End of a Berlin Diary

The Berlin Diary Series, Book 2

By: William L. Shirer

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William L. Shirer was new to the world of broadcast journalism when he began keeping a diary while on assignment in Europe during the 1930s. It was in 1940, when he was still virtually unknown, that Shirer wondered whether his eyewitness account of the collapse of the world around Nazi Germany could be of any interest or value as a book.

Shirer’s Berlin Diary, which is considered the first full record of what was happening in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, appeared in 1941. The book was an instant success - and would not be the last of his expert observations on Europe.

Shirer returned to the European front in 1944 to cover the end of the war. As the smoke cleared, Shirer - who watched the birth of a monster that threatened to engulf the world - now stood witness to the death of the Third Reich.

End of a Berlin Diary chronicles this year-long study of Germany after Hitler. Through a combination of Shirer’s lucid, honest reporting, along with passages on the Nuremberg trials, copies of captured Nazi documents, and an eyewitness account of Hitler’s last days, Shirer provides insight into the unrest, the weariness, and the tentative steps world leaders took towards peace.

©2016 William L. Shirer (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

beginning of the end the end of the beginnin

I feel the original Berlin diary was far more concise and had more meat to it but that could be because I have a feeling this was not exactly an intended follow up and I'm comparing it to a work completed much later. it is an adequate coda is Berlin diary. you can sense the initial forms of the rise and fall of the Third Reich and its pages but it's tantalizing ly sparse on those details.

Fantastic book.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody that has a deep interest in World War II history; particularly the war in Europe.

Not in the same league as his other writings, but not bad

I’ve read Shirer’s other books and thought they were great - but this one is not one of his best. But it’s still interesting to read. With that said Shirer comes off as a typical leftist media snob, so of course he loves Russia and pushes socialism, which is annoying - but his pure hatred of Germany and the German people helps offset that since it’s so entertaining to hear him spew his unfiltered feelings about them. On the downside he also goes as far as to downplay and even dismiss the mass rapes that Russia committed against German, doubting it happened and if it did, well, every army does it (no, they don’t). But that is why this book has value, it reads like someone’s unfiltered thoughts from the time, and seeing things first hand, and not having some woke or PC filter at work.

The other downside of the book is that he uses a ton of filler to pad out the length - so it’s not 10 hours or whatever of his writings - it’s probably like 4-5 hours with some speeches and reports to fill out the length. It’s not boring or uninteresting - but I’d have much rather listened to him talk about his return to Germany and get more detail and opinion from that.

The reader does a great job - fits the book perfectly.

Exceptional first-person history

As always with Shirer, you feel like you're experiencing the events as they happened. I think that's because he was actually there and his story telling us from the perspective of a radio man who is narrating events as they happen.

I would say this is but one step down from his first Berlin diary book, but exceptional nonetheless.

Don’t miss this piece of history!

Ever wonder how people in Europe put the pieces back together after WW2? Think it was all roses and reconciliation? Shirer was there when before the war, and returned as soon as he could to report on the above. As always, his shrewd observations prove to have a truth beyond their time.

Full Circle

This is an insightful conclusion to The Berlin Diary written by Shirer. The narrator did an excellent job of conveying the emotional roller coaster the author must have felt.

Historical journalism

Fascinating description of the German people, how nazism can gangrene a society, how weakness among decisions makers and generals can create a brutal and uncalled for tragedy among humans, and a good description of some of these murderers who were tried in Nuremberg.
PS. As in most Anglo-American books about WWII, not much is written about the Soviet Army that defeated the nazis and fought the battle of Berlin…

Is it possible? Better than Berlin Diary Part 1?

Now that the War is about to end, the author reluctantly heads back to Europe on assignment to experience a little heat of battle from the American soldier's perspective and the forever-changed, once Nazi-occupied City of Paris. Then again later, he returns to the totally destroyed City of Berlin, where he once sat in on Goebbels' propaganda press conferences, broadcast on CBS with SS censors breathing down his neck, and attended speeches by Hitler. Boomers and the Greatest Generation may not recognize William Shirer as the superb radio-journalist he was, but perhaps only remember him as a famous author. However, they will recognize his buddies such as Ed Morrow and Howard K. Smith who transitioned to television news after the War. But the reader cannot help but to have great respect for Mr. Shirer's excellent coverage that he gave the outside world from inside Germany. And for the dangers he put himself and his family into in order to tell the truth about what was happening in Germany before and during the War. And then to assess afterwards why the German people let it happen. Without any doubt, this is the best analysis of the post-War mood of the German people I've read, topped off with his notes from his sitting in on the Nuremberg Trials. Excellent narration, including accurate pronunciation of German terms and names.

Wild Bill does it again, now I know what happened!

after reading the Berlin diaries I thought to myself that's all I didn't know there was a conclusion 🤷🏾‍♂️.
I mean what are you going to say about William shirer he's a god amongst men and his writing is such, this book is a great value not only does it fill in all the unknowns of Berlin diaries but it's a great accompaniment for the rise and fall of the third Reich,
the only way to get true history is you got to talk to the person that's there but there are dead or have dementia now so this is the next best thing. Great book guide recommended

Another Shirer Grand Slam

I’ve listened to something like 165+ hours of Shirer’s stories and recaps, what a superb writer and observationalist he was; here I am 71 and known his name all my life but never read a word until maybe 6 years ago, and all fantastically read by Grover Gardner - any other reader would be a disappointment, at least to me. These chilling and matter of fact recounts give way to changing how I think about the dissatisfied times we live it today - but it’s always been this way and suspect it always will be - it’s reassuring to me, and relieving, to know mankind is terminally unsatisfied - at least todays issues really are not unique.