William Lawrence Shirer (February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist, war correspondent, and historian. His The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a history of Nazi Germany, has been read by many and cited in scholarly works for more than 60 years; its 50th anniversary was marked by a new edition of the book.
As a young man just out of college, in 1925 Shirer was hired by the Chicago Tribune and later worked for the International News Service; he was the first reporter hired by Edward R. Murrow for what became a CBS radio team of journalists known as "Murrow's Boys". He became well-known for his broadcasts from Berlin, from the rise of the Nazi dictatorship through the first year of World War II (1939–1940). Together with Murrow, on Sunday, March 13, 1938, he organized the first broadcast world news roundup, a format still followed by news broadcasts.
Shirer published 14 books besides The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, including Berlin Diary (published in 1941), The Collapse of the Third Republic (1969), two Landmark history books for youth, several novels, and a three-volume autobiography, 20th Century Journey (1976 to 1990).
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