The Coming of the Third Reich (2003) 622 pages, by Richard J. Evans, is the first of a trilogy of books by Evans describing the rise and fall of the 20th century’s most documented dictatorship. Evans describes the social, political, and cultural factors that led to the Nazi’s assumption of power. Most of the book centers on the period from 1918 until the Summer of 1933, about six months after Adolph Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor. What were they thinking? What were we all thinking?