Historian Timothy W. Ryback (Takeover) captures the frenetic, frightening speed of Adolf Hitler's political blitzkrieg that ended Germany's democratic experiment in 53 Days. When Hitler was appointed German chancellor in 1933, one of the most shocking transformations in the history of democracy was set in motion: his single-minded destruction of a "constitutional republic through constitutional means."
In this concise and step-by-step account, Ryback traces how Hitler declared "war on his own government" and, as chancellor, systematically dismantled the democratic institutions, legal safeguards, and political processes that stood between him and absolute power. The first democratic pillar to crumble was freedom of the press, as Hitler instituted an emergency decree under Article 48 of the constitution banning newspapers "critical of the new government." Next was the purge of the Prussian bureaucracy and the diminution of states' rights in the federated areas. But it was the Reichstag fire in February 1933 that offered Hitler the "singular opportunity to suspend civil liberties and impose Reich authority."
Ryback's narrative possesses an eerie verisimilitude in parallel with developments in the 21st-century U.S. and reads like a warning of how democracy can provide the means for its own destruction. Ironically, Hitler understood "better than his political opponents, or even the framers of the constitution itself" that the government expressed the will of the people, whom he manipulated so deftly as an enemy of democracy. 53 Days is a breathless, cogent, and timely analysis of Hitler's ascent to dictator. --Peggy Kurkowski, freelance book reviewer in Denver