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Title details for A Complex Fate by Ken Cuthbertson - Available

A Complex Fate

William L. Shirer and the American Century

by Ken Cuthbertson
Morley Safer
ebook
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William Shirer (1904-1993), a star foreign correspondent with the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s and '30s, was a prominent member of what one contemporary observer described as an extraordinary band of American journalists, "some with the Midwest hayseed still in their hair," who gave their North American audiences a visceral sense of how Europe was spiralling into chaos and war. In 1937, Shirer left print journalism and became the first of the now legendary "Murrow boys," working as an on-air partner to the iconic CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. With Shirer reporting from inside Nazi Germany and Murrow from blitz-ravaged London, the pair built CBS's European news operation into the industry leader and, in the process, revolutionized broadcasting. But after the war ended, the Shirer-Murrow relationship shattered. Shirer lost his job and by 1950 found himself blacklisted as a supposed Communist sympathizer. After nearly a decade in the professional wilderness, he began work on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Published in 1960, Shirer's magnum opus sold millions of copies and was hailed as the masterwork that would "ensure his reputation as long as humankind reads." Ken Cuthbertson's A Complex Fate is a thought-provoking, richly detailed biography of William Shirer. Written with the full cooperation of Shirer's family, and generously illustrated with photographs, it introduces a new generation of readers to a supremely talented, complex writer, while placing into historical context some of the pivotal media developments of our time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2015

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

      • ISBN: 9780773597242

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780773597242
      • File size: 9727 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780773597242
      • File size: 9727 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 1, 2015

      In 1925, recent college graduate William L. Shirer left Iowa for Europe, where he became a successful foreign correspondent. He was hired by CBS Radio's Edward Murrow in 1937 and together they revolutionized radio; broadcasting spellbinding live reports from Berlin (Shirer) and London (Murrow), sharing an urge to alert complacent Americans to alarming developments in prewar Europe. Cuthbertson (Nobody Said Not To Go) traces how Shirer's superior reporting and linguistic talents, knowledge, intellect, ego, and determination contributed not only to his journalist and commentator superstardom but also to his personal turmoil, especially his traumatic rift with Murrow. The adventurous years in Europe (1925-40), provide especially gripping reading. During the 1950s, falsely blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer but determined not to be defeated, Shirer lectured and wrote his best-selling The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Cuthbertson examines Shirer associates' memoirs, letters, and other records to balance the sometimes questionable veracity of Shirer's memoirs. This engaging account of Shirer's life and groundbreaking accomplishments during tumultuous times also raises such fundamental journalistic issues as objectivity, corporate sponsorship, censorship, political correctness, wartime embedded reporting, and contemporary "citizen journalism." VERDICT Readers at all levels, but especially students of 20th-century history, broadcasting, and news media, will relish this vivid biography.--Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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