'Stay Alive,' about daily life in Nazi Berlin, shows how easy it is to just go along

NPR's review by John Powers carries solid credibility — NPR is a major public broadcaster with established editorial standards, and Powers is an identifiable arts/culture critic with a track record. The review examines historian Ian Buruma's book on ordinary Berliners during WWII with measured tone, presenting the work's argument about normalization and compliance without sensationalism. The framing is appropriately cautious about drawing present-day lessons from historical narrative, though readers should note this is a book review rather than primary historical reporting, so the analysis is filtered through Powers' interpretation of Buruma's thesis.