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Summary: Nazi Germany from the Inside
Review: "Berlin Diary" is a classic in reportage. Shirer was a journalist stationed in Berlin from 1934 to 1940 and thus an eyewitness to the growth of Facism in Europe, especially the Nazi regime in Germany. He observes and reports on the events leading up to World War II and the stunning German victories during the first year of the war. Shirer seems to have been about everywhere that anything happened and his eye-witness accounts are priceless as background to the "gathering storm" in Europe.
This is a diary which Shirer admits in his introduction was written with the thought of publication. Thus, like others I was irritated by the ethnic slurs he directs at Germans and by his obvious political partisanship. For example, he bemoans the defeat of the Republic in Spain with the statement, "our side has lost." I can only interpret that remark to mean that he personally identified with the Spanish Republic. His remark about "our side" certainly would make me suspicious about the objectivity of any of his reporting on Spain. Clearly, however, Shirer saw his diary (published before the US entered World War II) less as a balanced piece of reportage than as an anti-Facist manifesto backed up most impressively by his personal experiences. Read in that context, "Berlin Dairy" can be appreciated as one of the essential books on the origins of World War II.
Politics aside, Shirer paints an interesting picture of the life of young Americans in Europe during the 1930s with capsule descriptions of who he met, what he ate and drank, and his day to day life. Throughout the book is the atmosphere of impending doom. Shirer sensed it early and is thus one of the prophetic voices coming out of the 1930s.
Smallchief
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Summary: The reality of pre-war Berlin in the 30s
Review: "Berlin Diary" is one of the more unusual documents to come out of World War II. First published in 1942, not long after America's entry into the war, it acted as a crucial means of informing the American public of the state of affairs in Germany up until the start of the war. Shirer spent the years from 1934 to 1940 in Europe as a foreign correspondent, and was mostly posted in Berlin during that time. As such, he witnessed the rise of Nazi fanaticism from a privileged position, often being given access to Nazi functions that the public could not attend. Shirer's better known work, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," is more exhaustive and examines the subject from a slightly more detached point of view. "Berlin Diary" is the pithy, day-by-day account of what it was really like on the ground in Berlin, including all the personal difficulties and aggravations that occurred as the end of 1940 approached. It's a fascinating book which will add vital colour to anyone's attempt to understand the period.
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Summary: SHIRER KNEW WHAT WAS COMING!
Review: Although I have read many books on Nazism and the Second World War, very few have included contemporary eyewitness accounts. The authors have known what happened, and often why, and have (sometimes) simply described historical events. Shirer's diary gives us a day by day look at Europe and Nazi Germany during the crucial years of the thirties and after. The reader may be chilled as the book progresses, knowing the horror in store for so many.
And again and again it appears Shirer knows what will happen in advance. He is rarely wrong in his predictions. For instance,he predicts the German attack on Holland in May of '40 and British survival later that year. He finds the German Jews in 1935 to be 'too optimistic' and says that Hitler will turn on Russia before the USA. At times I was inclined to believe Shirer had backdated his diary after the fact.
It would have been nice if the diary could have been continued to the war's end, even if the author no longer had access to sources so close to the action. I suppose this would have made for too long a book, though.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly prescient
Review: As an example of you-are-there journalism, Shirer's work is as good as it gets, and that's why Columbia University ranked it as one of the century's top 100 works of reportage recently. But Shirer, writing before the U.S. even entered the war, shows himself to be an incredibly prescient analyst of why Hitler decided against invading Britain, for example, as well as how the German-Russian alliance would end and how the U.S. would get involved in the war. All around, this is an excellent book. After finishing it this past weekend, I wanted to drop Shirer a note to say how much I enjoyed it; unfortunately, he died in 1993. All journalists should read this book.
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Summary: Read this so that you don't become like the person above...
Review: Books like this need to be read if only to remind us that what it chronicles isn't really over. There are no excuses, no justifications, allowed for what happened during this time period. Even in something as innoucuous as a book review we have to be vigilant for any attempts to lessen the absolute horror and revulsion we should feel for any and every aspect of Nazi Germany. The above reviewer should be profoundly ashamed of himself because this is a simple question of good vs. evil and there is no acceptable middle ground in this matter.
Rating: 
Summary: Wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so prejudiced...
Review: Having read "Rise & Fall...," I assumed that "Berlin Diaries" would offer well-thought insight. However, though there are some excellent descriptions of German (& European) life in this period, there are way too many prejudiced statements by the author.For instance, at one point he states that German women are the ugliest in Europe. Based upon what objective facts, I'm unsure, but things like beauty to not stop at the border. Additionally, if you look at the cover photo of Mr. Shirer, I find it somewhat strange that this man is commenting on anyone's asthetic beauty. However, that does not seem prevent him from making unsettling (and racist) characterizations of Germans, Poles, & Balkan citizens. Another source of odd commentary involves Shirer's continuous descriptions of lavish meals and wines. Whereas at one moment he is describing the dire food shortages in some countries, three pages later he goes into great depth about his dinner meal in Paris or Vienna. It's difficult for me to believe that the author truly empathizes with the fate of those in occupied countries when he seems to be continuously searching for the seminal French meal (and wine). Odd... Perhaps his off-the-cuff remarks should be taken in context with the time they were written (1941), but for an "objective journalist" to display such shocking attitudes about foreigners is disheartening. It makes me wonder how much editing took place in "Rise & Fall..." to make it as good as it is. In all candor, I wish I hadn't read "Berlin Diary," as it now spoils my view of the author and his greatest work, "Rise & Fall..." There are better descriptive books (legitimate diaries) out there...see Ed Murrow for a better view of life at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so prejudiced...
Review: Having read "Rise & Fall...," I assumed that "Berlin Diaries" would offer well-thought insight. However, though there are some excellent descriptions of German (& European) life in this period, there are way too many prejudiced statements by the author. For instance, at one point he states that German women are the ugliest in Europe. Based upon what objective facts, I'm unsure, but things like beauty to not stop at the border. Additionally, if you look at the cover photo of Mr. Shirer, I find it somewhat strange that this man is commenting on anyone's asthetic beauty. However, that does not seem prevent him from making unsettling (and racist) characterizations of Germans, Poles, & Balkan citizens. Another source of odd commentary involves Shirer's continuous descriptions of lavish meals and wines. Whereas at one moment he is describing the dire food shortages in some countries, three pages later he goes into great depth about his dinner meal in Paris or Vienna. It's difficult for me to believe that the author truly empathizes with the fate of those in occupied countries when he seems to be continuously searching for the seminal French meal (and wine). Odd... Perhaps his off-the-cuff remarks should be taken in context with the time they were written (1941), but for an "objective journalist" to display such shocking attitudes about foreigners is disheartening. It makes me wonder how much editing took place in "Rise & Fall..." to make it as good as it is. In all candor, I wish I hadn't read "Berlin Diary," as it now spoils my view of the author and his greatest work, "Rise & Fall..." There are better descriptive books (legitimate diaries) out there...see Ed Murrow for a better view of life at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so prejudiced...
Review: Having read "Rise & Fall...," I assumed that "Berlin Diaries" would offer well-thought insight. However, though there are some excellent descriptions of German (& European) life in this period, there are way too many prejudiced statements by the author. For instance, at one point he states that German women are the ugliest in Europe. Based upon what objective facts, I'm unsure, but things like beauty to not stop at the border. Additionally, if you look at the cover photo of Mr. Shirer, I find it somewhat strange that this man is commenting on anyone's asthetic beauty. However, that does not seem prevent him from making unsettling (and racist) characterizations of Germans, Poles, & Balkan citizens. Another source of odd commentary involves Shirer's continuous descriptions of lavish meals and wines. Whereas at one moment he is describing the dire food shortages in some countries, three pages later he goes into great depth about his dinner meal in Paris or Vienna. It's difficult for me to believe that the author truly empathizes with the fate of those in occupied countries when he seems to be continuously searching for the seminal French meal (and wine). Odd... Perhaps his off-the-cuff remarks should be taken in context with the time they were written (1941), but for an "objective journalist" to display such shocking attitudes about foreigners is disheartening. It makes me wonder how much editing took place in "Rise & Fall..." to make it as good as it is. In all candor, I wish I hadn't read "Berlin Diary," as it now spoils my view of the author and his greatest work, "Rise & Fall..." There are better descriptive books (legitimate diaries) out there...see Ed Murrow for a better view of life at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Solid eye-witness account
Review: I enjoyed this book's sense of "being there," and its quiet outrage against Nazi brutalities. Shirer's diary has lost none of its power since 1941, when as the world's best-selling non-fiction work it aided interventionist sentiment in the U.S. It's companion published in 1947, End of A Berlin Diary, adds illumination but isn't as moving. Although raised Presbyterian, Shirer's sympathies led some to believe him Jewish. Still, the last line of introduction sets the chilling tenor of that era; "The Gestapo will find no clues."
Rating:
Summary: Solid eye-witness account
Review: I enjoyed this book's sense of "being there," and its quiet outrage against Nazi brutalities. Shirer's diary has lost none of its power since 1941, when as the world's best-selling non-fiction work it aided interventionist sentiment in the U.S. It's companion published in 1947, End of A Berlin Diary, adds illumination but isn't as moving. Although raised Presbyterian, Shirer's sympathies led some to believe him Jewish. Still, the last line of introduction sets the chilling tenor of that era; "The Gestapo will find no clues."
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