Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941

Shipping is great at two dollars, but when it arrives with a bent binding and severely dog eared inner edges (and corners) it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Do not recommended.

This respected reporter lived in Berlin prior to the official opening of WW II. He kept a personal journal of events as they happened, right up to the time when he had to return to America due to full breakout of an ugly war that many still have trouble believing could have been as bad as it was. Human behavior and reactions were as bad then as what we are hearing about today. If we are ever to understand the horror of war and how it happens, this is an important step. It is not dull reading!

The author makes a large number of observations about what is happening and how it is done. This is along with the historical recording of events. These observations have stood the test of time. They explain the German's rapid success in the early years.

This is a great book and a terrific read. Originally published in 1941 by William L. Shirer, who worked in Berlin during the war with Edward R. Murrow and the radio team of Columbia Broadcasting System, it went on to sell almost 350,000 copies by August and remained at the top of the best-seller-list until after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shirer worked in Berlin at a time when all of the world got its news through foreign correspondents writing in newspapers. Later, he made the leap to CBS and radio to work with the legendary Edward Murrow. The two captivated all of America with their radio broadcasts from Berlin and Europe as the war unfolded. "Berlin Diary" offers unparalleled insights into Hitler's Germany by an intelligent and talented news correspondent writing as events unfolded. Shirer was quick to learn that German Army reports on the fighting in the opening years of the war were usually frank and accurate, while those of the German Navy and especially the Air Force were not. Afforded regular access to Adolph Hitler he ponders later in the book on how easy it would have been to assassinate the German leader And he provides first-hand descriptions of Nazi leaders such as Rudolph Hess, Hermann Goering, and especially Joseph Goebbels, who most of the foreign news correspondents detested. Shirer also describes the tremendous effect the British bombing of Berlin in the early days of the war, even by small groups of Royal Air Force bombers, had on the population, depriving them of sleep and forcing the German war industry to lose valuable hours of production time. The author notes that if the British had sustained the bombing campaign and sent over even more bombers, the pressure on Hitler and the Nazis to end the war might have been tremendous. "Berlin Diary" is also a tribute to Shirer's analytical talents and his ability to piece together what is actually happening or will happen next in the war is uncanny. He is quick, for example, to find out about the Nazi extermination of those who are mentally retarted or otherwise physically incapacitated throughout Germany, a move resisted by many Germans. Of course, it is clear that the author had a wide network of contacts, who kept him informed as to developments in the Third Reich. Indeed, Shirer shows that resistance to Hitler and the Nazis early in the war, both passive and active, was at a much higher level than was generally appreciated abroad, both during the war and even after it. "Berlin Diary" is a tribute to an incredibly talented individual and to all civilian war correspondents, who lived dangerous lives in a dangerous regime to bring the news to the world. Shirer's reporting showed America the threat Hitler posed to free countries everywhere and no doubt played a role in President Roosevelt's decision to get involved in the war.

If you are interested in this period in history, you should read this book. Shirer offers a day-by-day history of life in Germany during the rise of Nazism and beginning of the war. That alone would be enough for a great book, but there is much more. Shirer covers many aspects of the war; he writes eloquently and accurately about the naivety of pre-war British diplomacy, strategy on both sides, and the Nazi clique. He provides an early glimpse at horrors of Nazi genocide. And his personal story is fascinating, as he travels across Europe, worries about his family, and matches wits with his censors to get as much of the story out as he can. Berlin Diary is very well written and hard to put down. Gems of description abound; for example, he describes a visit to a Lisbon casino: "Tonight, Ed [Murrow] and I did the casino. The gaming rooms were full of a weird assortment of human beings, German and British spies, male and female, wealthy refuges who had mysteriously managed to get a lot of money out and were throwing it about freely, other refugees who were broke and were trying to win their passage money with a few desperate gambles with the fickle roulette wheel..." Highly recommended.

Shirer is better known, of course, for having written "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," which is an excellent first book to read on Nazi history. After reading "The Rise and Fall," though, I stumbled on "Berlin Diary" and I was riveted. Shirer's life as an American correspondent in pre-war Nazi Berlin gave him a unique position from which to observe and chronicle life under the 20th century's most bloodthirsty regime. Shirer's day-to-day observations are both precise and chilling. I was especially fascinated with how he sparred with--and often outwitted--the Nazi censors. He walked a fine line with many of the stories he filed; he was committed to giving his American readers an accurate depiction of life in Nazi Germany but knew that his characterizations were being closely monitored. I came to really admire his courage and determination, and found the book a pleasure to read.

If you haven't yet read Herr Schirer's all time classic "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", or if you just completed it, this is the greatest companion book. Heck - even if you don't intend to read "The Rise and Fall" - read it anyway. It gives such great insight into the mind of one of the greatest correspondents of the modern era and the great historians of the Third Reich. It also helps you to see the war from the side of the German people - after all, they did have to deal with Hitler - and his legacy the longest. As you will see, this is Shirer's personal diary, in which he speaks lovingly about his wife and newborn and worries about their safety in Switzerland. He deals with his trips to the front and contacts in the foreign ministry. Extremely well written - and a great reference during the long haul of "The Rise and Fall" (Personally, I'm still pushing through "The Rise and Fall" after a year and a half - and yet it's one of the greatest books I've read) Come on! Buy it! You'll thank me! It's an investment you won't regret.