While Allied propaganda would have us believe that during World War II the German population were downtrodden workers, with no rights and under the power and influence of the all-controlling Gestapo, the truth is somewhat different. While the Allies saw Hitler as an evil to be removed from power, in 1933 the German people saw him as a saviour, able to rescue them from the humiliation the Treaty of Versailles imposed on them. In the early days of the Nazi regime, the German people widely felt that they had social benefits unmatched by its neighbouring states, and that its poverty had been eliminated while its economy had been stabilised.

James Lucas presents a fascinating insight into the real Reich, a glimpse into the life on the German home front, from the role of women to the propaganda machine, assessing the German view of how the war would be fought, and how Hitler directly intervened in all level of party politics and decisions. Case studies of operations Barbarossa and Sealion provide an insight into military decisions of a wider scale.

After many years' research and interviews with civilians and German soldiers, Reich offers a study of the social, economic and military phenomena of the Nazi regime.