Hitler in Los Angeles, Steven J. Ross
Hitler in Los Angeles, Steven J. Ross
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Hitler in Los Angeles
How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots against Hollywood and America

Author: Steven J. Ross

Narrator: Peter Berkrot

Unabridged: 14 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/14/2017

Synopsis

This is the chilling, little-known story of the rise of Nazism in Los Angeles and the Jewish leaders and spies they recruited who stopped it.No American city was more important to the Nazis than Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, the greatest propaganda machine in the world. The Nazis plotted to kill the city’s Jews and to sabotage the nation’s military installations. Plans existed for hanging twenty prominent Hollywood figures such as Al Jolson, Charlie Chaplin, and Samuel Goldwyn; for driving through Boyle Heights and machine-gunning as many Jews as possible; and for blowing up defense installations and seizing munitions from National Guard armories along the Pacific Coast.US law enforcement agencies were not paying close attention—preferring to monitor Reds rather than Nazis—and only Leon Lewis and his daring ring of spies stood in the way. From 1933 until the end of World War II, attorney Leon Lewis, the man Nazis would come to call “the most dangerous Jew in Los Angeles,” ran a spy operation comprising military veterans and their wives who infiltrated every Nazi and fascist group in Los Angeles. Often rising to leadership positions, this daring ring of spies uncovered and foiled the Nazis’ disturbing plans for death and destruction.Featuring a large cast of Nazis, undercover agents, and colorful supporting players, Hitler in Los Angeles, by acclaimed historian Steven J. Ross, tells the story of Lewis’ daring spy network in a time when hate groups had moved from the margins to the mainstream.

About Steven J. Ross

Steven J. Ross is professor of history at the University of Southern California and director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life. He is the author of several books, including Movies and American Society; Hollywood Left and Right, a recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Film Scholars Award; and Working-Class Hollywood, which was nominated for the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

About Peter Berkrot

A veteran of stage and screen, Peter Berkrot's career spans four decades. Highlights include feature roles in Caddyshack and Showtime's Brotherhood, and appearances on America's Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries. His voice can be heard on television, radio, video games, documentaries, and industrials. He is a prominent acting coach and a regular contributor to the award-winning news program Frontline produced by WGBH in Boston. Peter served as director of narration for the Emmy-nominated The Truth About Cancer. Peter has recorded over 170 audiobooks, over 100 for children. He has been nominated for an Audie Award and has received a number of AudioFile Earphones Awards and starred reviews. His favorite titles include Toby and the Secrets of the Tree by Timotee de Fombelle, Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith, The Accident by Linwood Barclay, and the Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Christopher

Steven J. Ross's Hitler in Los Angeles recounts the efforts of Nazi spies and homegrown fascists to establish a foothold in 1930s California - and the efforts of a small network of Jewish activists to foil them. Other books cover bits and pieces of this story but Ross expertly connects them: from th......more

Goodreads review by Jon

Before WWII, before Hitler was seen as our enemy, winning over Los Angeles was vital to his plans for gaining influence in America – it’s port, it’s airplane factories, and most of all Hollywood, megaphone to the world. Anti-semitism was a fact of life here, embraced by many, and the Nazis were tryi......more

Goodreads review by Maggie

As a LA native and current resident, I found Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America fascinating. I knew that Glendale had been headquarters for American Nazi Party but all the rest was new. It was scary to see how much antisemitism there was, both locally and......more

Quotes

“A remarkable tale, one that pits a secretive, chess-playing Jewish spymaster—attorney Leon Lewis—and a group of courageous German-American war veteran…against a cast of villains straight out of a classic Warner Bros. film…Ross has a novelist’s eye for characters and detail.” Wall Street Journal

“Ross’ engaging history turns up some surprising facts.” New York Times Book Review

“Part thriller and all chiller, about how close the California Reich came to succeeding.” Los Angeles Times

“Fascinating.” Smithsonian magazine

“Ross has a blockbuster revelation.” Chronicle of Higher Education

“Just when you thought every story of the Nazi resistance had been written, this audiobook confirms that there are more. And this book is among the best of the genre. Narrated with intensity by Peter Berkrot…Berkrot’s performance is excellent; he reads with the staccato of a newsreel narrator, while adeptly mixing in moments of awe at how Lewis and his allies outsmarted the Nazis at virtually every turn.” AudioFile

“Ross employs impeccable research and a driving no-holds-barred writing style…reads like an exciting spy novel.” New York Journal of Books

“A history book that doubles as espionage thriller with a cast of characters that includes movie stars, studio moguls, entertainment lawyers, diplomats and pols, all of them quite real.” Jewish Journal

“A shocking story…Ross puts his experience in film history to good use…A vivid history of homegrown resistance.” Kirkus Reviews

“A chilling tale of the Nazi plot to destroy America; the small spy network who helped defeat it; and the official indifference to the threat.” Glenn Frankel, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist

Awards

  • Pulitzer Prize
  • Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Award
  • New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
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