Burleigh, Michael, The Third Reich: A New History, Hill & Wang, 2001.

Burleigh focuses on the systematic breakdown of German society that ultimately led to Hitler's rise to power. The book paints a picture of a people so desperate for prosperity and identity that they gradually and consistently ignored their conscience while their country pursued those goals at a great human cost.

Conard, Robert C., Understanding Heinrich Böll, University of South Carolina Press, 1992.

Conard is considered one of the foremost experts on Böll's writing, and he provides a comprehensive overview of Böll war stories, satires, and major novels.

Goldhagen, Daniel J., Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, Knopf, 1996.

Goldhagen caused a huge stir in the United States and in Germany with the publication of this book. He argues that the extent to which ordinary Germans knew of the genocidal...