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Published Mar 2024
400 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin.
In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany.
"An expert account of the dizzying months when Hitler solidified his power in Germany...A masterfully narrated story of how a democracy committed suicide, with lessons for today." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[R]iveting...In Ryback's propulsive narrative, the quick turnaround—brought about by multiple small compounding vagaries of breaking news, personality quirks, and political horse-trading—that resulted in Hitler being appointed chancellor by Hindenburg at the end of January makes for a chilling climax. It's a dire and remarkably astute depiction of how fickle and contingent the forces of history can be." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"How does a flawed republic become something entirely different? We know how the Nazi regime ended, but think too little about how it began. This admirable account shows us how fragile and avoidable were those beginnings, and helps us to reflect upon our own predicaments." —Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny
"Tim Ryback tells a grippingly important tale. His meticulous detailing of the dramatic days before Hitler assumed power make for salutary reading in our times. Will the tragic failure of civil courage and political will be repeated – Germany, 1933, America 2024? It's hard not to imagine." —Philippe Sands, author of East West Street
"Timothy Ryback has written an engrossing clock-ticker of a narrative about the behind-the-scenes machinations and open politicking that vaulted Hitler and the Nazi party to power. Nothing was inevitable about their triumph, and plenty of contemporary observers were caught off-guard by it, as Ryback shows to chilling effect. The relevance to authoritarianism today is urgent and unmistakable. Takeover is a vital read for anyone who cares about the future of democracy." —Margaret Talbot, staff writer, The New Yorker
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Timothy W. Ryback has written on history and politics for more than three decades. He is the author of Hitler's Private Library, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and The Last Survivor, a New York Times Notable Book. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and the Financial Times. He is cofounder and director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, in The Hague.
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