The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945, Revised Edition

William Sheridan Allen

Jul 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Tom Beyer

About this audiobook

In this classic work of twentieth-century history, William Sheridan Allen demonstrates how dictatorship subtly surmounted democracy in Germany and how the Nazi seizure of power encroached from below. Relying upon legal records and interviews with primary sources, Allen dissects Northeim, Germany with microscopic precision to depict the transformation of a sleepy town to a Nazi stronghold. This cogent analysis argues that Hitler rose to power primarily through democratic tactics that incited localized support rather than through violent means. Revised on the basis of newly discovered Nazi documents, The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945 continues to significantly contribute to our understanding of this phenomenon and the political and moral debate over the roots of fascism. Allen's research provides an intimate, comprehensive study of the mechanics of revolution and an analysis of the Nazi Party's subversion of democracy. Beginning at the end of the Weimar Republic, Allen examines the entire period of the Nazi Revolution within a single locality.

About the author

William Sheridan Allen (1932-2013), a distinguished scholar of German history, traveled to the small town of Northeim in the 1950s to investigate the true nature of the Nazi Party's rise to power. He was the author of The Nazi Seizure of Power.

Tom Beyer is a character actor who has appeared in over 100 TV shows, films, and commercials; has performed in innumerable plays and musicals; and has narrated many audiobooks. He has won awards for his stage work as both an actor and a director, and has adapted classical literature for the theater.