Inside the mind of the Third Reich

What drives people to commit atrocities? Few periods in history confront this question as starkly as the rise of the Nazis, whose crimes stand as a chilling testament to humanity’s capacity for darkness. By investigating the psychological and social forces that enabled such evil, can we uncover vital warnings about how prejudice, conformity and obedience can escalate into unimaginable cruelty? Historian and film-maker Laurence Rees explores these ideas in his latest book The Nazi Mind and in today's episode, he discusses the topic further with Danny Bird.

(Ad) Laurence Rees is the author of The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History (Viking, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Nazi-Mind-Laurence-Rees/dp/1541702336/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

Laurence Rees explains some of the short and long term causes of the Second World War: https://link.chtbl.com/ft3CDdo8.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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