CBS radio broadcaster William L. Shirer was virtually unknown in 1940 when he decided there might be a book in the diary he had kept in Europe during the 1930s -- specifically those sections dealing with the collapse of the European democracies and the rise of Nazi Germany.
Berlin Diary first appeared in 1941, and the timing was perfect. The energy, the passion, the electricity in it were palpable. The book was an instant success, and it became the frame of reference against which thoughtful Americans judged the rush of events in Europe. It exactly matched journalist to event: the right reporter at the right place at the right time. It stood, and still stands, as so few books have ever done -- a pure act of journalistic witness.
]]>"Hitler's conquest was classic. He double-crossed his friends, massacred millions, plunged the world into its bloodiest war...and buried his own nation in the process. In Hitler, tryanny found nearly perfect exposition." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
]]>"This Is Berlin", a collection of Shirer's radio scripts, crackles with even greater immediacy. It describes, as they were occurring, the great events on which Shirer would reflect in his later book, among them the Nazi annexation of Austria and northwestern Czechoslovakia, the Munich Pact, the German invasion of Poland, and subsequent conquest of much of the rest of Europe. Acting as eyes and ears for his American audience, Shirer provides details that are often absent from standard histories of World War II, among them the viewpoints of the German media and ordinary citizens in the face of crisis. He also delivers revealing tidbits of information in passing, such as his list of the bestselling books in Germany at the start of World War II--at the top of which is Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, followed by the expected anti-British and anti-Soviet screeds. Shirer's reportage makes for fascinating reading, and it provides an important new primary source for historians, as well. --Gregory McNamee
]]>Shirer himself lived in Germany and France prior to the outbreak of WW II. He was intimately familiar with both civilizations, and his reporting sounded the warning bell. But who wanted to wake up?
"Exhaustive research and the personal experience of his years in France before WW II suit Shirer exactly to this task." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
]]>Shirer himself lived in Germany and France prior to the outbreak of WW II. He was intimately familiar with both civilizations, and his reporting sounded the warning bell. But who wanted to wake up?
"Exhaustive research and the personal experience of his years in France before WW II suit Shirer exactly to this task." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
]]>Shirer himself lived in Germany and France prior to the outbreak of WW II. He was intimately familiar with both civilizations, and his reporting sounded the warning bell. But who wanted to wake up?
"Exhaustive research and the personal experience of his years in France before WW II suit Shirer exactly to this task." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)
]]>"Shirer's 20TH CENTURY JOURNEY is rich, evocative history; it is a fascinating memoir, full of superb anecdotes about the great and near great; it is subtle autobiography that modestly offers insights into the process by which a naive American youth became a sophisticated European correspondent and ultimately one of the premier chroniclers and analysts of our time." (Publisher's Source)
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