The Nightmare Years: 1930-1940, Vol. 2

Even though I was reading this book in September 2009, Shirer's memoirs made me feel as if I was personally experiencing the turbulent 1930s in Germany and beyond. Shirer is a very gifted writer. Shirer was right man for the job: sufficiently proficient in French, German, and Italian. (compare with John Gunther, who did not speak foreign languages). A man of strong convinction who saw the Nazi for what they really were. I personally enjoyed the earlier chapters (Afghanistan, etc). Note the passages regarding Ed Murrow (see volume III). According to the NYT paid obituary column: Theresa, aged 97, died January 25, 2008 at her home in New York. Survived by her daughters Linda Rae of Cross River, NY, and Eileen (Inga) Dean of Lenox, MA, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

I really enjoyed the Nightmare Years. Mr. Shirer has a way of making the Nazi's reign over Germany come alive. I couldn't put it down, and shared its insights with many. If you like WWII history, and good stories, then this is the book for you.

In this remarkable memoir, journalist-historian William L. Shirer (1904-1993) describes his childhood in Chicago and Cedar Rapids, plus his career as a young reporter in Paris and Europe from 1925-1930. Readers see this young man mature as the horse-and-buggy gave way to automobiles and airplanes. We also learn from his humane yet skeptical view of society. Shirer met an incredible number of the day's notables, and here skillfully describes Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ghandi, Jack Dempsey, Isadora Duncan, Gerturde Stein, Ernest Hemmingway, Grant Wood, etc. The author also captures the sights, sounds, and flavor of his beloved Paris; this book made a nice travel companion on a recent trip. I enjoyed reading of his young bachelorhood in the heady Paris of the late 1920's, tempered by shadows of Depression, Nazism, and war on the horizon. Future historians and students should read these pages to feel the rythyms of the early 20th Century. Shirer's immense talent and easy-reading prose led to three exceptional memoirs (this one, NIGHTMARE YEARS-1984, RETURN OF THE NATIVE-1989), plus his outstanding bestsellers on Nazi Germany, BERLIN DIARY-1941, RISE AND FALL OF THIRD REICH-1960, plus NIGHTMARE YEARS.

In this superb memoir, William L. Shirer describes life inside Nazi Germany from his six-year perch (1934-1940) as a foreign correspondent for newspapers and CBS radio. Readers get a feel for everyday life in Nazi Germany as Hitler consolidated his power, crushed (or killed) his opponents, and put the jobless to work building a war machine for future conquest. Shirer begins by describing his days in Vienna, Afghanistan, Spain, and France, but the book's heart comes with his posting to Berlin in 1934. Readers learn about Gestapo terror, prewar rearmament, increasing anti-Semitism, and the devotion of many (but not all) Germans to their violent Fuehrer. Shirer also examines the inexplicable appeasement policies of France and Britain - policies that leave one as baffled today as in the 1930's. The author recounts joining Ed Murrow at CBS Radio in 1938 and then broadcasting events such as the Anchluss (takeover) of Austria, the betrayal at Munich, and the German invasion of Poland. Shirer also recounts traveling with the German army as it tore through Belgium in 1940, seeing Paris under Nazi rule, and broadcasting the French surrender. The book's nicely readable prose vividly recreates the stifling atmosphere and the unfolding, utterly preventable tragedy. Journalist-author William L. Shirer (1904-93) wrote superbly readable eye-witness accounts of 20th Century history. This 1984 memoir was his final bestseller on Nazi Germany, and every bit as readable as the earlier two, BERLIN DIARY (1941) and RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH (1960).

Shirer's moving account of his formative years in Chicago, Cedar Rapids, and as a young reporter in Paris ranks as solid autobiographical writing. I like how this renowned journalist parallels history with a revealing narrative of his youthful yearnings, setbacks, and rebellious insights. Future historians will read this volume to feel the rhythms of everyday life from 1904-1930. Career, personality, and luck exposed young Shirer to many notables, and his portraits of acquaintances like Hemmingway, Sinclair Lewis, Isadora Duncan, and Eamon De Velera add spice to the narrative. Some academic historians jealously dismiss Shirer's best-selling books, but I find his eyewitness accounts illuminating and his prose superior. The first of three volumes, this memoir is more personally revealing than The Nightmare Years, Shirer's superb account of Nazi Germany and A Native's Return, his homecoming finale. Writes Shirer in the introduction, "...it is an interesting fate being an American in the Twentieth Century. I am glad it was mine."