Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic by Volker Ullrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fateful Hours is an examination of the history of the Weimar Republic. The author focuses mostly on events that were potential turning points in the 14 years between the proclamation of the German Republic to the accession of Adolf Hitler as chancellor. One of the important points that the author makes is that there was nothing inevitable about the rise of Hitler to power.

This is not a complete history of the Weimar Republic; by focusing on the turning points in the Republic’s story, there is not much commentary on the regular, day-to-day events, or even longer stretches such as the “five good years” 1924 to 1929. But as we move through the story there are many questions that really don’t have answers. For example, why did the Communist Party (KPD) refuse to work with the Social Democrats (SPD) even after the rise of the far right parties? And why were the conservatives around President Hindenburg so certain that they could “tame” and control the Nazi Party?

It’s a very interesting and well-written book. I think it does help if you have some general background in the history of the Weimar Republic, but it’s not required. I really enjoyed reading this book and I learned quite a lot along the way.