Pursuing Background Research for The Chronicles of Ebrinthol
It has been over six months (probably longer) since my last update. I have spent the majority of that time doing research. Most notably, with the help of my renewed Audible.com account, I have been absorbing many histories, mainly those about World War II.
The classic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, gives a broad perspective of the war and Hitler’s rise to power. Shirer, an American journalist who was stationed in Berlin during the war, blends his personal recollections with a political overview of the war. Though published in 1960, this book forms a good foundation for an understanding the Nazi movement and the events of the Second World War.
Hitler’s Scientists by John Cornwell, is an interesting fray into the scientific machinations of the Third Reich. It documents the the removal of non-German scientists from both R&D and academia, causing the eventual crippling of scientific advancements in the Reich. Often hard to follow, this book goes into detail about the development of the V2 Rocket and it’s failed attempt to turn the tide of the war.
Lastly, The Coming of the Third Reich, the first volume of an ambitious historical trilogy by Richard J. Evans, delves into the history of the German people and the rise of the Nazi Party through 1933. This book is extraordinary in it’s readability and as such is able to convey in real terms the events in Germany during this period. Evans uses examples from everyday Germans, on subjects as varied as the hyperinflation of the early 1920’s, the nearly universal discontent of the German people with the Treaty of Versailles, the violence of militiamen like the Steel Helmets and the Nazi Brownshirts (a.k.a. StormTroopers), and the massive unemployment both before and after the onset of the Great Depression.
The next books in my research are The Power of the Third Reich and The Third Reich at War the final two volumes in Richard J. Evans masterful trilogy. More updates are coming soon!
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