Democracies are fragile. Freedoms that seem secure can be lost. Few historical events illustrate this as vividly as the failure of the Weimar Republic.

Fateful Hours tells one of the greatest dramas in world history: the failure of Germany's first democracy, culminating in the horrific rise of the Third Reich.

But this tragedy was not inevitable. In this gripping new book, celebrated historian Volker 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 - just as in the present, it is up to us whether democracy lives or dies.

"Volker Ullrich proves that German historians can also write elegantly and captivatingly. More exciting than many a thriller" - Der Spiegel

"An exciting non-fiction book that reads like a novel" - Berlin.Table

"Ullrich shows in a lively, reportage-like style that the decline of the first German democracy from 1918 to 1933 was not inevitable. An important book" - HÖRZU

"A vivid book with lessons for today" - Die Welt