Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Berlin Diary

  • The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934–1941
  • By: William L. Shirer
  • Narrated by: Tom Weiner
  • Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (192 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Berlin Diary cover art

Berlin Diary

By: William L. Shirer
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £21.99

Buy Now for £21.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

End of a Berlin Diary cover art
The Collapse of the Third Republic cover art
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover art
The Start cover art
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler cover art
The Nuremberg Interviews cover art
1944 cover art
The Coming of the Third Reich cover art
Adolf Hitler cover art
The Third Reich in Power cover art
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire cover art
The Last 100 Days cover art
Our Oriental Heritage cover art
The Third Reich at War cover art
Never Surrender cover art
Drift cover art

Summary

By the acclaimed journalist and New York Times best-selling author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, this day-by-day eyewitness account of the momentous events leading up to World War II in Europe is the private, personal, utterly revealing journal of a great foreign correspondent.

CBS radio broadcaster William L. Shirer was virtually unknown in 1940 when he decided there might be a book in the diary he had kept in Europe during the 1930s—specifically those sections dealing with the collapse of the European democracies and the rise of Nazi Germany.

Shirer was the only Western correspondent in Vienna on March 11, 1938, when the German troops marched in and took over Austria, and he alone reported the surrender by France to Germany on June 22, 1940, even before the Germans reported it. The whole time, Shirer kept 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, an offense punishable by death. Fortunately, Shirer escaped and was able to take most of his diary with him.

Berlin Diary first appeared in 1941, and the timing was perfect. The energy, the passion, and the electricity in it were palpable. The book was an instant success, and it became the frame of reference against which thoughtful Americans judged the rush of events in Europe. It exactly matched journalist to event: the right reporter in the right place at the right time. It stood, and still stands, as so few books have ever done, a pure act of journalistic witness.

©1941 William L. Shirer (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The most complete news report yet to come out of wartime Germany.” ( Time)

What listeners say about Berlin Diary

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    150
  • 4 Stars
    34
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    117
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    122
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning and beautifully read

I had read bits of the book years ago but I had forgotten how compelling it was. Shirer's day-by-day picture of life under the Nazis is uncannily accurate with the hindsight of history. He wrote beautifully although his growing loathing of the Nazis makes the later parts of the book more tirade than report -- loathing the Nazis was, of course, justified but I wish Shirer had tried harder to understand why otherwise-rational Germans didn't share his hatred. He often resorts to sweeping stereotypes about "the German character" and he fails to pursue insights on the Nazi use of class resentment and modern media. Still, worth every minute of listening and the reading adds extra resonance to every sentence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unique and fascinating

This story is best listen to with a good Knowledge of the events. As a diary the author of course does not know what will happen next so some of the accounts are based purely on his own interpretation of the situation and was some times incorrect. This is not a criticism as it actually shows how isolated the German population where from events outside there own country much like North Korea today. Every book written about World War 2 is started by an author who knows the outcome so this is a unique account in every way. Don’t expect a traditional structure to this book and you'll be fine. There is a lot of everyday detail in this account that does not appear in the Rise and Fall. A great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Ms
  • 15-11-13

Excellent listen

What made the experience of listening to Berlin Diary the most enjoyable?

I had the book on my reading wish list, and when I saw it was available on audible I took a chance. It was wonderful, and as I do most of my listening on the bus to and from work, the 'bite sized' chunks that a diary affords, made it perfect for my commute.

What did you like best about this story?

Historically it is fascinating to hear what someone living in Berlin at the time thought - I had read that it didn't really address the issue of anti-semitism and genocide; but I felt that it did. Maybe not to the detail that we now know, but it was made clear that journalists were not being given all the information they required.

Have you listened to any of Tom Weiner’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any of Tom Weiner's other performances but I most certainly will now.

Any additional comments?

I only wish that William Shriver had stayed longer in Berlin - although he of course didn't want to!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating, human and insightful

If you could sum up Berlin Diary in three words, what would they be?

A MUST READ

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The author is actually shoved aside by Hitler who has a “feminine, dainty walk”

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

Despite its title the first third of this book deals with Prague and the shabby sellout of Czechoslovakia by Europe and Britain. A fascinating human focused insight into terrible times-

Geneva March 14th - “Slovakia has declared its independence, there goes the remains of Czechoslovakia, I should go to Prague but I haven’t the heart, am I growing to softhearted to sentimental to be a good reporter? I don’t mind the killings the bloodshed…but Prague, I can’t face it.”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great insight into 1930s/40s Germany

Well worth listening to for anyone interested in the second world war. I liked the fact that it was written at the time, so without the benefit of hindsight - and William Shirer got a lot of things right about how countries would fall to the Nazis. He also showed how the German tactics were the same, country by country, which I hadn't known before.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Exhilarating and informative

An amazing journey through a time we rarely hear about. A completely new perspective on the war and the litany of errors made before it even started.

Excellent content and well read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A historic piece of writing.

In an era when journalism and the writing of history has descended into a quagmire of crude, tribal mediocrity and the celebritising of everything (Ben Macintyre for example), there existed a time of journalism that had gravitas and courage. Shirer’s work stands above today’s dross because of that courage and integrity. Every journalist should be made to read this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Review

Really interesting to hear things from a different vantage point. Well worth listening 2 his story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration and great writing

Shirer’s contemporary diary writing was spot on. A great first draft of history which clearly evidences his credentials to later write the famous Rise and Fall. This book deserves to be better known.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent timeline of WW2

Superb book that gives the account of an American journalist that keeps a diary of his time in Germany up to 1942. fantastic listen as does not state well known facts as he is not aware of NAZI atrocities when published. very addictive listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!