{"product_id":"53-days-how-hitler-dismantled-a-democracy-9780802168245","title":"53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy by Ryback, Timothy W.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom internationally acclaimed historian Timothy W. Ryback, the chilling chronicle of how Adolf Hitler overturned a constitutional democracy in less than eight weeks\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn September 25, 1930, Adolf Hitler appeared before Germany's Supreme Court and outlined his plans to destroy the Weimar Republic through democratic means. The judge asked, \"So, only through constitutional means?\" Hitler replied, \"Jawohl!\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBarely two years later, on January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed the fifteenth chancellor of the Weimar Republic. Within 53 days of that date, he had effected one of the most astonishing transformations in modern democracy, using the provisions of the Constitution to turn a democratic republic into an authoritarian state. Drawing from his 800-page political playbook, \u003ci\u003eMein Kampf\u003c\/i\u003e, Hitler banned or neutered the print press and radio; purged the civil service and installed party loyalists; suspended civil liberties; compromised the courts; imposed Reich government control over the country's seventeen federated states; slapped draconian tariffs on trading partners; co-opted, imprisoned, or drove political opponents into exile; assumed control over the central bank; and then compelled the Reichstag, the country's legislative body, to pass an Enabling Act granting Hitler dictatorial power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharting the key events of those dramatic days in taut and compelling prose, Timothy W. Ryback evokes the raw political power and increasing inevitability of Hitler's state capture, amid heroic efforts by journalists and social democrats to save the republic, underscoring the alarming observation in the introduction to Joseph Goebbels' collected essays: \"The big joke on democracy is that it provides its mortal enemies with the means to its own destruction.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Timothy W. Ryback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Atlantic Monthly Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802168245\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2026 pg. 68\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/13\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimothy W. Ryback\u003c\/b\u003e is director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague. He has written on the legacies of national socialism for \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e. His books on Hitler, most recently \u003ci\u003eTakeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power\u003c\/i\u003e, have been translated into more than 20 languages. He and his wife live in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atlantic Monthly Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48942042153113,"sku":"9780802168245","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0572\/3367\/0297\/files\/9780802168245.jpg?v=1787865173","url":"https:\/\/bookmarksretail.store\/products\/53-days-how-hitler-dismantled-a-democracy-9780802168245","provider":"Bookmarks Retail","version":"1.0","type":"link"}