Can anyone recommend a book on how the Nazi bureaucracy functioned? How did the different factions in the Nazi party play against each other, and how did the party interact with the established state institutions? How much effect did Nazi dictates have on local, day to day operations in a small town or city?
On a related note -- if any of you do study bureaucracies and how the state functions, can anyone recommend me some good general books (maybe shading into political science/sociology, not history, but I thought I would ask).
Thank you!
This one focuses on the SS, not the Nazis in general, but if you're looking for bureaucratic details this book will give you more of them than you probably want. So much so that it can get a little bit tedious at times. But its a veritable treasure trove of information. You'll learn a ton. I highly recommend it.
The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen. Focuses on the experience of a single German town.
I would have to recommend The Third Reich in Power by Richard Evans, I think it will provide good answers to most if not all of your questions. The book is the second part of a trilogy, with the first book being The Coming of the Third Reich. and the third being The Third Reich at War. All three are excellent, and can be enjoyed on their own, however all three together provide a great history of Nazi Germany from beginning to end.
The Nazi Dictatorship by Ian Kershaw is one of the better books I've come across on this subject. Kershaw (one of the best contemporary historians of Nazism) wrote it mostly to combat the popular perceptions of the Nazi government both within the historical profession and in the general public, so much of it is something of a historiography of the history of Nazism . However, he proves his points by showing how the Nazi government actually worked. A dense read, but fascinating.