The author has spent 25 years meeting survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust. This is the first accessible and authoritative account in more than 30 years which combines testimony with the latest academic research. A compelling and important understanding of how and why the Holocaust happened, highly acclaimed by historians. New in three ways: it contains a large amount of previously unpublished testimony; it contextualises the decision-making process of the Nazi state which incrementally created its own abyss; it demonstrates that while hatred of Jews was at the centre of Nazi ideology, this cannot be understood without taking the persecution of other groups into account. 
Laurence Rees is a former Head of BBC TV History  programmes, as well as an multi-award winning writer and broadcaster.