could be so messed up and hate so many people, 2) he could find so many friends to help him in his cause and 3) so many people let him do it.

I made it through the book in about 8 weeks, and considering that I moved and started a new job during that time, I think that's pretty good progress.  It's interesting, though long and at times overly detailed, covering every conversation that every person had during negotiations, for example.  The best parts were when Shirer would quote his own journal or opinion, as he lived in Germany as a reporter from 1932 to 1940, and saw many important events first hand.