William L. Shirer
William L. Shirer was an American journalist, historian, and novelist, born on February 23, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois. After the death of his father, Shirer’s family faced financial difficulties, leading them to relocate to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He graduated from Coe College in 1925 and soon after traveled to Europe, where he began his career as a foreign correspondent for notable newspapers like the Chicago Tribune. Shirer's broadcasting career with CBS during the late 1930s and early 1940s included vivid reports on the rise of Nazi Germany, where he cleverly evaded censors with American slang. His published works include "Berlin Diary," reflecting on European political events, and the acclaimed "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," which won the National Book Award. Additionally, he authored "The Collapse of the Third Republic," regarded as a significant study of French history. Shirer also wrote a memoir about his interactions with Mahatma Gandhi and published his life memoirs in two volumes. He passed away on December 28, 1993, in Boston, Massachusetts, leaving behind a legacy as a significant chronicler of 20th-century history.
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William L. Shirer
Journalist
- Born: February 23, 1904
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: December 28, 1993
- Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts
Biography
Journalist, historian, and novelist William L. Shirer was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 23, 1904. His father, who died when Shirer was nine, was an attorney and was close friends with renowned attorney Clarence Darrow, who often visited the family’s home. After his father’s death, his mother moved the poverty-stricken family to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they stayed with Shirer’s grandmother. Shirer attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated in 1925. Intrigued by the cities of Europe, he borrowed money and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean on a cattle boat after he graduated from college.
Shirer worked in Europe, Afghanistan, and India during the 1920’s and 1930’s as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the Universal News Service. He was a radio broadcaster for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from 1937 to 1941, sending dispatches to the United States describing the impending threat posed by the Nazis and the crises that led to the outbreak of World War II. He often used American slang in his broadcasts to confuse the censors. He later received numerous journalistic awards for his vivid accounts.
In 1941, he published Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941, in which he presented his opinions regarding European political events. He is perhaps best known for his comprehensive yet readable book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, for which he had conducted research throughout the 1950’s while blacklisted as a leftist sympathizer during the height of McCarthyism. Published in 1960, the book won the National Book Award in 1961.
In 1969, he published The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940, which many view as the definitive account of French history and politics between the world wars. The interviews he conducted with Mahatma Gandhi while in India during the 1930’s served as the foundation for his 1979 book Gandhi, a Memoir. His two-volume memoirs, Twentieth-Century Journey: A Memoir of a Life and the Times, were published between 1976 and 1990. Shirer died in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 28, 1993.