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The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany
For fans of unheralded women’s stories, a captivating look at Sigrid Schultz, one of the earliest reporters to warn Americans of the rising threat of the Nazi regime—drawing striking parallels to the rise of fascism today
“No other American correspondent in Berlin knew so much of what was going on behind the scene as did Sigrid Schultz.” — William L. Shirer, author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Dragon from Chicago tells the gripping tale of American journalist Sigrid Schultz's fights on two to establish herself as a serious foreign correspondent in an era when her male colleagues saw a powerful unmarried woman as a “freak” and to keep the news flowing out of Nazi Germany despite the regime’s tightening controls on the media.
Schultz was the Chicago Tribune 's Berlin bureau chief and primary foreign correspondent for Central Europe from 1925 to January 1941, and one of the first reporters—male or female—to warn American readers of the growing dangers of Nazism.
Drawing on extensive archival research, Pamela D. Toler unearths the largely forgotten story of Schultz’s years spent courageously reporting the news from Berlin, from the revolts of 1919 through Nazi atrocities and air raids over Berlin in 1941. At a time when women reporters rarely wrote front page stories, Schultz pulled back the curtain on how the Nazis misreported the news to their own people, and how they attempted to control the foreign press through bribery and threats.
Sharp and enlightening, Schultz’s story provides a vital lesson for how we can reclaim truth in an era marked by the spread of disinformation and claims of “fake news.”
“No other American correspondent in Berlin knew so much of what was going on behind the scene as did Sigrid Schultz.” — William L. Shirer, author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Dragon from Chicago tells the gripping tale of American journalist Sigrid Schultz's fights on two to establish herself as a serious foreign correspondent in an era when her male colleagues saw a powerful unmarried woman as a “freak” and to keep the news flowing out of Nazi Germany despite the regime’s tightening controls on the media.
Schultz was the Chicago Tribune 's Berlin bureau chief and primary foreign correspondent for Central Europe from 1925 to January 1941, and one of the first reporters—male or female—to warn American readers of the growing dangers of Nazism.
Drawing on extensive archival research, Pamela D. Toler unearths the largely forgotten story of Schultz’s years spent courageously reporting the news from Berlin, from the revolts of 1919 through Nazi atrocities and air raids over Berlin in 1941. At a time when women reporters rarely wrote front page stories, Schultz pulled back the curtain on how the Nazis misreported the news to their own people, and how they attempted to control the foreign press through bribery and threats.
Sharp and enlightening, Schultz’s story provides a vital lesson for how we can reclaim truth in an era marked by the spread of disinformation and claims of “fake news.”
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 6, 2024
36 people are currently reading
3767 people want to read
About the author
Pamela D. Toler
11 books112 followersI'm an academic renegade
The first day of my PhD program at University of Chicago, my advisor said, "You know there are no jobs, right?" I knew, but I didn't care. I wanted to write about history for a broader audience than the other five people interested in my dissertation topic. I wanted to write for history buffs and nerdy kids and the general intelligent reader. (That would be you, right?)
Officially my degree is in the history of the Indian sub-continent, with strong sub-fields in European imperialism and Islam. I feel strongly that the West in general and Americans in particular need to know more about the history of other parts of the world. That belief is often reflected in the topics I choose to write about, whether I'm working on a small story (feather hats in ancient Peru, anyone?) or a big one (Mankind: the Story of All of Us).
These days I write about a wide range of historical topics for history buffs, nerdy kids and--you get the idea. On any given day I could be working on World War I recruiting posters, the mud mosques of West Africa, the first European translation of the Arabian Nights, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, or the history of absinth. At least half the time I'm writing outside of "my field", exploring odd corners of the past with field-tested research skills, a red-hot library card, and a large bump of curiosity.
Basically, I'm interested in the times and places where two cultures meet and change each other. Come along for the ride.
The first day of my PhD program at University of Chicago, my advisor said, "You know there are no jobs, right?" I knew, but I didn't care. I wanted to write about history for a broader audience than the other five people interested in my dissertation topic. I wanted to write for history buffs and nerdy kids and the general intelligent reader. (That would be you, right?)
Officially my degree is in the history of the Indian sub-continent, with strong sub-fields in European imperialism and Islam. I feel strongly that the West in general and Americans in particular need to know more about the history of other parts of the world. That belief is often reflected in the topics I choose to write about, whether I'm working on a small story (feather hats in ancient Peru, anyone?) or a big one (Mankind: the Story of All of Us).
These days I write about a wide range of historical topics for history buffs, nerdy kids and--you get the idea. On any given day I could be working on World War I recruiting posters, the mud mosques of West Africa, the first European translation of the Arabian Nights, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, or the history of absinth. At least half the time I'm writing outside of "my field", exploring odd corners of the past with field-tested research skills, a red-hot library card, and a large bump of curiosity.
Basically, I'm interested in the times and places where two cultures meet and change each other. Come along for the ride.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
June 29, 2024
Any person willing to verbally slap around Hermann Göring deserves a book written about them. That is what Pamela Toler does by writing a book about Sigrid Schultz in The Dragon from Chicago. Oh, and the title of the book? That is the name Göring gave her.
Schultz was a journalist who spoke so many different languages that I literally lost count. She traveled extensively and was based in Germany in the time between World War I and II. It goes without saying that being a female journalist at this time was impressive enough. To be a female journalist in Nazi Germany and unafraid to call out those in power is bravery with a side of suicidal tendencies.
Toler tells Schultz's story straight and includes many wonderful anecdotes. I definitely felt like I know who Schultz was and what drove her. I would say I felt like Toler probably could have pared down some of the book. There are certain sections which drag more than others. Also, it probably would have helped to add a bit more feeling to the narrative. Toler sticks to the facts, but for example, the sections on Schultz reporting from the site of concentration camps felt too academic. This is still a good book. My criticisms are mainly about why it is not as superlative as it could have been.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher.)
Schultz was a journalist who spoke so many different languages that I literally lost count. She traveled extensively and was based in Germany in the time between World War I and II. It goes without saying that being a female journalist at this time was impressive enough. To be a female journalist in Nazi Germany and unafraid to call out those in power is bravery with a side of suicidal tendencies.
Toler tells Schultz's story straight and includes many wonderful anecdotes. I definitely felt like I know who Schultz was and what drove her. I would say I felt like Toler probably could have pared down some of the book. There are certain sections which drag more than others. Also, it probably would have helped to add a bit more feeling to the narrative. Toler sticks to the facts, but for example, the sections on Schultz reporting from the site of concentration camps felt too academic. This is still a good book. My criticisms are mainly about why it is not as superlative as it could have been.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher.)
November 30, 2024
Pamela Toler is a Chicago-based historian whose PhD was in South Asian history and who has found success writing nonfiction history books focused on the intersection between women and war (I previously read her 2016 book, Heroines of Mercy Street: The Real Nurses of the Civil War). In the Dragon from Chicago, Toler is writing not about herself but about Sigrid Schultz (1893-1980), whose name shockingly doesn't appear in the book's title or subtitle. Schultz was a multilingual American expatriate whose fascinating life included decades as a glass-ceiling-breaking print and radio journalist and war correspondent from the 1920s-1940s. She was living and working in Germany through the rise of Hitler, though a series of illnesses relocated her from Europe to the US during the height of World War II; she eventually returned to Europe in 1945 and her career pivoted to magazine journalism. Toler's writing is engaging and personable, albeit overly detailed and dense at times (this 288 page book/10 hour audiobook felt much longer than that).
Further reading:
Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins by Jennet Conant - about another rare female war correspondent of the era | my review
My statistics:
Book 288 for 2024
Book 1891 cumulatively
Further reading:
Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins by Jennet Conant - about another rare female war correspondent of the era | my review
My statistics:
Book 288 for 2024
Book 1891 cumulatively
November 30, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed. The compilation of first hand accounts from Schulz’s diary, newspaper quotes, and clippings from letters helped Schulz’s personality come to life throughout the book. Her story is fascinating as was her unrelenting commitment for unbiased, honest reporting through the end of WW1 and course of WW2. At times unnecessary details lost my attention but I was pulled back as Toler weaved in Schulz’s character. Education and thought provoking
October 25, 2024
Very good - it is a heavy read but I learned a lot about Hitler and Germany in the 30's. I am so glad this story was told. I hope Ms Toler finds another secret story to tell.
August 13, 2024
If the timing of Pamela Toler’s release of The Dragon from Chicago was intentional, then she is not only an exceptional writer and tenacious researcher, but she’s also a brilliant strategist. Everyone should be reading this book. Pamela has a gift for seeing the implications of information the average person sees as merely interesting. Sigrid Schultz’s name on a plaque in the park sparked her curiosity. How many hundreds of thousands of people read that plaque before her? It was Pamela’s vast knowledge of history and her understanding of how to connect the puzzle pieces of seemingly innocuous events that brought the picture into view. That picture is a cautionary tale for our times. It is also a reminder that women, largely absent from the narrative of k-20 classroom curricula, have always played a pivotal role in history.
Toler reveals the events of the twentieth century through the eyes of a reporter uniquely positioned by her nature and upbringing to observe and evaluate much more than her counterparts. Those events unfold in a way that shines a neon light on what is happening in our own country today. Sigrid’s relentless commitment to the truth sets her apart from many other reporters of the time.
Sigrid Schultz’s courage and integrity in pursuing the story are inspiring. Sigrid Schultz’s story is but one of the millions of women of import in the history of humankind. It is one more than yesterday. Pamela Toler’s work crucially adds to the unveiling of our true history—the one that is not limited to the conquerors and colonialists but rather values accurately the critical perspectives of all humans.
Toler reveals the events of the twentieth century through the eyes of a reporter uniquely positioned by her nature and upbringing to observe and evaluate much more than her counterparts. Those events unfold in a way that shines a neon light on what is happening in our own country today. Sigrid’s relentless commitment to the truth sets her apart from many other reporters of the time.
Sigrid Schultz’s courage and integrity in pursuing the story are inspiring. Sigrid Schultz’s story is but one of the millions of women of import in the history of humankind. It is one more than yesterday. Pamela Toler’s work crucially adds to the unveiling of our true history—the one that is not limited to the conquerors and colonialists but rather values accurately the critical perspectives of all humans.
February 16, 2025
An exceptional biography about the extraordinary journalist and the chief foreign correspondent in Berlin for the Chicago Tribune - Sigrid Schultz. Over her exemplary career, Ms Schultz informed the Tribune's readers on all facets of life in Germany through uncounted numbers of articles - with and without her by-line.
After her family was uprooted from her native Chicago, Ms. Schultz experienced everything Europe had to offer in the years before the Great War - then faced the same depravations as all Berliners as the war began and ground on, first as civilians then as enemy aliens. Through her facility with languages, Sigrid managed to help her family survive but also built a network of contents, friends, acquaintences, businessmen, politicians, and a few American journalists. From this beginning she earned her way into a position with the Tribune, reported on the politics, social, and economic news that all Chicagoans, indeed all Americans, should know about.
Her passion for reporting the facts, for ensuring their accuracy, and refraining from editorializing brought recognition and responsibility in a world dominated by her male conterparts. In the 1930's, her committment to tell the straight story also brought her unwanted attention from the likes of the Gestapo. After weathering one such interview, she wrote to Robert McCormick, the Tribune's owner/publisher, to complain: "I have always made it a point to stick to facts as cosely as humanly possible and I don't see how anybody in his senses could object to factual reporting." Pamela Toler after quoting Sigrid then observed: "In coming months, the foreign press community as a whole would learn that the truth was no armor against a government that was not entirely within its senses." (p112)
Words to live by.
After her family was uprooted from her native Chicago, Ms. Schultz experienced everything Europe had to offer in the years before the Great War - then faced the same depravations as all Berliners as the war began and ground on, first as civilians then as enemy aliens. Through her facility with languages, Sigrid managed to help her family survive but also built a network of contents, friends, acquaintences, businessmen, politicians, and a few American journalists. From this beginning she earned her way into a position with the Tribune, reported on the politics, social, and economic news that all Chicagoans, indeed all Americans, should know about.
Her passion for reporting the facts, for ensuring their accuracy, and refraining from editorializing brought recognition and responsibility in a world dominated by her male conterparts. In the 1930's, her committment to tell the straight story also brought her unwanted attention from the likes of the Gestapo. After weathering one such interview, she wrote to Robert McCormick, the Tribune's owner/publisher, to complain: "I have always made it a point to stick to facts as cosely as humanly possible and I don't see how anybody in his senses could object to factual reporting." Pamela Toler after quoting Sigrid then observed: "In coming months, the foreign press community as a whole would learn that the truth was no armor against a government that was not entirely within its senses." (p112)
Words to live by.
April 1, 2025
I guess I'm the kind of nerd Pamela Toler had in mind when she researched and wrote this account of Sigrid Schultz. About the time I think I've read about WWII from every possible perspective, along comes an account of a female reporter who witnessed and understood what was going on in Germany long before the rest of the world took note or cared. Who hasn't heard of Edward Murro? But who's heard of Sigrid Schultz, whose front-page stories appeared regularly on the Chicago Tribune's front page leading up to and in the early years of the war.
Sigrid Schultz, the American-born daughter of a Norwegian portrait painter and a multi-ethnic mother, spent much of her formative years in Europe, where she learned to speak multiple languages. Her education, connections through parents, and independence all served her well as she conveyed to the world the changes taking place in Germany following World War I and Hitler's rise to power. She was on the ground and offered eye-witness accounts that even her isolationist publisher, Robert McCormick, finally had to reckon with following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Kudos to Toler for bringing to light the story of one woman, who although went unrecognized and unappreciated for her contributions to journalism for many years, did pave the way for those who followed.
Sigrid Schultz, the American-born daughter of a Norwegian portrait painter and a multi-ethnic mother, spent much of her formative years in Europe, where she learned to speak multiple languages. Her education, connections through parents, and independence all served her well as she conveyed to the world the changes taking place in Germany following World War I and Hitler's rise to power. She was on the ground and offered eye-witness accounts that even her isolationist publisher, Robert McCormick, finally had to reckon with following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Kudos to Toler for bringing to light the story of one woman, who although went unrecognized and unappreciated for her contributions to journalism for many years, did pave the way for those who followed.
January 15, 2025
This amazing book is packed with an astonishing amount of historical research, packaged into a personalized and interesting story, about one of the first female foreign correspondents. Sigrid Schultz rose from cub reporter to the head of the Berlin bureau for the Chicago Tribune, covering two World Wars. Schultz’s tenacity, perseverance, and courage come through in every chapter. With so few women in these roles, coupled with the increasing danger of being a journalist in Berlin during WWII, Schultz was forced to use a male pseudonym for many stories about the Nazi regime that she knew could be a risk to her life. I was stunned to see she’d met all the notorious Nazi leaders, including Hitler himself, and managed to find creative ways to get her story out to the American people. I highly recommend this for readers looking for historical works that bring the lives of little know women to light.
August 5, 2024
What was it like on the ground in wartime Berlin in 1914? Or in 1941? Or in the years of riots, street-fights, marches, intrigue, and terror in between? THE DRAGON FROM CHICAGO by Pamela D. Toler tells the story of Berlin across the wars through the eyes of an American reporter, Sigrid Schultz. Schultz broke into newspaper journalism during the Great War. She would become chief of the Berlin office of the Chicago Tribune.
This book is a fast-paced thriller, a story of journalistic integrity and ingenuity, one through which readers follow a reporter filing stories despite the censors, breaking news scoops while protecting informants, hosting dinner parties to make connections, marching into interviews and high-level diplomatic negotiations, and avoiding expulsion or worse. This is an inspiring read!
This book is a fast-paced thriller, a story of journalistic integrity and ingenuity, one through which readers follow a reporter filing stories despite the censors, breaking news scoops while protecting informants, hosting dinner parties to make connections, marching into interviews and high-level diplomatic negotiations, and avoiding expulsion or worse. This is an inspiring read!
March 10, 2025
There are people that need to read this that would never understand the point of needing to read it. I did tear up when she went to the camps because it's heartbreaking but also something that we apparently can no longer pretend is in the past and "never again." This is also a journalists view on the fascist takeover handbook. Again, the people that should learn something from this won't ever get it because they wouldn't have found themselves in the position they're in if they were capable of it.
This woman was a brave, stubborn lady who took no shit and didn't back down (for the most part). And she REPORTED even at risk to herself. Our reporters and politicians today could take a page from her book. And need to.
Maybe not the best book to read in the current political landscape in America if you're already in a dark place, but a worthy addition to the biography genre canon.
This woman was a brave, stubborn lady who took no shit and didn't back down (for the most part). And she REPORTED even at risk to herself. Our reporters and politicians today could take a page from her book. And need to.
Maybe not the best book to read in the current political landscape in America if you're already in a dark place, but a worthy addition to the biography genre canon.
August 15, 2024
Goodreads offers the option to hide this entire review to prevent spoilers, but in this nonfiction history of journalist Sigrid Schultz--American bureau chief in Hitler's Berlin--we 21st-century readers know what devastating events are about to unfold. But Schultz, of course, living in that moment, does not--and as we watch her live in fraught and dangerous times and watch her come to awareness, this story captivates. In historian Pamela Toler's deeply researched book, the author recovers this brave, perceptive, strong journalist who deftly balanced interviews with Nazis and their propoganda machine with informing the American public what facisim would bring. She was a woman to be reckoned with -- a "Dragon from Chicago" -- and her story is well-worth knowing.
August 7, 2024
Pamela Toler unearthed the untold story of Sigrid Schultz, spent years researching, and now tells it in glorious form. It's the inspiring biography of a woman who rose above the challenges her childhood to become an American journalist in Nazi-controlled Germany, determined to find and tell the truth about what was really happening. As the best biographies are, the book is also a window into a period of history and a particular place, and how the subject of the book influenced her time and place. I had the good fortune to pre-order the book, which came quickly, and I was able to read and enjoy it soon after publication. Highly recommended.
April 22, 2025
The Dragon from Chicago unravels the story of the brilliant, yet little-discussed Sigrid Schultz. Her life itself was intriguing and vibrant, with her many years of traveling and entertaining some of the more powerful people in Europe, but the writing can sometimes feel flat and dull. There was so much information in this book, and it was clear that the author had done extensive research to bring Sigrid back to life in the minds of readers, which I commend. I hope that this book becomes one of many that explore the careers and strengths of forgotten women in the war effort!
June 13, 2025
I'm a former Chicago journalist, and I didn't know of Ms. Schultz. Shame on me because she contributed enormously to international journalism, which is detailed in this book. Ms. Schultz succeeded at a time when women reporters were rare. She had talent and the courage to face the German government when it had been taken over by wretchedly bad people. There are uncomfortable parallels to current times ... the book demonstrates how an otherwise sensible people (the German population) can fall under the sway of wretchedly bad people (the Nazis).
May 2, 2024
I am so glad Pamela Toler was able to find this story and share it. It is a story to be told and a story that needed to be told. The legacy of Sigrid Schultz is rich and full of courage, intelligence and perseverance, in a time that women were not able to do or be all of this. Who would have ever thought, or even known about Schultz, if Toler didn't bring this story to life. A wonderful read.
February 18, 2025
A non-fiction book describing the life of a woman reporter (Sigrid) during Nazi Germany. The author did meticulous research, but I felt included too much minutia & irrelevant details. I also did not get a good sense for the reporter Sigrid as a person. However, the history of the era was interesting, and her personal experiences added up to be quite impressive.
If this book had been shorter, I might have enjoyed it more.
If this book had been shorter, I might have enjoyed it more.
May 8, 2025
While nonfiction is never going to be my first choice, I am committed to reading more nonfiction this year, and this was a really good choice for this month. Sigrid Shultz's story is familiar to anyone who has read any Kate Quinn or Kristin Hannah books: brave young woman joins the military in ways only women could... you know the story. But this was great because it showed an actual woman doing what those historical fiction novels depict so often.
August 25, 2025
I am a huge fan of historian Pamela Toler’s writing, despite not really identifying as a history buff. Her past books, her blog, her newsletter - Toler knows how to tell a darn good story. And she has the rigor of the scholar she is and the tenacity as well. THE DRAGON FROM CHICAGO is classic Toler and maybe her best work yet! Fantastic.
Be warned - read enough of this book and you too may find yourself identifying as a history buff lol! It’s pretty cool stuff, it turns out.
Be warned - read enough of this book and you too may find yourself identifying as a history buff lol! It’s pretty cool stuff, it turns out.
November 3, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this history of the career of Sigrid Schultz, journalist for The Chicago Tribune based in Berlin during WWII. I had never heard of her prior to reading this book but her story captivated me. It is unfortunate that, post war, both her career and career opportunities ebbed. Thanks to the author for telling her story and for doing such a good job presenting it.
December 8, 2024
Extremely hard subject but a very interesting book. Sigrid Schultz led an incredible life. She was so brave and daring, especially for that time period. If you have the capacity to read about Nazis, I do recommend this book. But be warned, there are very graphic descriptions of war and of concentration camps in this book.
September 26, 2025
An excellent biography of a truly amazing person. I was so impressed with her life and accomplishment. And what an interesting time to be a newspaper reporter. There are so many similarities with what was happening in Germany during her time with censorship and intimidation with what we are dealing with today with the extremist MAGA organization. The similarity with the Nazis are there.
July 12, 2024
A really good book.
September 5, 2024
Wonderfully detailed!
December 9, 2024
Gripping story of a courageous woman
Set against the Nazi regime, this book tells the story of Sigrid Schultz, the Chicago Tribune’s Berlin bureau chief, who faced unfathomable danger to report on the rise of the Nazi regime. Pamela Toler’s writing is so good you almost forget you’re reading history.
Set against the Nazi regime, this book tells the story of Sigrid Schultz, the Chicago Tribune’s Berlin bureau chief, who faced unfathomable danger to report on the rise of the Nazi regime. Pamela Toler’s writing is so good you almost forget you’re reading history.
December 12, 2024
Interesting - you don't often hear or read about female reporters during the war.
January 13, 2025
A narrative about a female war correspondent in Germany leading up to World War II. There were few women war correspondents at that time.
January 30, 2025
Excellent book told from a very unique perspective.
March 1, 2025
Quite interesting with a lot of previous unread information
May 12, 2025
Frighteningly prescient book about the development of Nazi power in Germany. Current American fascist developments...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews