people like sinclair lewis, thomas wolf, george cannon later who was associated much more with russia, howard case smith who is a very famous anchorman. even the young john f. kennedy flips through the pages of hitlerland with a short visit. of course, his main entries into his diaries have to do with this "young bundle of fun" he picked up at the border. but the -- and this is a term, you know, that's also incredibly pro-american. yes, the u.s. had entered the war against germany at the end of world war i, but very late in the game. and the main attribute of americans as far as most germans was concerned was they were not the french. they were seen as vindictive victors and who were demanding reparations. while americans were sympathetic to them economically in terms of trying to get them back on their feet and just culturally. and nowhere in europe was americanization what we now often call globalization more eminent than in germany where everything from mass production to hollywood productions to even the first traffic lights were seen as creeping anti-americanism and largely welco

people like sinclaire lewis, thomas wolfe, george cannon, and howard k smith. he becomes a famous anchor man. and even the young john f kennedy flits through the pages of hitler land, with a short visit, most of his entries in his diaries have to do with his young bundle of fun he picked up at the border. this is a germany that is incredibly pro-american. yes, germany had, the u.s. had entered the war against germany but late in the game. the main characteristic about the americans had was that they were not the french. while americans were sympathetic, often to them economically in terms of trying to get them back on their feet and just culturally. and nowhere in europe was americanizati americanizati americanizati americanization more evident than in germy. so, you had all of this going on, which made a -- this american community big and a track i have to what they saw, and you had the extremists, and one of them was this local agitator in munich called hitler. i asked myself who were the first americans to meet hitler and what did they think of him? and it t

people like sinclaire lewis, thomas wolfe, george canndnon, a howard k sth. who later on becomes a famous anchn. and even the young john f kennedy flits through the pages of "hitlerland" with a short visit. of course, his main entries into the diaries haveo do with this "young bundle of fu he pick upt. this is a germany that is incredibly pro-american. yes, germany had, the u.s. had entered the war against germany but late in the game. the main characteristic about the americans had was that they were not the french. while americans were sympathetic, ofteno economically in terms of trying to getm and just cultuy. and nowhere in europe was americanization what we now often call globalization more evident than in germany. everything from mass productions to hollywood productions to even the first traffic lights and plots were seen as creeping anti-americanism and largely welcomed. so you had all of this going on, which made this american community very, very big and very attractive to what they saw. and at the same time, though, you had the extremists. and one

author sinclaire lewis, aviator charles lindbergh, a young john f. kennedy and singer josephine baker to name a few. much has been written about american expatriots in paris and london between the wars but very little has been chronicled about these americans in berlin. former "newsweek" journalist and author andrew nagorski has set out to correct that with his new book "hitlerland: american witnesses to the nazi rise to power." it's the story of a handful of americans who were the first to take the measure of hitler and his followers, showing how difficult it is to see the future when caught up in the present-- even in the eye of the storm. i spoke with andrew nagorski about his book and the times. andy nagorski, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, margaret. >> warner: paint a picture for us, first of all, of berlin, in the '20s and '30s. as hitler s ring tpower, what was it like... what was it like for the americans there? >> warner: first of all, you have to remember, this was a country, a city that was totally devastated after world war i. the g