The other inescapable aspect of this book is that I can’t, as an American living through a period when neo-fascism has taken hold of many parts of my nation (and perhaps Brits going through in opposing Brexit or Israelis who are horrified by Netanyahu feel the same way), read this without imposing it on the narrative of our times. Over and over again I read passages that seemed eerily contemporary. The feeling of history repeating never left me as I was reading. I can readily imagine a Studs Terkel of this age one day writing Travelers in the Age of Trump. And I feel that readers of that book may well have similar feelings and views that I had reading Travelers in the Third Reich. The British government was warned of the Nazi threat by its professional diplomats but had plenty of German sympathizers in its own ranks, and was terrified of provoking another war, so they failed to create a unified diplomatic front with France. Hitler got his way again and again until he was convinced the West was so weak and degenerate it would never challenge him. England did not even act when Hitler himself gave clear indications of his intentions. “On 7 April [1933] Hitler told McDonald in a private interview, ‘I will do the thing that the rest of the world would like to do. It doesn’t know how to get rid of the Jews. I will show them.’” (p. 104)

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd | Goodreads Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd | Goodreads

tai, kad Hitlerio ankstieji įkvėpėjai buvo pagrinde britai. Šiaip Britanija labai pronacištiška buvo tarpukariu

The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People

Personal comfort. People were having a good time. Social life was fun and full. Food, drink, entertainment, travel, festivals. Just like our lives are when we choose to look away from the hardships others are enduring.

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd | Waterstones Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd | Waterstones

Boyd’s brief afterword is unnecessary – her point that “there are surely few totalitarian states that welcome foreign visitors with as much friendliness and enthusiasm as did Nazi Germany” would have served better in the introduction. The book should have ended with the close of Chapter 21 But one thing was clear – the war had ended. Never again would anyone travel in the Third Reich. Julia Boyd has written what has to be one of the most fascinating books of the using new material for private collections and archives around the world. She also asks the poignant question of without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what’s right in front of your eyes? Clearly not an easy question to answer, but one Julia Boyd sets out to do with Travellers in the Third Reich. I found this a fascinating read especially as a follow on to the excellent Hitler: Ascent: 1889-1939 which I read recently and which showed how the German people were duped by Hitler and ultimately were complicit in what happened once he had supreme power. This brought a different perspective to that as it was based on writings of overseas visitors to the Third Reich. It was striking what a popular destination it was for both British and Americans despite the persecution of the Jews that had started and was clearly going on. It seems that the English upper classes saw Nazi Germany as the lesser of two evils compared to the communist threat from Russia - and thank goodness for Wallis Simpson as Edward VIII would have been a disastrous king for the period that his brother ended up reigning.The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics 4 stars

Travellers in the Third Reich By Julia Boyd | Used - Wob Travellers in the Third Reich By Julia Boyd | Used - Wob

The book ends with chilling accounts of life in Germany during the war, as shortages gave way to terror and constant bombing raids. The Americans bombed during the day and the British at night, and slowly Germany industry was destroyed, and it cities – some of which were among the great cultural jewels of civilization – were reduced to piles of rubble. By the end of the war anything, even communism, would have been better than freezing and starving in the cellars of bombed-out cities.From the end of World War One onwards Germany marketed itself as a tourist destination and plenty of people went to visit. Some, like Christopher Isherwood, were attracted by the liberty of the bohemian scene, others simply loved the country and its culture. A few were unapologetic Fascists. Pre-existing racism and fear. Anti-semitism was rampant in Germany and throughout the world. Just like anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant feelings are plaguing our world now. From the poverty that the Germans were living in, and this includes a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret of Prussia to the ordinary German. With witnesses to how the pain for the Germans got worse especially with the riots and revolutionary behaviour. After the Munich Beerhall Putsch, the French asked about the National Socialist Party and an Aloysius Hitler, and the British response was there was nothing to be alarmed about. I received a copy of Julia Boyd's Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Facism Through the Eyes of Everyday People for Christmas 2018, and it only took me some months to get to it due to my copy being at my parents' house whilst I was away at University. Boyd's work of non-fiction has been called variously 'fascinating' ( Spectator), 'compelling' ( Daily Telegraph) and 'meticulously researched' ( Literary Review).