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Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People Paperback – 10 May 2018
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Witness the rise of the Third Reich through the perspective of outsiders – extraordinary tales from visitors and travellers drawn to the ‘New Germany’ of the 1930s.
The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt – of hope even. Without the benefit of hindsight, how did people interpret what was unfolding in front of their eyes? How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by Nazi propaganda or predict the Holocaust?
Travellers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts of outsiders drawn to the country, a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler – one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.
These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.
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THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP THREE BESTSELLER AND WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE MONTH
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History 2018
One of the Daily Telegraph's Best Books of 2017
A Guardian 'Readers' Choice' Best Book of 2017
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‘A compelling historical narrative’ Daily Telegraph
‘Fascinating’ Spectator
‘Absorbing and stimulating’ Mail on Sunday
DISCOVER MORE STORIES OF ORDINARY LIVES AT THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY IN JULIA BOYD’S NEW BOOK A Village in the Third Reich – OUT NOW
- Print length496 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherElliott & Thompson
- Publication date10 May 2018
- Dimensions19.8 x 3.6 x 12.9 cm
- ISBN-101783963816
- ISBN-13978-1783963812
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Review
“A compelling historical narrative … both flatters and challenges our hindsight. [Boyd] lets her voices, skilfully orchestrated, speak for themselves, which they do with great eloquence” – The Daily Telegraph
“Fascinating … surreal scenes pepper Boyd’s deep trawl of travellers’ tales from the scores of visitors who were drawn to the ‘new Germany’ in the 1930s” – The Spectator
“Contains many amazing anecdotes … It warns us that we, with our all-seeing hindsight, might ourselves have been fooled or beguiled or inclined to make excuses, had we been there at the time. I can thoroughly recommend it as a contribution to knowledge and an absorbing and stimulating book in itself” – Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday
“'Meticulously researched … Julia Boyd's research has been exhaustive. She has visited archives all over the world and assembled a vast and entertaining cast of travellers … makes for thought-provoking reading” – Caroline Moorehead, Literary Review
“A fascinating book” -- Robert Elms, BBC Radio London
"To a younger generation it seems incomprehensible that after the tragic Great War people and political leaders allowed themselves to march into the abyss again. Julia Boyd’s book, drawing on wide experience and forensic research, seeks to answer some of these questions." -- Randolph Churchill
“With an almost novelistic touch, [Boyd] presents a range of stories of human interest … The uncomfortable moral of Travellers in the Third Reich is that people see and hear only what they already want to see and hear” -- David Pryce-Jones, Standpoint
“Fascinating … This absorbing and beautifully organised book is full of small encounters that jolt the reader into a historical past that seems still very near” – Lucy Lethbridge, The Tablet
“In the 1930s the most cultured and technologically advanced country in Europe tumbled into the abyss. In this deeply researched book Julia Boyd lets us view Germany's astonishing fall through foreign eyes. Her vivid tapestry of human stories is a delightful, often moving read. It also offers sobering lessons for our own day when strong leaders are again all the rage” -- Professor David Reynolds, author of The Long Shadow: The Great War and the 20th Century
"Drawing on the unpublished experiences of outsiders inside the Third Reich, Julia Boyd provides dazzling new perspectives on the Germany that Hitler built. Her book is a tour de force of historical research” – Dr Piers Brendon, author of The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s
“What was Nazi Germany really like in the run up to the Second World War? Julia Boyd’s painstakingly researched and deeply nuanced book shows how this troubled country appeared to travellers of the 1930s who did not have the benefit of hindsight. A truly fascinating read” -- Keith Lowe, Sunday Times bestselling author of Savage Continent and Inferno
"Engrossing … skilfully woven together to create a three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler that has many resonances for today" -- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
“A revealing and original account. Some of Adolf Hitler's fellow travellers, lulled by self-deception, gulled by propaganda, deluded themselves about Nazi Germany as they deceived others” – Sir John Tusa
“Julia Boyd has conducted a vast range and volume of research. The numerous witnesses of Germany under Hitler whom she quotes have different ages, nationalities, backgrounds and opinions. Out of the multitude of first-hand accounts she spins a tapestry which is full of vivid detail and gradually creates a coherent whole. The horrors of the Hitler regime and how it came to power, and the suffering of ordinary people, are brought to life. The book is comprehensive, informative and full of life. I wish I could have read it before I first worked in post-war Germany. I would have understood better the Germans whom I knew and admired even more what West Germans achieved after 1945. A glorious read for anyone with an interest in the history of the twentieth century” – Sir Christopher Mallaby, former ambassador to Germany and France
“Unique, original and engagingly written. This account of visitors and tourists to Germany brings to life these difficult decades in a most refreshing way [and] should attract a wide circle of readers” – Dr Zare Steiner, author of The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933 and Triumph of the Dark: 1933-1939
“An entertaining popular history … a fascinating book. Boyd lets the voices from the past speak to us … opinions that are sometimes shocking and often thought provoking. Traveller attitudes give an insight into the feelings before the war, often at odds with or in more depth than many standard histories … very readable” – Paul Burke, nudge-book.com
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Elliott & Thompson; 2nd edition (10 May 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 496 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1783963816
- ISBN-13 : 978-1783963812
- Dimensions : 19.8 x 3.6 x 12.9 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 22,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,803 in Travel & Tourism (Books)
- Customer reviews:
About the author

Julia Boyd is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People and A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives were Transformed by the Rise of Fascism. Her previous books include A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony, The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician and Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan. As the widow of a former diplomat, she lived in Germany from 1977 to 1981. She lives in London.
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Fascinating, disturbing and enlightening in equal measure, I found it shocking so many people simply chose to ignore what was going on around them and give the Nazis the benefit of the doubt thinking that they would mellow or simply didn’t care. Just as disturbing was the many non German Nazi sympathisers and indeed helpers. Certainly opened my eyes.
I have also read the 2nd book by Julia Boyd “A Village In The Third Reich” if you are interested in this period then these two books provide a different perspective.
Thoroughly recommend.
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.
What makes this book special is the objective way in which it examines what happened in the country. Some travellers in Germany at the time thought some of the changes Hitler brought about were positive, others could already see bad times ahead. Presented clearly and without judging with hindsight (and good history never judges, merely reports and analyses what happened) - the book gives a vivid impression of what it was like to be in the country during a time of dangerous change. As a social history of the time it explores the lived experience in a way most history books never achieve. It's well-written, clear, and in its own understated way is one of the best books you could ever read about this shocking period in modern history. It is also a warning that democratic societies and freedoms people take for granted can be lost in a heartbeat. A compelling, important book to read.
Do you simply ignore her and walk away?
Do you stop, listen and sympathise but again do nothing?
Do you agree and take her daughter with you?
Interesting question isn't it? Dr and Mrs William Boyle did just that. They agreed there and then and with the appropriate papers subsequently took the teenager back with them to their home in Nairobi. By the way, the teenagers name was Greta. What actually stopped me in my tracks, having only read the first two pages of Julia Boyd's 'Travellers in the Third Reich', was the incredible decency and humanity the Boyd's demonstrated. More on this particular story appears on pages 312 and 313 of the book.
There is no intention here to disclose the many other fascinating, true, experiences and observations of those whom Julia Boyd has painstakingly researched during the writing of this highly imaginative, interesting and readable narrative. However, without spoiling other readers enjoyment - and I'm not making any political or religious points here - one aspect may also shock some readers and that is the anti-Semitic attitude, not only by the Nazis, which is a given but also by significant sections of society in many countries, including Britain, Europe and at certain levels of American society. It does suggest that many, including some of the contemporary politicians, the elite of society and the general public, were comfortable to turn their collective backs on the unimaginable plight of German Jews. In many instances, society was supportive of Nazi brutality. This is a brief history of various people, some well-known, some not, who visited and travelled in Germany during that unusual, confusing and for many, anxious period, which was to culminate, for the second time in total war, death and destruction on an unprecedented scale. Julia Boyd's book is informative and well worth reading.
Top reviews from other countries
E questo forse è l'aspetto che maggiormente colpisce: i resoconti e i giudizi sulla Germania nazionalsocialista non provengono da gitanti sprovveduti, ma sovente da diplomatici, scrittori, intellettuali e artisti. Ciò che li divide è ovviamente il loro orientamento politico: si va dalla famigerata Unity Mitford, britannica ma ardente filonazista, a Charlie Chaplin, il che porta ovviamente a scegliere di non vedere o di vedere tante cose, dalla Notte dei Cristalli a una crescente violenza quotidiana.
Ciò che accomuna questi testimoni del loro tempo è invece una perdurante fascinazione per la Germania di "prima", quella di Bach, Goethe, Schiller, Kant e nutrita compagnia di spiriti illustri, nonchè per la bellezza dei paesaggi, la cortesia degli abitanti e le magnifiche città medievali che erano Francoforte, Amburgo, Colonia, Lipsia, prima di essere ridotte a cumuli di macerie fumanti e di cadaveri.
Difficile sfuggire, leggendo il libro, alla straziante consapevolezza di leggere quello che potrebbe essere un resoconto su larga scala di un viaggio a Pompei o Ercolano prima dell'eruzione.
Poi le reazioni potranno spaziare dal "poveretti, che orrore" al "se la sono cercata", e se si pensa a come i nazisti avevano ridotto città ugualmente magnifiche come Varsavia o Budapest (a Praga non fecero fortunatamente in tempo) il giudizio resta sospeso.
E che dire dei nostri viaggiatori ? Che a loro favore milita un fatto, ovvero che nel 1936, per dire l'anno di quella macchina propagandistica perfetta che furono le Olimpiadi di Berlino, tutto era già sulla tavola, ma chi davvero avrebbe potuto immaginare Auschwitz, la Bomba H, città intere rase al suolo, l'imbarbarimento della "vecchia Europa", preludio alla sua sparizione tra il Piano Marshall e la Cortina di Ferro ?
In fondo, i nostri viaggiatori erano già figli di un'epoca trascorsa, ma di certo non potevano saperlo: toccherà anche a noi ?
Some foreign visitors were entranced by Hitler. Some weren’t sure what to think. Some enjoyed traveling through what seemed a happy and thriving country. Others saw through Hitler and realized clearly what Nazism meant.
The book is based on the published accounts of many people, but also on solid archival research.
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