The Third Reich: a new history , by Michael Burleigh

Despite being fuelled by contempt for his protagonists, Burleigh's acclaimed reconsideration of Nazism provides a chilling explanation of why Hitler gained power in a modern industrial state only seven decades ago. A major reason is that Nazism was a quasi- religious movement "with one foot in the irrationalist world of Teutonic myth". In his enthralling exposition of this dark theme, Burleigh finds space for lighter moments, such as the "execrable rubbish" sung by Maurice Chevalier during the Vichy regime.