Daniel Siemens has done an excellent job looking at the history of the SA, the militant wing of the Nazi Party. His book has examined the membership and role of the Stormtroopers from its inception to the end of the war, and goes beyond the two-dimensional truths taught in "routine" histories of the organization. For instance, one gets the impression that the SA was practically disbanded following the Night of the Long Knives. In fact, the Rohm Purge only effected the top leadership of the SA (as well as many who were killed in extra-judicial murders) while the organization itself was "repurposed" since Hitler cut a deal with the Reichswehr ensuring that the SA would never be a valid replacement for the traditional armed forces of Germany. After the purge the Stormtroopers provided much-needed security forces within Germany and, despite opposition by SA generals, a conscription base for the German Army and SS. Despite Hitler's penchant for keeping his subordinates in seperate power bases to prevent them from cooperating or attempting to take on the state on their own, there was never a Waffen-SA the way there was a Waffen-SS.
Other issues the author looks at include the wholesale recruitment and incorporation of opposition street-fighting organizations following the Nazi's ascent to power... both on the right and left. The dissatisfaction among individual Stormtroopers after Hitler became dictator with the division of the "loot" that was expected. The role the SA played in early concentration camps. The attempts to make SA members into armed colonial farmers in the new eastern "Living Space." All this shines a new light on the men who were the muscle behind the Nazi rise to power.
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