Includes bibliographical references (p. [827]-900) and index.

In this book, historian Evans tells of Germany's radical reshaping under Nazi rule. Every area of life, from literature, culture, and the arts to religion, education, and science, was subordinated to the relentless drive to prepare Germany for war. Evans shows how the Nazis attempted to reorder every aspect of German society, encountering many kinds and degrees of resistance along the way but gradually winning the acceptance of the German people. Those who were seen as unfit, including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill, "asocial" and "habitual" criminals, were dealt with in increasingly brutal terms. After six years of foreign policy brinkmanship that took the Nazi regime from success to success, Hitler's drive to prepare Germany for the war he saw as its destiny reached its fateful hour in September 1939.--From publisher description.