“A tale drenched in drama and blood, heroism and cowardice, loyalty and betrayal.”—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington PostThe Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc—tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. … unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
Antony Beevor, renowned author of D-Day and The Battle of Arnhem, has reconstructed the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich’s final collapse. The Fall of Berlin is a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge, and savagery, yet it is also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice, and survival against all odds.
more
What a well-researched, well-written book! Despite it being quite lengthy, I read it only in four days because it was so compelling that I couldn’t put it down, and it’s not an easy feat for a historical source to be “compelling.” Another thing that I highly appreciate when it comes to my research sources is I like them to be written in an objective way. “The Fall of Berlin” passed this test with flying colors; Mr. Beevor clearly did his homework researching historical archival material from all sides of the conflict – German, Russian (or Soviet, should I say) as the main participants and the rest of the Axis and Allies archives. All of it created an unprejudiced, highly accurate narrative that doesn’t promote one side above the other but exposes all the pros and cons of each military mini-operation and each commander’s decision and lets the reader make their own conclusion. To me, it’s highly important.
Each chapter is very detailed and transports you right in the middle of the action, so to say – let it be Zhukov’s headquarters or Hitler’s bunker or a simple soldier’s trench near the Seelow Heights. Through witnesses’ accounts (regular soldiers, war correspondents, regular citizens, etc) Mr. Beevor truly makes one see the situation from each side: how the Berliners, crammed inside the air shelters, felt about the entire affair, how Wehrmacht soldiers began revolting against the SS and their Feldgendarmerie, how Soviet soldiers saw their opponents and regular civilians, and how their high commanders competed against each other in taking over the main “prize” – Berlin and the Reichstag.
The battle scenes are wonderfully written, and particularly the beginning of the offensive under the Seelow Heights with their searchlights and unparalleled artillery strike. As a granddaughter of an officer who fought right there, it actually gave me the chills to read about something that my grandfather told me about in his own words. I really can’t recommend this book highly enough! If you’re interested in WW2 history, this one is a must-read.
This is one of my favorites. Like most war histories, Beevor describes battles and troop movements in excruciating detail, but by March – April 1945, it would have been obvious to anyone, other than perhaps Hitler, that the days of the Third Reich were numbered. yet there was a massive battle for Berlin with around three hundred thousand casualties, which should not have been necessary. He also describes the aftermath and rapes by Russian troops, who may have felt entitles to some measure of revenge for the devastation of large parts of the Soviet Union.
I found this to be an engrossing history, and I look forward to reading the author’s prior book on the Battle of Stalingrad.
Excellent writing, and generally great overall historian!
Heavily detailed about military units actions. Author has a fixation on the atrocities caused by both sides. Needs more information on the western front.
A fascinating look at Berlin in the years 1936-1945. The first half of the book, i.e. the years before 1945, are terrific, uncovering much new information and painting a portrait of daily life in the capital of the Third Reich as WW2 begins and the Allied bombing campaign increases in intensity. The second half of the book, the battle for the city, is a bit more of a rehash, although the authors have apparently made good use of Russian files available after the collapse of the Soviet Union. All in all a very good book, recommended. B+ Would give 4.5 stars is I could.
What impressed me was the inevitability, at this stage of the war, of the taking of Berlin, and how well Beevor described the participants, on both a military and a personal level.
The author provides a complete narrative of the final days of WWII in Europe. He craftily weaves together the action of the Allies, in particular, the Russians, with that of the Axis powers, mainly the Germans.
It was an absorbing read.
Beevor is very readable and through historian
Excellent vision of Nazi Germany in the last few months of WWII
Extremely well written discussion of the last weeks of the third Reich. The exposition is from both the Nazi and Soviet perspective, with great detail and individual anecdotes. The horrible effects of each army’s revenge is delineated. The military details of the tactics and locations of the different armies may be tedious to some, but does not detract from the excellence of this book.
Good book
It gave me nightmares!
Painstaking description of man’s brutality to man and the plight of the refugee.
informative, nonprejudicial, and introduces many not well known characters of world war 2.
Lately I’ve been on a WW II kick so i’ve Read maybe 30 books on the subject- this one was a disappointment
Great! Like everything else Beevor has written…
Tremendous detail written in easy to read. The erratic, angry, loyalty demanding, blaming behavior of Hitler was unmistaken for current times.
I had read other books on the end if WWll and a few on Berlin specifically. I found this book to be the most informative without bogging down in needless detail. It is written in a manner that makes feel you are there. A very informative and good read.
The only reason I gave this book four instead of five stars is because I read it on Kindle. Kindle with its difficult to navigate page turning is not a good vehicle. To understand the author’s extensive command of the details of the last weeks of the Third Reich, a reader needs to be able to quickly page back and forth to maps. Not easy on my Kindle. So much detail its easy to get lost without access to a map. But such an impressive work. Really quite amazingly extensive and precise information. The author must have spent years painstakingly reviewing multiple sources in multiple countries. Kudos to him and his comprehensive work. Reading about the fanatical followers of Hitler who continued murdering innocents and fighting to the end better allows me to understand today’s Trump supporters. Evidence did not matter to the fanatics then or now. I believe I better understand my German cousins who died fighting for Hitler in WWII and my Trump loving American cousins today. Now for a minor complaint. The author evidently understands German and is not aware that not everyone else does. My father’s mother was German and spoke German as does my brother and his wife. I understand some German but I am afraid others may not. I think translations of the German phrases used in the text should have been provided at the bottom of each page for English only speakers. The author translated Russian and other languages he quotes each time in the text but not the German. But with that insignificant problem put aside, over all this relatively short book was just an amazing piece of work. Bravo to Antony Beevor. You sir, are one fine scholar and author.
Very informative for WW2 history buffs.