An incredible insight into how events unfolded from a social history perspective. A riveting read, very well edited by Julia Boyd. ( )

I'd just like to note a few points about this collation of first hand writing by foreign visitors to Wiemar Germany and the Third Reich. First, it is extremely well done in terms of weaving together many source documents into a coherent whole. Just as a technical exercise in handling a lot of diverse material, it succeeds well. Better than that, the authorial text which links all the contributions is grown-up and expects readers to also be – it does not assume they are ignorant of history, which is a welcome change from the modern trend to explain the simplest thing.

A few less positive observations. The blurb on the cover (probably done by the publisher rather than the author) says this is 'the rise of fascism through the eyes of everyday people'. Well, some of the words are from everyday people, but an awful lot are not – ambassadors, families of ambassadors, some politicians, and other people in prominent positions. Yes, there are also school girls, students, manual workers on holiday, but overall, this description is stretching things. The other point is that although the author is pretty neutral in the first half of the book, her own opinions obtrude a bit too much later on.

These quibbles notwithstanding, the book is a compelling read for anyone interested in the subject. ( )

Myopia of the Moment

Time and the critical eye of historians brings perspective often lacking at the time events occur. That is one of the takeaways from Julia Boyd’s intriguing exploration of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany through the eyes of visitors from 1919 to 1945. These visitors included British and American citizens, as well as one Chinese graduate student. Visitors were vacation goers who loved the landscape and culture of Germany, as well as the value it represented right up to the start of WWII. For the most part, though, visitors were politicians, intellectuals, and students, individuals you would hope to have been more acute observers, people attuned to the politics of a country, and thus able to tell when they are being seduced and hoodwinked. Not so in most cases, especially prior to at least 1938, when Hitler’s and Germany’s march to war became more apparent, and the persecution of the Jews outright and undisguised.

If you’ve read the history of the period and of Germany in particular, you understand how Hitler used the anger of Germans over WWI and its aftermath, as well as Germany’s long volkish history that included a very strong current of antisemitism, to beguile them with visions of greatness to surpass that of the past. (Readers might like to try George Mosse’s The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich, one of the best studies of the subject.) These resentments come through loud and clear in the conversations related by travelers. Too, the level of antisemitism might startle some modern types, especially that expressed by the travelers, politicians, intellectuals, and students alike.

That observers quoted in this volume could not see German military intent even before 1936 will strike readers as surprising, especially when you read about a population in uniform, people, young and older, marching here, there, and everywhere, while singing patriotic songs. You would have to ask yourself: what were they practicing for, what would this uniformity of behavior lead to? Often, you’ll read accounts of young people holidaying in the mountains encountering troops of Hitler youth groups practicing military techniques, including stealth assault employing camouflage.

While this book has garnered a large international readership, here in the U.S. it appears little read. Yet, it should be better known to Americans, because it’s loaded with information on the power of propaganda, the myopia of observation in the moment, how quickly people can fall prey to totalitarians who promise to restore the past, and make the future even better, and how readily the dominant populace can succumb to scapegoating. Even casual readers will find themselves drawing parallels to our own current situation.

Recommended to all readers, and as a welcome addition to the bookshelves of readers of German history and the Nazi era. ( )

At a time when America is operating concentration camps and moving ever more closely towards totalitarianism, this book is especially poignant. Why did tourists continue to visit a country that was so clearly uncivilized and aggressive? How did they reconciliate the politics of the country with the friendly, efficient people they met everywhere on their travels? At the same time, it's also a good recap of the events eading up to WW2 and the Holocaust, if you forgot those lessons from school, or can't entirely memorize the timeline. I'm recommending this book to everyone right now. ( )

More from my Odyssey into the Third Reich.

A bunch of firsthand accounts of what was happening in Germany from the 30s right up to the war.

Also highlights how much Hitler was admired by the British Establishment both low and high born. In fact by almost all Establishments.

I got a palpable sense of what gripped Germany and how it gave new life to broken nation. What they did with that is something else. It is amazing how all those proponents of Hitler developed amnesia after the war both low and high born. You’d think that he alone was the culprit and that he succeeded as far as he did in spite of the towering opposition he faced.

The truth is he had wide support from all sides and it was only the Russians that stopped him.

If it wasn't for Stalin we'd all be speaking German and me and my entire family would have been cleansed into non-existence.

One of the points made strongly in this book is how visitors to Germany were taken in by his propaganda machine or simply refused to see what was right in front of their eyes.

I think it also opens up the idea that many people shared his ideas about the Jews. Something borne out in David Cesarani’s definite book, Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933–1949. In fact anyone interested in this period should read David Cesarani’s book to get over the misinformation from all sides about where they all stood both at this point in history and later.

Informative without being preachy. ( )