This fascinating and absorbing new book, drawing on original Gestapo files, provides a wide range of vivid and fascinating stories that explore the tragic human plight of victims of Nazi terror, and the motives of the German citizens who denounced them. By examining in depth how the Gestapo dealt with Jews, Communists, religious dissidents and those on the margins of society, McDonough has produced a brilliant, readable and deeply significant examination of Hitler's notorious secret police. Andrew Roberts A compelling and crisply written new history of the Third Reich's central instrument on domestic terror between 1933 and 1945. McDonough moves beyond the admistrative history the Gestapo to examine the key target groups not just political and religious opponents, but social outsiders and Jews He provides a nuanced account via Gestapo files and courtroom testimony. In setting a range of victims' life stories revealed in these neglected Gestaspo case files against long standing historical views of either an all pervasive surveillence or total reliance on public denunciations, The Gestapo provides an original and welcome perspective on this often misunderstood symbol of Nazi repression and enforced conformity. Impressive, illumated by real victim stories, this book is strongly recommended. -- Matthew Feldman, Professor in Contemporary History at Teesside University and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bergen, Norway In this thoroughly researched and elegantly written book, Frank McDonough confronts decades of myth-making to uncover the complex realities of Hitler's notorious secret police. The Gestapo is as surprising as it is illuminating, and it sets a new standard for this vitally important subject. -- Roger Moorhouse, leading Third Reich historian and best-selling author Superbly scholarly and just as readable. A chilling, meticulous record of state brutality that is more compelling than any novel. -- Dan Snow, Award-winning TV historian and best-selling author Praise for The Origins of the Second World War: Here is modern history writing at its very best. Frank McDonough has brought together no fewer than 30 other leading scholars to examine that most vital of historical moments - the outbreak of the Second World War - from every conceivable international aspect. Ground-breaking, fascinating, occasionally deeply revisionist and always highly readable; this sets the mark for all collaborative history from now on. -- Andrew Roberts Praise for Sophie Scholl: McDonough has managed to unearth some significant new material by assiduously trawling German archives, discovering diaries and letters, Gestapo interrogation files and trial documents. -- Sir Richard J.Evans Times Higher Educational Supplement

Frank McDonough is Professor of International History at Liverpool John Moores University. He was born in Liverpool. He studied history at Balliol College, Oxford and gained a PhD from Lancaster University. He has written many books on the Third Reich, including: Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party (2012), Sophie Scholl: The Woman Who Defied Hitler (2009), The Holocaust (2008), Opposition and Resistance in NaziGermany (2001), Hitler, Chamberlain and Appeasement (2002), and Hitler and NaziGermany (1999). He has also published many other books, most notably, The Origins of the Second World War: An International Perspective (2011), The Conservative Party and Anglo-German Relations (2007), Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) and The Origins of the First and Second World Wars (1997). Frank has appeared on TV and radio numerous times discussing the Third Reich. He featured in a six part series 'Nazi Secrets' for National Geographic in 2012 and a 10 part series 'The Rise of the Nazis' for the Discovery Channel. He has appeared in Third Reich documentaries for BBC 1, Channel 5, and Russia Today. He acted as 'Historical Consultant' for the BBC 'History of the World Project' and the 'BBC World War One at Home' series of programmes. The US History Network placed Frank's popular Twitter account: @FXMC1957 in the Top 30 most popular historical Twitter accounts in the World.