The Nazi Mind
Twelve Warnings From History
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The Nazi Mind
Narrated by:
John Sackville
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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John Sackville
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By:
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Laurence Rees
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A groundbreaking narrative history of the motivations and mentalities behind the Nazis and their supporters, from the bestselling author of THE HOLOCAUST and President Zelenskyy’s most-read book, HITLER AND STALIN.
How could the Nazis have committed the crimes they did? Why did commandants of concentration and death camps willingly – often enthusiastically – oversee mass murder? How could ordinary Germans have tolerated the removal of the Jews? In THE NAZI MIND, bestselling author Laurence Rees combines history and the latest research in psychology to help answer some of the most perplexing questions surrounding the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Ultimately, he delves into the darkness to explain how and why these people were capable of committing the worst crime in the history of the world. Rees traces the rise and eventual fall of the Nazis through the lens of ‘twelve warnings’ – from talk about ‘them’ and ‘us’ to the escalation of racism – whilst also highlighting signs to look out for in present day leaders.
Rees uses previously unpublished testimony from former Nazis and those who grew up in the Nazi system, and in-depth psychological insights including cutting edge work on obedience, authority and the brain. THE NAZI MIND is a revelatory new way of understanding how so many people committed the most appalling crime of the 20th century.
'I will recommend to everyone' Alastair Campbell
'World-renowned historian Laurence Rees lays out a past that is also eerily a cautionary tale for our future if we are not careful' Anthony Scaramucci
'This disturbing book is timely, relevant and important' Sir Ian Kershaw
© Laurence Rees 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Critic Reviews
I will recommend to everyone . . . superbly researched and structured. I just wish it was coming out before November 5. Reading how Hitler warped and won over the German people, it is impossible not to see and feel constant resonances with so many of the styles, strategies and tactics adopted by Donald Trump (Alastair Campbell)
Rees is uniquely placed to look at this cautionary tale through a fresh lens . . . This is a brilliant piece of work: learned, compelling and frankly terrifying (James Holland)
Compulsive reading . . . rarely have the tormented questions that accumulate around the conduct of the Third Reich been subjected to such a baleful, brilliant, modern and revelatory interrogation
A fascinating study offering new insights into the psychological forces driving the Nazis - essential reading for anyone seeking answers to the haunting question of how and why Germany became consumed by Hitler’s evil. (Julia Boyd)
The Nazi Mind recounts one by one the chief ways in which Nazism attracted and held its many millions of followers. It is not just an unsparing, detailed reminder of the horrors of the past, based on decades of exhaustive research, but, unmistakably, a challenge to us to check our own no-longer-so-complacent twenty-first century consciences and act accordingly. (Frederick Taylor)
A chilling analysis of a mind perverted by relativism, delusion, cravenness, amorality and downright evil (Allan Mallinson)
At once frightening and scholarly, urgent and profoundly necessary. Here is history as a flashlight illuminating the darker hinterlands of human nature. In excavating deep beneath the surface of familiar history – exploring rich, unexpected sources - Rees shows us that the reign of the Nazis is not a story of monsters, but much more terribly of recognisable humanity. A book very much for our time, and all times (Sinclair McKay)
Chilling, brilliantly researched . . . only Laurence Rees could have written this book (Keith Lowe)
Rees, an expert on the Nazi period, focuses on recalling its hideous highlights
Where the book is saved is in its focus on lesser explored areas of the Reich. It picks and explores a lot of interesting events, people and ideas that previous writers/historians barely even acknowledge. I particularly liked the focus on the history of end of and post WW1 German society and politics. It did quite a good job of showing how and why Germany was seduced by the Nazi's. Again these areas usually are not given much time of day compared the other political and military landmarks of the time. Many of the first hand accounts seemed to be new and that aspect of the book basically saves the work. The writing is top notch and those who struggle with the heavier academic historians will appreciate how approachable this book is, while more seasoned readers can also appreciate the effort put into analyzing less focused on parts of the Reich.
Good mix of bottom up history that rides a decent line between referencing classic events that have already been analyzed to death while exploring them in new ways with interesting and new first hand accounts. Reminds me of Max Hasting's more entertaining and journalistic approach to depicting the events he writes about. There is enough genuine content here that is written well enough to make up for the books major failings, though only just.
But it does have to be reiterated that the books attempts to explain away Nazism with poorly fitting medical/psychological lingo is a damp squib, but thankfully that takes up a surprisingly small part of the book despite the book advertising itself as just that. It does seem absurd that the author isn't even vaguely an expert in the social and medical sciences that the book is trying to pander to, and that fact is painfully obvious as they clearly know very little about the terminology and science behind the terms wielded in this book as explainers of the 'Nazi brain'. There are sections of the book that are so amateurish and shoddily constructed that it amazes me that this book could even be considered to be in the same category with actual historical academic content.
The author is still clearly a gifted historian, but it's clear in this case he has greatly exceeded his academic understanding. Had this book simply tried to explain the historical and social context of Nazism and its rise then it would have been an infinitely better book. But what we get is the classic case of the author biting off more than they could chew.
For example the book tries to explain away Hitler's public speaking skills as him being able to stimulate the Amygdala in his audiences brain, a part of the brain that has been associated with the fear response. Utter pseudo intellectual garbage, and at times the book threatens to be as ignorant as the infamous 'Blitzed' novel that claimed that methamphetamine use could explain away many of the characteristics of the Nazi behavior and also falsely claimed regular drug use played a major role in Hitler's psyche. Both books are too invested in trying to make their niche area of interest an all encompassing explanation, but unlike 'Blitzed' this book has enough actual quality content to make up for this huge misstep.
Well written and performed it just makes up enough ground to make up for its main premise being total cow manure. But it is certainly a concerning trend to see how poorly modern day authors understand and cheaply try to dismiss one of histories most complex and important time periods. And it is odd to see someone like the author who is otherwise a well considered historian make such a big misstep. There will never be a single all encompassing explanation for what happened in the Third Reich and ww2, but it seems now more than ever there is a need to try and do just that.
The book fails to even begin to explain the Nazi mind, but it does offer enough to give it a listen if this is your area of interest. It is at the same time the best and worst of this new 'pop history' trend. Very easy to listen to, but also infuriatingly pseudointellectual.
Misleading title, but quality still to be found
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