What do you think?
Rate this book
Berlin Embassy
In this masterful narrative, acclaimed historian Giles MacDonogh chronicles Adolf Hitler's consolidation of power over the course of one year. Until 1938, Hitler could be dismissed as a ruthless but efficient dictator, a problem to Germany alone; after 1938 he was clearly a threat to the entire world.
It was in 1938 that Third Reich came of age. The Fehrer brought Germany into line with Nazi ideology and revealed his plans to take back those parts of Europe lost to "Greater Germany" after the First World War. From the purging of the army in January through the Anschluss in March, from the Munich Conference in September to the ravages of Kristallnacht in November, MacDonogh offers a gripping account of the year Adolf Hitler came into his own and set the world inexorably on track to a cataclysmic war.
It was in 1938 that Third Reich came of age. The Fehrer brought Germany into line with Nazi ideology and revealed his plans to take back those parts of Europe lost to "Greater Germany" after the First World War. From the purging of the army in January through the Anschluss in March, from the Munich Conference in September to the ravages of Kristallnacht in November, MacDonogh offers a gripping account of the year Adolf Hitler came into his own and set the world inexorably on track to a cataclysmic war.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1940
272 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
William Russell
719 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 15, 2014
This book opens in September 1939 in Berlin on the eve of a world war with a young William Russell working at the US Embassy in the Immigration Department trying to help a begging, pleading mass of humanity escape Nazi Germany. We the readers know what happened next: the carnage, despair, misery, evil, and mind-boggling number of dead as a result of Hitler (and Stalin). Obviously Russell has no way to tell the future yet he's acutely aware of how sinister, how corrupt, how base the Nazi regime was. He truly sensed the urgency of getting out of Nazi Germany more so than any pre-war American account I've read. I turned every page with a feeling of dread. The books 1933 and In the Garden of Beasts capture the feel of a fledgling Nazi Germany but they don't convey as well the pure disgust that Russell has for the Nazis. William Shirer's The Nightmare Years and Berlin Diary come close (and were fascinating reads), but even he has a more detached, reporter-like attitude when describing Berlin and the Nazis (appropriate as Shirer was indeed a reporter). Apparently Russell was in his 20's when he wrote this and that's impressive: he has a strong sense of morality and justice; his writing is simple and powerful. He warned us in 1941 what the Nazis were like.
I've always wondered how many German citizens (with a few exceptions) could support and/or tolerate Hitler, his Gestapo, his SS and not resist- and I've been somewhat unsympathetic towards WW2 era German civilians generally. This book nearly made me change my mind after the description of what it was like to live under a truly evil fascist regime. What a terrible time it was in Europe. It's hard to believe this book was out of print for 50 years because it's a page turner and a horror novel that unfortunately really happened. If you want suspense, this is it right here.
I've always wondered how many German citizens (with a few exceptions) could support and/or tolerate Hitler, his Gestapo, his SS and not resist- and I've been somewhat unsympathetic towards WW2 era German civilians generally. This book nearly made me change my mind after the description of what it was like to live under a truly evil fascist regime. What a terrible time it was in Europe. It's hard to believe this book was out of print for 50 years because it's a page turner and a horror novel that unfortunately really happened. If you want suspense, this is it right here.
November 9, 2011
William Russell does an excellent job of setting the stage for Nazi oppression with his inside account of his days in the US embassy at the outbreak of the war. The first few pages draw the reader in with his discussion of the immigration desk and the sheer volume that were trying to escape the oppressive regime. The account that Russell provides of the regime trend from the absurd to the truly shocking and give a perspective that is hard to find. He provides an account that is a truly invaluable primary resource for historians. For those who want to learn a little about the chaotic nature of diplomacy and the life of diplomats it is a great portrait. This book does an excellent job of portraying life in Germany in 1939 and 1940. It is scattered around and the organization at times may not make sense but its value as a primary account overrides those flaws. The insight that Russell provides on the German people and the way that Americans and others saw them in the world is fantastic. The view of Hitler and the SS/propaganda machine shows just what the state looked like. While people like William Shrier were trying to tell a journalistic story (which is also a wonderful source and should not be discounted) this book gives great insight into the times. Very easy to read and a wonderful contribution to our literature.
June 20, 2018
Excellent View of a Little Known Period of History
This book offers many wonderful insights into the little known period between Germany's invasion of Poland in Sept 1939 and its pretty thorough dismantling of British and French forces by May 1940. Russell is an excellent chronicler of the mood, the social upheaval and the increasing deprivation experienced by German citizens during this period, as he goes about his duties at the US Embassy in Berlin. This is a society about to run the gamut from delirious euphoria over their Fuehrer's genius to utter devastation at war's end. Russell paints us a clear-eyed portrait of the end of an era as he too endures the deprivations, frustrations and desperation of life in a totalitarian state. His description of a skiing vacation in the Harz Mountains is particularly poignant, as the odious reality of life under the Nazis is still somewhere in the distance. I highly recommend this little gem.
This book offers many wonderful insights into the little known period between Germany's invasion of Poland in Sept 1939 and its pretty thorough dismantling of British and French forces by May 1940. Russell is an excellent chronicler of the mood, the social upheaval and the increasing deprivation experienced by German citizens during this period, as he goes about his duties at the US Embassy in Berlin. This is a society about to run the gamut from delirious euphoria over their Fuehrer's genius to utter devastation at war's end. Russell paints us a clear-eyed portrait of the end of an era as he too endures the deprivations, frustrations and desperation of life in a totalitarian state. His description of a skiing vacation in the Harz Mountains is particularly poignant, as the odious reality of life under the Nazis is still somewhere in the distance. I highly recommend this little gem.
June 25, 2018
Very interesting read!
I found this to be an excellent first hand narrative of the a very important time period. One can only hope people learn from history so they are not doomed to it being repeated.
I found this to be an excellent first hand narrative of the a very important time period. One can only hope people learn from history so they are not doomed to it being repeated.
March 18, 2019
I don’t know how I missed reading this very important book earlier as it has been so many years since its first publication in 1940.
This book made one thing clear for me; that not all Germans are to blame for the Holocaust; that not all Germans liked the Nazis; that not all Germans knew or caught onto what was happening to them or to their country; that not all of them participated in the heinous crimes. If anything, some of the anti-Nazis were done away with or badly punished by the regime.
At the time, the author of this book, William Russell, was a clerk who worked in the immigration section of the American Embassy in Berlin. Although his stay in Germany began in 1937, his notes and the penning of his memoirs must have begun in 1939. I think he didn’t grasp, then, how important this book would become when he started taking notes for it.
He says in the beginning, “I have put down the small things that happened to small people in the hope that they would give the best picture of Germany as it is today.” That is in 1939.
A little more than a year later, on April 13, 1940, Russell left Germany. “I said good-bye to a flock of people — Americans, Germans, Nazis, anti-Nazis, rich, poor, intellectuals, bums — whom I had more or less collected over a period of three years.”
His personal experiences of life in Berlin during the time when the war was just about to begin and people were on edge are eye-opening. At the time, World War II was just beginning with Nazi Germany already well established with Hitler in power for the last six years.
Still, most Germans were anti—Nazi or contemptuous of the Nazis, but they did not voice their opinions in fear of the minority favoring the regime because the ones that did, they lost in some way when reported.
Those in the middle were at best cynical. Yet, if a war were to be fought, they thought they’d back the regime. The German population was also suffering greatly to think of what was right or wrong.
Electricity, street lights, and heating in winter were almost non-existent because the Nazis probably wanted the population to focus on their daily existence rather than the shortcomings of the regime. As the author says, “the food shortages and the coal shortages and the breakdown of the train schedules were not written up in the newspapers.”
Nobody knew what the real news was. Everyone asked everyone else and rumors were a dime a dozen.
I also found important what the author thought of about the Nazi rulers and the regular people he came in contact with, people who were friendly but were afraid to say what they thought and experienced. Still during their visits and parties, if they trusted the others the jokes kept flowing about the rulers and the situation in Germany.
Of all the Nazis, “the most hated man in Germany is the little cripple, Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels,” says Russell, “the butt of so many sharply pointed jokes.”
He adds that Goebbels as the director of the Ministry for Propaganda and Peoples’ Enlightenment, who is adept at propaganda, controls the news and the film industry with an iron fist.
The rules set by Goebbels are: “No movies may depict marital trouble. No films on political subjects. No large-scale musical films. No spy films. No gangster films. No films based on the old operettas whose scenes were laid in Russia. No films which glorify or more than mention the Church. No movies about America.” It wasn’t just the film industry but all literature as well that was being controlled.
About, Adolf Hitler, the author says: “In 1933, when Hitler came to power, many people in Germany shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Oh, let him come. He’s tried long enough. It’s only another form of wild socialism and it will cool off in six months.’ He is a phenomenon; as such, the better one tries to understand him the more Sphinx-like he becomes.”
According to Russell, Hitler was lazy and talked too much, not letting anyone else have a say, ever.
He also mentions the coolness and the lack of diplomatic relations between the American Embassy and official Germany. "As far as diplomatic pleasantries were concerned, we might as well not have an Embassy in the German capital."
In essence, in these following words of the author exists a lesson for all nations: “In order to rule people more easily, the Nazis just reduce them all to the same level and dare them to have any Ideas of their own.”
What is in them is a warning that worse, much worse, things may be in the making, such as the Holocaust.
This book made one thing clear for me; that not all Germans are to blame for the Holocaust; that not all Germans liked the Nazis; that not all Germans knew or caught onto what was happening to them or to their country; that not all of them participated in the heinous crimes. If anything, some of the anti-Nazis were done away with or badly punished by the regime.
At the time, the author of this book, William Russell, was a clerk who worked in the immigration section of the American Embassy in Berlin. Although his stay in Germany began in 1937, his notes and the penning of his memoirs must have begun in 1939. I think he didn’t grasp, then, how important this book would become when he started taking notes for it.
He says in the beginning, “I have put down the small things that happened to small people in the hope that they would give the best picture of Germany as it is today.” That is in 1939.
A little more than a year later, on April 13, 1940, Russell left Germany. “I said good-bye to a flock of people — Americans, Germans, Nazis, anti-Nazis, rich, poor, intellectuals, bums — whom I had more or less collected over a period of three years.”
His personal experiences of life in Berlin during the time when the war was just about to begin and people were on edge are eye-opening. At the time, World War II was just beginning with Nazi Germany already well established with Hitler in power for the last six years.
Still, most Germans were anti—Nazi or contemptuous of the Nazis, but they did not voice their opinions in fear of the minority favoring the regime because the ones that did, they lost in some way when reported.
Those in the middle were at best cynical. Yet, if a war were to be fought, they thought they’d back the regime. The German population was also suffering greatly to think of what was right or wrong.
Electricity, street lights, and heating in winter were almost non-existent because the Nazis probably wanted the population to focus on their daily existence rather than the shortcomings of the regime. As the author says, “the food shortages and the coal shortages and the breakdown of the train schedules were not written up in the newspapers.”
Nobody knew what the real news was. Everyone asked everyone else and rumors were a dime a dozen.
I also found important what the author thought of about the Nazi rulers and the regular people he came in contact with, people who were friendly but were afraid to say what they thought and experienced. Still during their visits and parties, if they trusted the others the jokes kept flowing about the rulers and the situation in Germany.
Of all the Nazis, “the most hated man in Germany is the little cripple, Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels,” says Russell, “the butt of so many sharply pointed jokes.”
He adds that Goebbels as the director of the Ministry for Propaganda and Peoples’ Enlightenment, who is adept at propaganda, controls the news and the film industry with an iron fist.
The rules set by Goebbels are: “No movies may depict marital trouble. No films on political subjects. No large-scale musical films. No spy films. No gangster films. No films based on the old operettas whose scenes were laid in Russia. No films which glorify or more than mention the Church. No movies about America.” It wasn’t just the film industry but all literature as well that was being controlled.
About, Adolf Hitler, the author says: “In 1933, when Hitler came to power, many people in Germany shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Oh, let him come. He’s tried long enough. It’s only another form of wild socialism and it will cool off in six months.’ He is a phenomenon; as such, the better one tries to understand him the more Sphinx-like he becomes.”
According to Russell, Hitler was lazy and talked too much, not letting anyone else have a say, ever.
He also mentions the coolness and the lack of diplomatic relations between the American Embassy and official Germany. "As far as diplomatic pleasantries were concerned, we might as well not have an Embassy in the German capital."
In essence, in these following words of the author exists a lesson for all nations: “In order to rule people more easily, the Nazis just reduce them all to the same level and dare them to have any Ideas of their own.”
What is in them is a warning that worse, much worse, things may be in the making, such as the Holocaust.
June 13, 2018
Historically of great value because of its objectivity and accuracy.
Because it is written truthfully.
It shows that a civilised society can be fooled by a corrupt sociopathic leader who will lead a country to its destruction from within.
Because it is written truthfully.
It shows that a civilised society can be fooled by a corrupt sociopathic leader who will lead a country to its destruction from within.
June 27, 2018
.
Decades ago I was a young army nurse attached to a small medical facility in what was then the city of Berlin. As such I remember being moved with a feeling of overwhelming horror for the past traumas visited upon the citizens of Berlin during the second world war, following as it had so soon after the Great War, as the first world war was then known. Berlin was a beautiful and wonderful place to be, except for the monstrous behemoth which formed its central border. I'm speaking of course about the Berlin Wall, erected suddenly and viciously by the communist-controlled East German and Soviet Socialist Party. As a youthful American I was horrified by the historical events that had taken place there, which saw the devastation of an entire city, a society and a nation. Reading this account of an equally young diplomatic employer brought that same feeling back to me, since I could remember walking down some of the same streets and idling at the same rail station the author described. Some of these memories are bittersweet, and some are tinged with the warm glow of age, but I know I will always recall how dangerous and deadly power can become. when seized by those unfit for command, service or control. The wall itself remains in my life as a symbol of the need for people of free societies to guard carefully against oppression and domination by negative and dangerous factions in our ever-changing political and social environments. This book brought me back to the time when my own personal opinions, attitudes and understanding were still forming. It reminds me why we need to be aware of and educated about the world and our responsibilities as individuals to know what, why, how and where our political and moral opinions and actions are both to bear. How important it is to hold out elected and appointed officials to the highest and most visible standards. What took place in Germany, in all of Europe so long ago could still happen to democracy and all its afforded freedoms and responsibilities of today. This book served as a reminder to me that we must never again delay or hesitate to maintain and protect our freedoms or our way of governance. Germany slept while a monster was let loose from the gutters, to rise in power and destroy a nation in the pursuit of insanity and evil. It was a strong recalling of how ignorance and despair can go hand in hand to serve the games of desecration and corruption. We need to remember such infamies to guard against them ever happening again. This book described the everyday motions and business of a young clerical employee, and tells his story with heart and head. What mistakes were made, what lessons learned are for him a simple enough journey. But for future generations they also serve as a warning and cautionary tale. If, while we sleep demons with power control with intent to dominate and suppress, we need to do no more than postpone action. In such ways horrors are visited upon the ones who do not have Democratic voices of outlets. EMBASSY IN BERLIN is a recollection of how quickly evil takes place, almost before our eyes. I found this book compelling and very readable, with few exceptions for a tiny bit of sloppy editing. But the cautionary facts are still present and definitely apply to our world of today. It is a story l very much enjoyed and recommend. History tells us louder than ever to be warned, to be vigilant and to be involved in our government. In this way we can remain in control and in freedom for everyone. Just because it happened so many years ago doesn't make it less possible today. Learn from it to keep it from ever happening again. 4 solid stars.
Decades ago I was a young army nurse attached to a small medical facility in what was then the city of Berlin. As such I remember being moved with a feeling of overwhelming horror for the past traumas visited upon the citizens of Berlin during the second world war, following as it had so soon after the Great War, as the first world war was then known. Berlin was a beautiful and wonderful place to be, except for the monstrous behemoth which formed its central border. I'm speaking of course about the Berlin Wall, erected suddenly and viciously by the communist-controlled East German and Soviet Socialist Party. As a youthful American I was horrified by the historical events that had taken place there, which saw the devastation of an entire city, a society and a nation. Reading this account of an equally young diplomatic employer brought that same feeling back to me, since I could remember walking down some of the same streets and idling at the same rail station the author described. Some of these memories are bittersweet, and some are tinged with the warm glow of age, but I know I will always recall how dangerous and deadly power can become. when seized by those unfit for command, service or control. The wall itself remains in my life as a symbol of the need for people of free societies to guard carefully against oppression and domination by negative and dangerous factions in our ever-changing political and social environments. This book brought me back to the time when my own personal opinions, attitudes and understanding were still forming. It reminds me why we need to be aware of and educated about the world and our responsibilities as individuals to know what, why, how and where our political and moral opinions and actions are both to bear. How important it is to hold out elected and appointed officials to the highest and most visible standards. What took place in Germany, in all of Europe so long ago could still happen to democracy and all its afforded freedoms and responsibilities of today. This book served as a reminder to me that we must never again delay or hesitate to maintain and protect our freedoms or our way of governance. Germany slept while a monster was let loose from the gutters, to rise in power and destroy a nation in the pursuit of insanity and evil. It was a strong recalling of how ignorance and despair can go hand in hand to serve the games of desecration and corruption. We need to remember such infamies to guard against them ever happening again. This book described the everyday motions and business of a young clerical employee, and tells his story with heart and head. What mistakes were made, what lessons learned are for him a simple enough journey. But for future generations they also serve as a warning and cautionary tale. If, while we sleep demons with power control with intent to dominate and suppress, we need to do no more than postpone action. In such ways horrors are visited upon the ones who do not have Democratic voices of outlets. EMBASSY IN BERLIN is a recollection of how quickly evil takes place, almost before our eyes. I found this book compelling and very readable, with few exceptions for a tiny bit of sloppy editing. But the cautionary facts are still present and definitely apply to our world of today. It is a story l very much enjoyed and recommend. History tells us louder than ever to be warned, to be vigilant and to be involved in our government. In this way we can remain in control and in freedom for everyone. Just because it happened so many years ago doesn't make it less possible today. Learn from it to keep it from ever happening again. 4 solid stars.
July 28, 2018
I picked this e-book up as it was only 99 cents from Kindle, and I thought I might read it while in Berlin last month when I spent three weeks abroad. I ended up not getting to it, but out of curiosity and hoping it would jog a memory or two of my time in Berlin I started reading - it's a quick read, just over 200 pages.
The writer is not what I'd call brilliant, but not bad, and he happened to be working in the US Embassy in Berlin in the late 1930s and into 1940. He kept a diary of sorts, though I think a good bit of editing might have occurred when getting it ready for publication. Doesn't matter, these are the notes of a sensitive young man (24 years old) who was obviously bright and knew that something big was aboutz to happen. It starts shortly after Czechoslovakia was taken, and just before Poland fell to the Nazis.
As such, while not brilliant it offers an honest, unique look at the city, the incipient war, those who were trying to get out and those who were proud to stay, from SS officers to ordinary citizens either charmed or cowed by Hitler et all. If you're into pre-war Europe you'll find this a quick and easy read. Cheers!
The writer is not what I'd call brilliant, but not bad, and he happened to be working in the US Embassy in Berlin in the late 1930s and into 1940. He kept a diary of sorts, though I think a good bit of editing might have occurred when getting it ready for publication. Doesn't matter, these are the notes of a sensitive young man (24 years old) who was obviously bright and knew that something big was aboutz to happen. It starts shortly after Czechoslovakia was taken, and just before Poland fell to the Nazis.
As such, while not brilliant it offers an honest, unique look at the city, the incipient war, those who were trying to get out and those who were proud to stay, from SS officers to ordinary citizens either charmed or cowed by Hitler et all. If you're into pre-war Europe you'll find this a quick and easy read. Cheers!
March 11, 2019
Excellent Observations that are Timeless
I really didn’t expect to appreciate this book as much as I did. While some of his observations in real time did not prove to accurate, his comments regarding Hitler are very similar to what one might say about the current American President:
“This is the man who has in his hands a power greater than that ever held by any ruler in history —a power multiplied by the airplane, the radio, the fast printing presses. He is uncontrolled, he does not have to give account to anybody, he crassly and ruthlessly conceals his every failure, he puffs himself up with every success. Today he follows an impulse. Tomorrow he condemns it as wrong —without admitting that he has been wrong. To promise something and never to do it; to forget things which were never meant seriously; to break every promise but to faithfully keep every threat. That is the psychological picture of Der Fuehrer.”
Not a pleasant thought
I really didn’t expect to appreciate this book as much as I did. While some of his observations in real time did not prove to accurate, his comments regarding Hitler are very similar to what one might say about the current American President:
“This is the man who has in his hands a power greater than that ever held by any ruler in history —a power multiplied by the airplane, the radio, the fast printing presses. He is uncontrolled, he does not have to give account to anybody, he crassly and ruthlessly conceals his every failure, he puffs himself up with every success. Today he follows an impulse. Tomorrow he condemns it as wrong —without admitting that he has been wrong. To promise something and never to do it; to forget things which were never meant seriously; to break every promise but to faithfully keep every threat. That is the psychological picture of Der Fuehrer.”
Not a pleasant thought
June 10, 2018
The book is a true account of what was happening in Berlin at the beginning of WWII in 1939-40 when NAZI Germany was embarking on subjugating the European continent. The book reads more like a novel than a history. The story is told in first person of an American diplomat assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Berlin as he processes the applications for those Germans and U.S. Citizens lucky enough to leave for America before all war breaks out. He details the trails and tribulations of traveling inside Germany on personal and professional business as he assess what may come about with an outbreak of war. Truly captivating!
February 17, 2019
Nazi Germany from the point of you of an American living in Berlin before America entered the war. Well written, insightful, well worth the time to read.
This author lived in Germany from 1937 to 1940. His view of the common German was approximately the same as my view when I lived in Germany from 1970 to 1973. They had not changed. Except maybe that the Nazis were gone. It’s sad to think that a country as proud as Germany was able to be taken over by a small group of zealous gangsters. We should keep that in mind as Americans and fight for our rights when a very small group of rightist radicals are attempting to overthrow our democratic principles in the United States.
This author lived in Germany from 1937 to 1940. His view of the common German was approximately the same as my view when I lived in Germany from 1970 to 1973. They had not changed. Except maybe that the Nazis were gone. It’s sad to think that a country as proud as Germany was able to be taken over by a small group of zealous gangsters. We should keep that in mind as Americans and fight for our rights when a very small group of rightist radicals are attempting to overthrow our democratic principles in the United States.
July 11, 2018
A great introduction to the war in Germany
This is an excellent description about the ambience, life and the people in Germany just prior to and during the start of the World War II, all provided with the incisive, observant and skillful writing of a young American working for the U.S consulate in Berlin. The author personally experienced life in Germany in those years. All in all, It is intriguing to realize how a narcissist Dictator and his Nazi propaganda machine resemble the life and conditions we are currently experiencing in the USA. It seems We never learn from the past....
This is an excellent description about the ambience, life and the people in Germany just prior to and during the start of the World War II, all provided with the incisive, observant and skillful writing of a young American working for the U.S consulate in Berlin. The author personally experienced life in Germany in those years. All in all, It is intriguing to realize how a narcissist Dictator and his Nazi propaganda machine resemble the life and conditions we are currently experiencing in the USA. It seems We never learn from the past....
January 18, 2019
In some places a very beautifully written book with first hand descriptions of Germans in the period called the Phony War....the period between the conquest of Poland and the invasions of Norway and Denmark. I almost wish it were more scathing to the Nazis...but given that this was written as a non political book, and written as a memoir as the events were unfolding - and the author was only 24...I understand.
If you like reading about the mind set of the German people...you should read this.
If you like reading about the mind set of the German people...you should read this.
May 25, 2018
View from the Middle
This is a good and interesting read to add to the pre-war narratives of Shirer and others (The Beast in the Garden, e.g.). I am more interested in the wall up to the war than in the father familiar battle details because I feel therein lies the useful truths for our age. Transfers from text to e-,text are somewhat careless or under edited, but the shared experience comes through
This is a good and interesting read to add to the pre-war narratives of Shirer and others (The Beast in the Garden, e.g.). I am more interested in the wall up to the war than in the father familiar battle details because I feel therein lies the useful truths for our age. Transfers from text to e-,text are somewhat careless or under edited, but the shared experience comes through
June 29, 2018
I loved this book as it is a story written from a first hand experience by the author. Though is is chronicle of events in Berlin at the beginning of WWII, it reads as a novel. What I loved about it was that contrary to what most films, books etc., the majority of Germans were against he war and Nazism. Written in a very accessible prose and though it is a tough subject it is written to include the humor with which the average German citizens saw their plight.
May 8, 2019
I ran across this book kind of by accident. There are several more famous accounts of life in Berlin during the Nazi regime, and I don't know why this one isn't better known. I found the author's words engaging and I was fascinated by his recounting of current jokes and the mood and atmosphere of the streets. Current scholarship differs with him on some important points but I thought his perspective added to my picture of conditions inside Germany in the early days of World War II.
July 30, 2020
This book is an interesting look into the life of Berlin around the breakout of the second world War. The author gives us the idea of what it was like through his firsthand experiences and stories he's heard from others. I did question the authenticity of some of the stories as well as some of the dialog he quoted in his interactions. They seemed a bit too on the nose. But this book was a page turner for me and did a good job of putting me into the time and place.
January 15, 2021
I recently re-read this wonderful book, written by a fellow Mississippian who worked in the visa section of the American Embassy in Berlin in 1939 and 1940. The last time I read it, I too worked in the visa section of the same embassy, but at a very different time. The author gives a real feel for what it was like to live in Germany as a foreigner in the months immediately prior and after the start of the Second World War.
March 25, 2018
World War II Story
An interesting book, which gives a young American's view of Germany at the start of the war. He gives us the view of how Germans felt about Hitler and the Nazi Party. As a counselor official, he also describes how fleeing people were handled and treated. There are many mistakes in the text of the story.
An interesting book, which gives a young American's view of Germany at the start of the war. He gives us the view of how Germans felt about Hitler and the Nazi Party. As a counselor official, he also describes how fleeing people were handled and treated. There are many mistakes in the text of the story.
July 5, 2018
Erie reading evokes a sense of deja vu.
Difficult to relate to in the absence of foreign travel or experience with foreign cultures. Speculation about attitudes of the people after the War is inevitable. The discussion regarding “quotas” seems timeless. A worthwhile read for anyone looking for insights into prewar German society and methods/analysis of mass opinion molding.
Difficult to relate to in the absence of foreign travel or experience with foreign cultures. Speculation about attitudes of the people after the War is inevitable. The discussion regarding “quotas” seems timeless. A worthwhile read for anyone looking for insights into prewar German society and methods/analysis of mass opinion molding.
May 12, 2018
An interesting insider's view of Nazi Germany written by an American embassy employee stationed in Berlin at the start of the war. He continued working there until the Spring of 1940. He paints a grim picture of Germany under the Nazis
May 27, 2018
Great read for those who like to read about this time in history.
Great history, what a time and place to experience.
But every experience the author writes about us not where
I would have wanted to be at that time.
Great history, what a time and place to experience.
But every experience the author writes about us not where
I would have wanted to be at that time.
August 27, 2018
Not very entertaining,expected a much different finale,very disappointed,will not recommend!
Very dissapointed, not a great finale,will not recommend to any of my friends.expected a diferente end to the story,very different expectations!
Very dissapointed, not a great finale,will not recommend to any of my friends.expected a diferente end to the story,very different expectations!
November 16, 2018
Great eyewitness account of Berlin at the start of WWII
Having been to Berlin a couple of times, I really appreciated the anecdotes and first hand accounts of what Germans were going through at the start of WWII. Gives historians a different perspective.
Having been to Berlin a couple of times, I really appreciated the anecdotes and first hand accounts of what Germans were going through at the start of WWII. Gives historians a different perspective.
July 14, 2018
Good not great
Interesting read. However doesn't really get to a climax or even an umbrella ideal. Good context however. That's really it.
Interesting read. However doesn't really get to a climax or even an umbrella ideal. Good context however. That's really it.
August 3, 2018
Really liked it
The book is well written and insightful. It paints a picture of Germany before the winner got to write the history book. That makes it quite unique.
The book is well written and insightful. It paints a picture of Germany before the winner got to write the history book. That makes it quite unique.
August 28, 2018
Good day by day description
Good daily description of life in Berlin but no real driving theme. Never quite sure where the story was headed.
Good daily description of life in Berlin but no real driving theme. Never quite sure where the story was headed.
April 29, 2019
Many Parallels
I thought this was a very interesting book about a nation that was cowed by a bully into a disasterous war and participating in the holocaust.
I thought this was a very interesting book about a nation that was cowed by a bully into a disasterous war and participating in the holocaust.
July 3, 2019
Worth reading
The first person accounts make the mundane operations of embassy really interesting. The observations of the author seem true to life.
The first person accounts make the mundane operations of embassy really interesting. The observations of the author seem true to life.
Read
August 6, 2019Great
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews