Author Description

Here is the first uncensored and intimate account of Germany in the Second World War. Here is the private, personal, utterly revealing journal of a great foreign correspondent, in which he tells the things he saw and experienced during the seven terrible years in which Hitler rose to power and conquered most of the continent. Millions of Americans who listened to William L. Shirer's remarkable broadcasts from Berlin and other European cities can read the things that couldn't be said through censored microphones. Nowadays, the name of William L. Shirer is virtually a household word among those interested in the study of his era. This is because of the publication in 1960 of his authoritative masterpiece, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". Shirer had been virtually the only correspondent able to report on the startling events which occurred during the period 1934 to 1940, with the rise to power and eventual domination by Adolph Hitler. Shirer had been near to Hitler during this period and he almost alone was able to report first hand on the startling events of that period. Shirer was the only Western Correspondent in Vienna on March 11, 1938 when the German Troops marched in and took over Austria. Shirer alone was the one who reported the surrender by France to Germany on June 22, 1940, even before the Germans reported it. During this entire time, Shirer kept a diary, a record of events many of which could not be publicly reported because of censorship by the Germans. In December 1940, Shirer learned that the Germans were building a case against him for espionage, which was punishable by death. Shirer did the right thing: He escaped and fortunately was able to take most of his diary with him.