How could ordinary Germans, leading uneventful lives, have adapted so easily to the evils of the Nazi regime? Some have argued that the Gestapo reign of terror forced Germans to collaborate with their Nazi rulers, others take the view that the German people were programmed for genocide by centuries of eliminationist anti-Semitism.

In Surviving Hitler, Adam LeBor and Roger Boyes show that neither view gives a full picture and that the German response to Hitler was far more complex. They argue that the only way to understand how the Holocaust could have happened is to step right into the heart of daily life in the Third Reich. Drawing on new research and recently declassified documents, they paint a compelling picture of life for the average German, uncovering new examples of protest and disenchantment as well as eager complicity with the Nazis. They examine how many Germans really knew about the extermination camps, and ask how idealogically driven was the Holocaust? Above all, they show how, for normal, 'decent' Germans, life was steadily warped under Hitler and how moral compromises were made at work and at home which allowed a corrupt, inefficient and genocidal regime to stay in power.

Richly detailed, Surviving Hitler not only provides the most comprehensive illustration of the reality of life under Nazi dictatorship but gives the most convincing explanation yet of how mass murder could be accepted by a supposedly civilised country.

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