In 1934, a year after the rise to power, the Nazi regime finds itself in a severe crisis. Political successes are lacking, and the initial euphoria among supporters has faded. Ernst Röhm continues to expand his Storm Detachment and demands a continuation of the National Socialist revolution, while ultraconservative forces are also forming. In June 1934, Hitler carries out a bloody reckoning: he cold-bloodedly orders the liquidation of Röhm and the leadership of the SA. However, the murders escalate.

Peter Longerich reconstructs the complex background of the so-called Röhm Putsch and, for the first time, shows through a comprehensive evaluation of contemporary reports how the population reacted to the killings. His conclusion: The Night of the Long Knives was a central event in the history of the Third Reich that paved the way for Hitler's rise to absolute power.