Another review for #bookstr , this time 1931: Debt, Crisis, and the Rise of Hitler by Tobias Straumann.
If you’ve read about this period such as the reparations problems, the constraints on the Reichsbank, German domestic politics during the rise of Hitler etc. then you’ll find the broad strokes familiar.
Straumann adds granular detail: specific meetings between central figures, the timing of particular credit freezes and political maneuvering around the Hoover Moratorium. It is very well researched I have to say, and the narrative is clear enough.
But in being meticulous, it’s just a book of details which pads out the timeline rather than illuminate it.
For monetary history of the era, Adam Fergusson’s When Money Dies remains far more visceral and revealing about what hyperinflation actually does to a society.
And for Hitler and the Nazis, there are far better books to understand the context 1931 imparts (a 2-year window from 1929-31 is the focus here).
Not a bad book but I added it to my list after a Luke Gromen recommendation so expected more, but perhaps he’s just less of a history nerd than I.
