Subtitled “The rise of Fascism through the eyes of everyday people” is perhaps disingenuous, unless by “everyday” one means ambassadors’ wives, countesses, academics, and the Mitfords. Perhaps it’s inevitable that it’s such people who leave the raw material of diaries and reports from which to draw this view of Nazism’s rise. It’s fascinating nonetheless, notable again because of the casual anti-Semitism that blights so many utterances and otherwise insightful observations.

4/5. Finished Tuesday 26 October, 2021.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)