Empire of Destruction: A History of Nazi Mass Killing is a 2021 book by British historian Alex J. Kay published by Yale University Press.
[3] Kay argues that all these groups, including Jews, "were regarded by the Nazi regime in one way or another as a potential threat" to Germany's war effort.
However, viewing them as a threat was informed by Nazi racial theory, making it hard to separate out racist versus strategic reasons for killing.
[5] In German History, reviewer Maris Rowe-McCulloch writes that the book is "an excellent study" that "coherently brings together a range of findings" from up to date scholarship.
[6] Waitman Wade Beorn called the book "a truly exceptional book that will be of great interest to general readers and students as well as academics" and praised its coverage of less recognized aspects of Nazi violence and for illustrating the connections between different murder operations.