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The Holocaust: A New History Hardcover – April 18, 2017

by Laurence Rees (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 1,327 ratings
“This is by far the clearest book ever written about the Holocaust, and also the best at explaining its origins and grotesque mentality, as well as its chaotic development.”―Antony Beevor, bestselling author of Stalingrad

Laurence Rees has spent twenty-five years meeting survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust. Now, he combines their never-before-seen eyewitness testimony with the latest academic research to create a uniquely accessible and authoritative account of the Holocaust.
 
In The Holocaust, Rees offers an examination of the decision-making process of the Nazi state, and in the process reveals the series of escalations that cumulatively created the horror. He argues that while hatred of the Jews was always at the epicenter of Nazi thinking, what happened cannot be fully understood without considering the murder of the Jews alongside plans to kill large numbers of non-Jews, including the disabled, Sinti, and Roma, plus millions of Soviet civilians.
 
Through a chronological, intensely readable narrative, featuring enthralling eyewitness testimony and the latest academic research, this is a compelling new account of the worst crime in history.
 
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  1. Print length
    552 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    PublicAffairs
  4. Publication date
    April 18, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.63 x 9.63 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1610398440
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1610398442
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  1. What gas chambers offered was not a way of killing more people in a single day than shooting, but a method of making the killing easier – for the killers.
    Highlighted by 98 Kindle readers
  2. The desire of other European countries in the 1930s to persecute and even remove their Jews has largely been forgotten in the public consciousness today – dwarfed by the scale and ferocity of the subsequent Nazi Holocaust.
    Highlighted by 86 Kindle readers
  3. The German leader was not a ‘normal’ statesman. He did not want to come to a mutually agreeable compromise and it did not matter to him that his ‘facts’ were wrong.
    Highlighted by 82 Kindle readers
  4. The disturbing truth is that the French authorities persecuted the Jews because they chose to, not because they were told to.
    Highlighted by 71 Kindle readers
  5. Goebbels believed that propaganda was at its most powerful when an audience could be manipulated into thinking that they had reached their own conclusions about a subject.
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From the Publisher

Blurb from Professor Sir Ian Kershaw for The Holocaust

Blurb from Andrew Roberts for The Holocaust

Blurb from Anthony Beevor for The Holocaust

The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History
Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War
Auschwitz: A New History
Horror in the East: Japan and the Atrocities of World War II
Customer Reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars 194
4.6 out of 5 stars 465
4.6 out of 5 stars 1,466
4.4 out of 5 stars 286
Price $28.02 $19.38 $15.45 $22.66
Explore the Works of Laurence Rees 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. A jaw-dropping description of two regimes stripped of moral anchors and doomed to destroy each other, and those caught up in the vicious magnetism of their leadership. This “scrupulous and honest” (Washington Post) history of the most notorious concentration camp of the Holocaust preserves the authentic voices of survivors and perpetrators. On the basis of never-before-published interviews with both the victimizers and the victimized, and drawing on never-before-revealed or long-ignored archival records, Rees discloses the full horror of the war in the Pacific.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Contributed magnificently to the vast corpus of Holocaust literature.... Serve[s] as an excellent guide for the perplexed.”―Wall Street Journal

“Rees has compiled a readable, moving, and comprehensive overview of this scholarship, enlivened by vivid first‑person reminiscences... Readers looking for a single‑volume history of the Holocaust will have trouble finding one better than this.”―ForeignAffairs

“Rees has spent his life researching, writing, and making documentaries about the Holocaust, and his new book is full of facts and stories that landed on the cutting‑room floor when he was editing his other works. It is a long and detailed explanation of why the Holocaust happened, of why Hitler was embraced by millions, of why what's thought of by many as an aberration wasn't an aberration at all but a result of all the history and politics and religion and prejudice that went on for centuries before.”―Boston Globe

“Anyone wanting a compelling, highly readable explanation of how and why the Holocaust happened, drawing on recent scholarship and impressively incorporating moving and harrowing interviews with victims as well as chilling accounts by perpetrators, need look no further than Rees's brilliant book.”―Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of To Hell and Back and Hitler, A Biography

“A masterpiece... Rees' best book yet”―Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War

“This is by far the clearest book ever written about the Holocaust, and also the best at explaining its origins and grotesque mentality, as well as its chaotic development.”―Antony Beevor, bestselling author of Stalingrad, Berlin, and The Second World War

About the Author

Laurence Rees is an award-winning historian and documentary filmmaker. He has authored several books including Hitler and Stalin, the bestselling, Auschwitz: A New History,  and his forthcoming title, The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History. He lives in London.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 18, 2017
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 552 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1610398440
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1610398442
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.63 x 9.63 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 1,327 ratings

About the author

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Laurence Rees

Laurence Rees

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Laurence Rees is a former Head of BBC TV History programmes and his written nine books focusing on the Nazis and the Second World War. His latest, 'The Nazi Mind – 12 Warnings from History', was a Sunday Times bestseller and was described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘a brilliant piece of work: learned compelling and frankly terrifying’, by the Daily Mail as ‘superb’ and ‘invaluable’, by the Independent as ‘compulsive reading’ and ‘enthralling and chilling’, and the Irish Times as ‘meticulously researched, brilliantly written and passionately argued’.

Many of his books, including 'The Nazis: A Warning from History', 'Auschwitz: The Nazis and the ‘Final Solution’, 'World War II: Behind Closed Doors' and 'The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler', were also documentary TV series, which he wrote and produced.

His book on Auschwitz won the British Book Award, and is the world’s bestselling work on the history of the camp.

Educated at Oxford University, for several years he was a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London University. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Sheffield and the Open University. His other awards include a BAFTA, a Grierson award, a George Foster Peabody award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award, a Broadcast award, a BANFF festival award, two International Documentary awards and two Emmys.

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4.7 out of 5 stars
1,327 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable, with one mentioning it reads like a documentary. Moreover, the book is extensively researched and provides a thorough history of the Holocaust, with one customer noting how it interlaces the history of the Reich. Additionally, the writing quality receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as easy to read.

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ReadabilityDepthHistorical accuracyWriting quality
20 customers mention "Readability"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, noting it reads like a documentary, and one customer mentions being completely captivated by every word.

"...in learning (or learning more) about the Holocaust, this is a book you need to read...." Read more

"...Good read!" Read more

"A great book. Very informative and I learnt a lot. A lot of names, places and history to take in but that's always going to happen in such a book...." Read more

"An amazing book here which will bowl over any reader. The amount of detail is tremendous. It goes through a strategic analysis of the holocaust...." Read more

17 customers mention "Depth"17 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's depth, finding it extensively researched with a consumable level of detail that is both insightful and interesting.

"A great book. Very informative and I learnt a lot. A lot of names, places and history to take in but that's always going to happen in such a book...." Read more

"An amazing book here which will bowl over any reader. The amount of detail is tremendous. It goes through a strategic analysis of the holocaust...." Read more

"I highly recommended this book. It is a very comprehensive, extensively researched and updated account of the worst crime in history...." Read more

"...well researched and is written in a way that makes it very easy to understand the history of the Holocaust… I plan on reading it a second time… I did..." Read more

12 customers mention "Historical accuracy"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the historical accuracy of the book, praising its thorough treatment of the Holocaust and breathtaking historical record, with one customer noting how it interlaces the history of the Reich.

"Good history on not only the Holocaust, but how anti Semitism evolved over time in Europe & eventually morphed into genocide...." Read more

"...A very well written book for those wanting a thorough history on the holocaust." Read more

"...He also interlaces the history of the Reich with the holocaust. That way you can see it as an official policy of Hitler...." Read more

"The writing and research undertaken to create this historical record was breathtaking...." Read more

11 customers mention "Writing quality"11 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with one noting it is easy to read.

"...It's very well written, and only the most hard-hearted person could read this book without feeling a sense of great sadness (and shame) that one..." Read more

"...A very well written book for those wanting a thorough history on the holocaust." Read more

"...The book is very well researched and is written in a way that makes it very easy to understand the history of the Holocaust… I plan on reading it a..." Read more

"...This beautifully written account brings home this progressive breakdown of the merely intolerable into a world of methodical bestiality...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Andrew Mintz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tough but Necessary to Read this Outstanding Book
    Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    For anybody interested in learning (or learning more) about the Holocaust, this is a book you need to read. It's very well written, and only the most hard-hearted person could read this book without feeling a sense of great sadness (and shame) that one group of people could treat other groups of people in such a barbaric manner. Also (and importantly), it should be remembered that Jews were not the only groups that were brutalized by the Nazis. The disabled, homosexuals, gypsies, and Slavs were also targeted by Hitler's killing machine. I hope that books like this will continue to be published and read. Even today, there are people who still insist that the Holocaust never happened. History demands that this chapter in world history never be forgotten. Please read this book and encourage others to read it as well. I don't think you will regret your purchase.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Michael Herndon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Good history on not only the Holocaust, but how anti Semitism evolved over time in Europe & eventually morphed into genocide. The book features many individual personalities, both perpetrators as well as victims. Good read!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Portia
    4.0 out of 5 stars A great book. Very informative and I learnt a lot
    Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A great book. Very informative and I learnt a lot. A lot of names, places and history to take in but that's always going to happen in such a book. A very well written book for those wanting a thorough history on the holocaust.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Thomas M. Magee
    5.0 out of 5 stars Overwhelming and amazing.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    An amazing book here which will bowl over any reader. The amount of detail is tremendous. It goes through a strategic analysis of the holocaust. I think most people will have to take it in small pieces. It will overwhelm you if you don't. The author successfully illustrates throughout the book that the holocaust wasn't an isolated collection of actions by Nazis. This was a government program. A whole system is built to do this. Workers in the system included not only Nazis, but average Germans, people of the occupied countries and even some of the Jews themselves. The killing was more than Auchwitz. The author explains how it started small through official discrimination to the program to kill the infirm, to the small scale killing to the big camps. I hope people remember that the next time they want the government to run some part of their life.

    The author takes the reader through the growth of the holocaust to the final days of the Reich. He also interlaces the history of the Reich with the holocaust. That way you can see it as an official policy of Hitler. That becomes very apparent at the end of the war. The holocaust in a way takes priority over the war effort. He does try to interlace the 10,000 foot level view with pictures of people on the ground. This really enhances the story. The one drawback is the lack of context with everything else in the war. He tries to do that but doesn't give it enough space in the book. That would help people understand how the hate overrode everything else.
    46 people found this helpful
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  • Raimundo Gonzalez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
    Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I highly recommended this book. It is a very comprehensive, extensively researched and updated account of the worst crime in history. Denying or ignoring the Holocaust puts us at increased risk for repeating it. It is curious that while a few instances of non-Jews saving Jews are mentioned, there is no mention of the two that have been the most popularized, Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg. It is also interesting that the perpetrators of the "final solution" on which the author seems to lay the most blame are Hitler, Goebbels and the SS and SD leaders. Goring and the Wehrmacht just get a slap on the wrist in the book. Yet Goring, Jodl and Keitel were all sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials not just for their involvement in military war crimes but for involvement in the final solution. I think these three men did not have as firm a conviction in the total extermination of the Jews as Hitler, Himmler, etc. They were just content to run the war and, in the case of Goring, to amass a large art collection and let the more committed Jew haters take the blame.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • putt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I really enjoyed reading the book. I have read a lot of books on the Holocaust and this book is my favorite.
    The book is very well researched and is written in a way that makes it very easy to understand the history of the Holocaust… I plan on reading it a second time… I didn’t want the book to end…
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Phillip Rohlin
    5.0 out of 5 stars A superb historical document for the ages.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I'm obsessed with this period because I was born in 1936 and would have been swept away by its consequences if I weren't living in the USA at the time.. The machinations of the NAZIS are unfolded in great detail, and the incremental expansion of the program into the catastrophic death machine it became is surreal and horrifying in its clarity and bewildering progression. Massive death was always incidentally factored into the program, but the intentional enactment of murder as the living and predatory dynamic that became and end unto itself is overwhelming in its dehumanizing reality. This beautifully written account brings home this progressive breakdown of the merely intolerable into a world of methodical bestiality. A brilliant book in every way.

    Phillip Rohlin
    31 people found this helpful
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  • Suzanne Downey
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I first heard about this book when Laurence Rees was interviewed on radio, and he talked about the years of research which had gone into writing the book. The obvious impact on him hearing stories from Germans who had been a part of the brutality which had been meted out to the Jews, as well as stories from others who looked upon what Hitler was doing as ' a favour to all of Europe' was plain to be heard. He has gone to considerable trouble cross referencing information to establish the authenticity of the stories he has been told, but it is plain to see that the level of the atrocities can not be denied. Amazing read
    45 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Una visión de conjunto del Holocausto clara
    Reviewed in Spain on March 16, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Para cualquiera que quiera comprender cómo pudo el Holocausto ocurrir ,este libro tiene la explicación. Y saber lo que ocurrió y cómo es importante para que no se repita...
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  • Joseph Simantov
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must have the patience to read
    Reviewed in France on July 22, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    As the author himself writes, the content may be distressing, but it is absolutely necessary to know exactly why and how these things have happened. I liked the critical and cautious analysis of the facts, but I believe the book could be made easier to read if the chapters were shorter.
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  • Nitin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Atrocities of Nazi Germany against the Jewish population of Europe.
    Reviewed in India on January 5, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This book contains the atrocities against the Jews and crime against humanity.
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    Nitin
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Atrocities of Nazi Germany against the Jewish population of Europe.

    Reviewed in India on January 5, 2019
    This book contains the atrocities against the Jews and crime against humanity.
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  • Willy
    5.0 out of 5 stars interesting and detailed book
    Reviewed in Germany on July 2, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    We may saw documentaries or read books about the Holocaust but this one goes beyond cause touches from whys to the hows and where. In these days where some people dares to doubt about what happened to the Jews, this book becomes even more relevant
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  • Mr M J KIDD
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and readable history of the dark side of the mind
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Trying to understand how badly mostly ordinary human beings can behave? This is such a well written and authoritative treatment of the subject. The book underlines the fragility of the human mind and its susceptibility to behaving in unthinkable ways. In a later book on the subject Rees states “ One of the first things I learnt in my studies was that in order to understand why the Nazis possessed the mentalities they did, we must embrace the reality of a fundamental truth: we are all creatures of a particular time and a particular place. That might seem self-evident, but my experience is that many people don’t fully appreciate the extent to which they are shaped by time and place.”. I would argue that Rees’s ”particular time and particular place” can be any time and any place. We must all be vigilant.
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