
Fateful Hours
The Collapse of the Weimar Republic
Volker Ullrich(Author)
WW Norton & Co (Publisher)
Published on 11. November 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-324-11054-5 (ISBN)
Description
Democracies are fragile. Freedoms that seem secure can be lost. Few historical events illustrate this as vividly as the failure of the Weimar Republic. Germany's first democracy endured for fourteen tumultuous years and culminated with the horrific rise of the Third Reich. As one commentator wrote in July 1933: Hitler had "won the game with little effort. . . . All he had to do was huff and puff-and the edifice of German politics collapsed like a house of cards." But this tragedy was not inevitable.
In Fateful Hours, award-winning historian Volker Ullrich chronicles the captivating story of the Republic, capturing a nation and its people teetering on the abyss. Born from the ashes of the First World War, the fledgling democracy was saddled with debt and political instability from its beginning. In its early years, a relentless chain of crises-hyperinflation, foreign invasion, and upheaval from the right and left-shook the republic, only letting up during a brief period of stability in the 1920s. Social and cultural norms were upended. Political murder was the order of the day. Yet despite all the challenges, the Weimar Republic was not destined for its ignoble end.
Drawing on letters, memoirs, newspaper articles, and other sources, Ullrich charts the many failed alternatives and missed opportunities that contributed to German democracy's collapse. In an immersive style that takes us to the heart of political power, Ullrich argues that, right up until January 1933, history was open. There was no shortage of opportunities to stop the slide into fascism. Just as in the present, it is up to us whether democracy lives or dies.
In Fateful Hours, award-winning historian Volker Ullrich chronicles the captivating story of the Republic, capturing a nation and its people teetering on the abyss. Born from the ashes of the First World War, the fledgling democracy was saddled with debt and political instability from its beginning. In its early years, a relentless chain of crises-hyperinflation, foreign invasion, and upheaval from the right and left-shook the republic, only letting up during a brief period of stability in the 1920s. Social and cultural norms were upended. Political murder was the order of the day. Yet despite all the challenges, the Weimar Republic was not destined for its ignoble end.
Drawing on letters, memoirs, newspaper articles, and other sources, Ullrich charts the many failed alternatives and missed opportunities that contributed to German democracy's collapse. In an immersive style that takes us to the heart of political power, Ullrich argues that, right up until January 1933, history was open. There was no shortage of opportunities to stop the slide into fascism. Just as in the present, it is up to us whether democracy lives or dies.
Reviews / Votes
"Uncomfortably timely . . . The parallels to our own time, as Ullrich lays them out in this fluent narrative, are alarming, with new authoritarian parties and governments following the fascist playbook in every detail, from culture wars and book banning to anti-immigration decrees and the steady, willful erosion of the constitution and democratic practices." -- Kirkus Reviews "A prescient reminder of the fragility of democracy. " -- Booklist "A resonant and sobering cautionary tale of how a democracy can die." -- Publishers WeeklyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
36 black-and-white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
644 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-324-11054-5 (9781324110545)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
approx. 11/2026
NEW DIRECTIONS
€19.00
Not yet published

E-Book
11/2025
W. W. Norton & Company
€32.99
Available for download
Persons
Volker Ullrich is a German historian and the best-selling, award-winning author of Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939; Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945; Eight Day in May; and Germany 1923. He lives in Germany. Jefferson Chase has translated works by Thomas Mann and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, among others. He lives in Berlin.