The Weimar Years: Rise and Fall 1918–1933
By Frank McDonough

Aand DAILY MAILand BOOK OF THE WEEKAand SPECTATORand BOOK OF THE YEARAand DAILY TELEGRAPHand BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023ASPECTS OF HISTORYand BOOKS OF THE YEARAand GUARDIANand BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023Aand DAILY MAILand BEST CHRISTMAS BOOK OF 2023The prequel to Frank McDonough's bestsellingand Hitler Yearsand series, covering the dramatic era of German history that culminated in the rise to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933.Established in the wake of German defeat in the First World War, the Weimar Republic held out the hope that democracy, stability and prosperity would take root in Germany. From the start, however, it was beset by political and economic upheaval and spasms of violence between left and right. Year by year, from 1918 to 1933, Frank McDonough describes the major events in both domestic and foreign policy and the personalities who shaped them, together with developments in Weimar's flourishing cultural sphere. McDonough places particular focus on the parliamentary history of Weimar, arguing that it was the failure of parliamentary democracy to bring stability that allowed the power of the elected Reichstag to diminish, leading to Hitler's accession to power.The Weimar Yearsand is the tragic story of a rise and fall, as well as a warning of how, under poor leadership, economic pressure and unrelenting political instability, a democracy can drift towards a form of authoritarian rule that eventually destroys it.