How does a modern nation descend into madness? Journalist William L. Shirer witnessed it firsthand. As a correspondent in 1930s Berlin, he watched the nightmare unfold, from the frenzied rallies to the first steps toward war. In this monumental history, Shirer combines his chilling on-the-ground reporting with captured secret Nazi documents to craft the definitive chronicle of Hitler’s Germany. From its terrifying rise to its Götterdämmerung, this is the essential, breathtaking account of the twelve-year empire that forever scarred humanity.