The Wages of Destruction The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

An extraordinary mythology has grown up around the Third Reich that hovers over political and moral debate even today. Adam Tooze’s controversial new book challenges the conventional economic interpretations of that period to explore how Hitler’s surprisingly prescient vision— ultimately hindered by Germany’s limited resources and his own racial ideology—was to create a German super-state to dominate Europe and compete with what he saw as America’s overwhelming power in a soon-to- be globalized world. The Wages of Destructionis a chilling work of originality and tremendous scholarship that is already setting off debate in Germany and will fundamentally change the way in which history views the Second World War.

Adam Tooze is a senior lecturer in economic history at the University of Cambridge and the Hart Fellow in history at Jesus College, Cambridge. He has been awarded the Leverhulme Prize for modern history.