20th Century Journey. A Memoir of a Life and the Times by William L. Shirer: The Start 1904-1930.

20th Century Journey: A Memoir of a Life and the Times - The Start, 1904–1930 (1976) is the first volume of William L. Shirer's sweeping three-part autobiography. Shirer - best known as the author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and as the first reporter hired by Edward R. Murrow for what would become the celebrated CBS radio team known as "Murrow's Boys" - was originally a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and this first volume traces his trajectory from a midwestern childhood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, through his early years as a young journalist making his way in Europe. The narrative includes personal accounts of his friendships with notable figures including Isadora Duncan, Ernest Hemingway, and Sinclair Lewis, lending the memoir considerable literary and cultural texture beyond its autobiographical function. Working his way to Europe on a cattle boat with the intention of spending only a summer abroad, Shirer remained on the continent for the next fifteen years, serving as European correspondent and covering assignments across Europe, the Near East, and India, where he formed a close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.