This work investigates the systematic state-sponsored violence of the November 1938 pogroms against Jewish populations in Nazi Germany and Austria. Sir Martin Gilbert, a preeminent historian of the twentieth century and the Holocaust, utilizes a combination of archival records, contemporary newspaper reports, and personal testimonies to reconstruct the events of Kristallnacht. The book argues that these attacks were not spontaneous outbursts but a calculated escalation in the Nazi campaign to disenfranchise and terrorize the Jewish community, serving as a precursor to the systematic extermination that followed.

This text is regarded as a definitive, accessible historical account that maintains a high level of scholarly rigor while remaining readable for a general audience. The work is widely cited for its ability to synthesize complex archival data into a clear, chronological narrative that underscores the gravity of the state-orchestrated violence.