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18th out of 557 books
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658 voters
The Fall of Berlin 1945
The Red Army's invasion of Germany in January 1945 brought with it one of history's most terrifying trials of fire and sword. Frenzied by Germany's cruel massacre of Russians, the troops of this invading force wreaked havoc, killing thousands of civilians and sending millions more fleeing right into the fighting that took place in the dead of winter.
Drawing upon newly ope...more
Drawing upon newly ope...more
Paperback, 528 pages
Published
April 29th 2003
by Penguin Books
(first published 2002)
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It sits at the top of the human drama, and every so often I have to go back and read about World War II. This book looked like a good chance to revisit old territory.
I was attracted by the book's promise of new accounts and insights to this battle. It turned out that a lot of what people have remarked (tanks and refugee columns, etc.) was stuff already known about: no new perfidious behaviour or atrocities to speak of.
Still, it's not bad. Who, indeed, could write a boring book about the Battle o...more
I was attracted by the book's promise of new accounts and insights to this battle. It turned out that a lot of what people have remarked (tanks and refugee columns, etc.) was stuff already known about: no new perfidious behaviour or atrocities to speak of.
Still, it's not bad. Who, indeed, could write a boring book about the Battle o...more
What could I possibly say that I hadn't already alluded to within my previous updates. I read "Stalingrad" in the snow outside on purpose in January of 2009, I read Beevor's "D-Day" in April of 2010 and believe that Stephen Ambrose still holds my attention best on that topic, "Paris After the Liberation" I read in November of 2011 and here on 14 January, 2013 I completed "The Fall of Berlin 1945". I believe that "Stalingrad" was brilliant, but this work on "The Fall of Berlin 1945" was even more...more
Antony Beevor reconstruye en este libro la última gran batalla europea de la segunda guerra mundial y la estremecedora agonía del Tercer Reich. Con rigurosas técnicas documentales semejantes a las empleadas en Stalingrado pero con mayor aliento épico y más densidad política, Beevor combina como nadie un extraordinario talento de militar e historiador con unas dotes narrativas fuera de lo común para describir tanto la complejidad de las grandes operaciones militares y la lógica de las decisiones
...more
In this excellent follow up to Beevor's 'Stalingrad', Beevor details the final collapse of Nazi Germany and the Soviet advance on Berlin. This was the climax of a war of annihilation, and this is relayed in the gripping if not gruesome accounts relayed in the book. As with Beevor's 'Stalingrad', his access to formerly closed Soviet records provides this book with a depth that humanizes the battle for Berlin, from both sides, by providing a man-on-the-ground feel to the narrative. One may wonder...more
The battle of Berlin is the prime example of how a crazy regime can take its country to the brink of annihilation. In April of 1945, it was quite clear that Germany had lost the war. Hitler and his cronies, however, would not give up. They wanted a fight to the finish, and they nearly got their wish.
The Russians had to take over Berlin in street fighting, resulting in heavy casualties, more than were necessary had the Germans surrendered. Germany employed youth soldiers who had little skill and...more
The Russians had to take over Berlin in street fighting, resulting in heavy casualties, more than were necessary had the Germans surrendered. Germany employed youth soldiers who had little skill and...more
For the Nazis, the racial struggle in the East was all that mattered. They saw Europe in terms of dominant races and Untermenschen and strove to subjugate or wipe out whole races and religions in their insane fanaticism. Their foul ideology permeated the whole of German society to the extent that atrocity and genocide was not the preserve of the SS but was actively practiced by the regular Army and security forces. They found willing allies in other parts of Europe particularly in their persecut...more
There are books about WW2 history that flow like lumpy oatmeal and books like this one that are hard to put down, such is the quality of the narrative.
Beevor goes between the German point of view and Soviet point of you in a deft manner that holds your interest and reveals much about the various personalities involved, from Stalin's jealousy of his Generals and Beria's paranoia to the mad hatter's tea party in Berlin as the Russians approach the doomed city.
An important sub-theme involving the R...more
Beevor goes between the German point of view and Soviet point of you in a deft manner that holds your interest and reveals much about the various personalities involved, from Stalin's jealousy of his Generals and Beria's paranoia to the mad hatter's tea party in Berlin as the Russians approach the doomed city.
An important sub-theme involving the R...more
Say what you will about Hitler and the Nazis, but you cant help but feel for the ordinary German people in this poignant end to Germany in WWII. They really did fight to the the bitter end, outnumbered, outgunned with no chance of victory. What would you do in this position? Antony Beevor's ability to reconstruct the helplessness of the situation, from the upper echelons of the leadership to women and children fleeing,gives a stark contrast. The most heroic acts of this battle and yet one of the...more
Berlin, along with the previous reconstruction of Stalingrad, conveys the horror, the unspeakable brutality, and the sheer scale of the Eastern Front. Conveys as much as these incomprehensible events could possibly ever be understood by those fortunate enough not to have lived them.
I was aware of the Red Army and the decisive role it played; and of the awful, grinding slaughter of Stalingrad. As someone born and raised in the West though, we tend to think of WW II as something that 'we' won, or...more
I was aware of the Red Army and the decisive role it played; and of the awful, grinding slaughter of Stalingrad. As someone born and raised in the West though, we tend to think of WW II as something that 'we' won, or...more
I was motivated to read this after finishing Beevor's history of the battle of Stalingrad. Once again his combination of strategic overview combined with close up examination of the personal experiences of individuals makes for a highly effective communication of this final period of the war, with all its complexities and confusions.
This is the story of the end of WW2 in Europe, a story rarely told in the West. A highlight is the portrayal of Zhukov, the mastermind of the victory, simultaneously...more
This is the story of the end of WW2 in Europe, a story rarely told in the West. A highlight is the portrayal of Zhukov, the mastermind of the victory, simultaneously...more
Beevor is one of the Second World War's eminent historians. I have heard that he can be partisan at times, but I found none of that in this book. The Fall of Berlin was the cataclysmic end of Hitler’s Third Reich. Over three million men (and some women) took part in this final battle, as Hitler desperately ordered German units, which typically existed on paper only, against enormous Russian forces approaching from the east. In addition to detailing the movements and engagements of the combatants...more
Sepanjang sejarah manusia, para pemenang perang, para penakluk, seringkali (kalau tidak selalu) berbuat sewenang-wenang kepada pihak yang kalah. Menjarah, merampok, menghancurkan, menginjak-injak harga diri dan hak asasi pihak yang kalah sudah jadi praktek biasa, bukan hanya di masa perang kuno, tapi juga di masa perang modern pada abad 21...
Karena itu tidak heran bila para pemenang Perang Dunia II juga berbuat sesukanya. Meskipun para petinggi negara menetapkan peraturan ketat dengan ancaman hu...more
Karena itu tidak heran bila para pemenang Perang Dunia II juga berbuat sesukanya. Meskipun para petinggi negara menetapkan peraturan ketat dengan ancaman hu...more
A gripping and harrowing examination of the final days of The Third Reich. There is enough here in this balanced history to keep everyone happy, and Beevor's blending of a military history and an analysis of the victims of war is what makes the book tick. Beyond the horrendous shelling and bludgeoning might of the Red Army in its march to the west are gripping tales of the tragi-comedy of Nazi Germany's final days, the horrors of the camps, the old and young thrown into battle, and the ever pres...more
Beevor made his name with his depiction of the catastrophe at Stalingrad in 1942-43. This book, dealing the final battles of the Third Reich around Berlin in 1945, is, by design, the bookend to that work. If you liked the first one, you will likely enjoy this one as well.
Beevor employs a remarkably smooth narrative voice that proves his command over a *huge* volume of sources culled from a period when source materials are fleeting at best. He interprets and makes comprehensible various army orga...more
Beevor employs a remarkably smooth narrative voice that proves his command over a *huge* volume of sources culled from a period when source materials are fleeting at best. He interprets and makes comprehensible various army orga...more
Anthony Beevor's Berlin, The Downfall 1945 is at least the equal of his masterpiece Stalingrad. Indeed, in some ways, it can be read as a companion piece to that book as many characters, especially on the Russian side, re-appear, two years after that most terrible of all sieges.
It would be gross misinterpretation of the book to describle it as military history. It's far more than that. As well as describing the battle and tactics in great detail, Beevor succesfully answers many of the questions...more
It would be gross misinterpretation of the book to describle it as military history. It's far more than that. As well as describing the battle and tactics in great detail, Beevor succesfully answers many of the questions...more
A truly amazing book that looks at the last few months of the Third Reich and the horrors visited on the population of Berlin by the Red Army. That Army was frenzied by their experiences at the hands of the Nazis when Germany invaded Russia and they wreaked unimaginable suffering in their revenge....tanks crushing civilians, mass rape, pillage and total destruction. The author does a masterful job of reconstructing the experiences of those millions caught up in the Third Reich's final collapse....more
The book does assume some familiarity with key players in the downfall of the Third Reich (I find it helpful if the reader is already familiar with some of the more intimate details of figures such as Himmler and Speer, for example). This is a highly detailed work in so far as Beevor provides a sequence of military events. In fact, I would say a book like this might be the ideal gift for those who enjoy reading detailed military history with respect to the movement of formations, issues with rea...more
The Red Army's invasion of Berlin in January 1945 was one of the most terrifying examples of fire and sword in history. Frenzied by terrible memories of Wehrmacht and SS brutality, the Russians wreaked havoc, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians dead and millions more fleeing westward. Drawing upon newly available material from former Soviet files, as well as from German, American, British, French, and Swedish archives, bestselling author Antony Beevor vividly recounts the experiences of t...more
Sep 18, 2010
Adrian
added it
The full bloody tale of the last three months of the war. Nice mix of military, political and social history. Hitler's inability to see the truth hamstrung German command as he ordered the movement of armies that no longer existed. Russian psychology is endlessly fascinating; fear and loathing of the Germans and paranoid about an Allied doublecross they wasted enormous manpower rushing to get to Berlin first and even lost most of the industry they packed off back to Russia to rust and misuse. Co...more
This is as a complete account of the battles and events concerning Berlin at the end of the war as I can imagine. I was less interested in the details of troop movements and such than the goals and strategies and the politics involved. Most interesting was considering how each element of the hierarchy dealt with their fate: Politicians, Generals, regular troops, and civilians. I'm not sure anyone else had an equivalent to the SS. Maybe the most telling thing is how the Germans acted once it was...more
Beevor podobnie jak w przypadku książki Stalingrad pokazał się jako dobry historyk sprawnie operujący źródłami i przedstawiający dwie strony konfliktu - nazistowskie Niemcy w momencie upadku i Związek Radziecki z czasów Stalina. Przedstawił zarówno wysokie szczeble dowództwa, gdzie dominowało przerzucanie się projektami kolejnych niedorzecznych ataków i przegrupowań (Hitler akceptował takie rozwiązania odrzucając projekty poparte faktami zgodnymi z prawdą odsuwając od siebie ich pomysłodawców),...more
Interesting and horrific account of the last few months of the war on the Eastern front. The Soviet forces deperate to reach Berlin before the US/British armies partly for prestige but more so that they could get their hands on the Nazis nuclear research labs and scientists. Death, rape and looting on a massive scale. Marshalls Zhukov and Konev racing each other to be the first there with Stalin encouraging their rivalry. Hitler, Goebbels et al in the bunker living in a fantasy world where Germa...more
The epic battle for Berlin at the end of WWII. A fascinating book about one of the most decisive moments of our history: it's filled with battles and war scenes, but Beevor has written much more than just another WWII book. His sense of history, his humanity, and his political intelligence turn this massive historical analysis into the apocalyptic, staggering portrait of a world gone mad and collapsing. It's harrowing and fascinating at the same time. The depictions of Germany's fall, of the hor...more
One of the first books I've read by Antony Beevor. I didn't think it was possible to wrap up the calamity that befell the 3rd Reich at the hands of the red army in 1945 in such a concise volume.
The slaughter that happened during the battle of Berlin is hard for many people to appreciate the scale of. The attitudes from the lowest of "fronviki" in the red army to the insane paranoia and goading by Stalin or his generals. From the 12 and 13 year olds of the Hitler youth press ganged into service...more
The slaughter that happened during the battle of Berlin is hard for many people to appreciate the scale of. The attitudes from the lowest of "fronviki" in the red army to the insane paranoia and goading by Stalin or his generals. From the 12 and 13 year olds of the Hitler youth press ganged into service...more
Antony Beevor is an incredible writer who has written several books which focus in detail on key military events. Too broad in sweep to be described as personal or social history, it looks in detail at the combatants and the effects of their activities on the civilians who get in the way of the big batallions. In spite of the horrific impact of these events he reamians as neutral as is possible - the mass rape of German women and killing of German men by the Russian military is commented on but...more
I purchased this book at least a year ago, but never got round to reading it because of some negative reviews I had come across. However, once I got into it, I finished it in less than a week. It was a very good read. Beevor, as is his forte, sketches the lead up to the main events in an engaging way so the reader always wants to know what comes next. The focus is on the big picture rather than on numerous details, although to be fair, Beevor tries to strike a balance. Controversies tend to get...more
Sep 26, 2012
Randall Smith
is currently reading it
Some would think reading Ian Kershaw's The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945 and reading Beevor's book about the fall of Berlin at the same time would be redundant. But actually I'm enjoying the different tracts on similar events. Kershaw's book deals much more with the mentality of the Nazi leaders and their hold on the people, their ability to urge them to continue the fight to the bitter end. Beevor's book is much more of a detailed narrative of specific events...more
The fall of Berlin in an unbiased view. The atrocities by the red army are amazing horrific, but so is the understanding of why they came about. The German Army rampaged through Russia only a few years before, but it was more than just revenge for the Soviets. It was systematically destroying a people they had hated for a long time. The Army was an extension of a polluted government that encouraged the atrocities that occurred in Berlin and all over eastern germany. An amazing and heartbreaking...more
Harrowing. Not for wimps.
In this life you’re either a Mark or a Jeremy. I’m clearly a Mark. To save you the hassle of working out which one you are, I’ve done it for you: Russ, Jeremy; Briggsy, Mark; James, Mark; Amy, Jeremy; Joe, Mark; Grace, Mark; Humph, Mark; Yongling, Mark; Terry, Mark; Nicola, Mark; Lloyd, Jeremy; Cath, Mark; Mouldovan, Jeremy; Kindleysides, Mark; Tom, Mark; Rob, Mark; Olly, Jeremy; Coxy, Jeremy; Hywel, Mark. So there you go.
PS *Spoiler alert* The Germans lose. Although actually everybody loses.
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| The Fall of Berlin 1945 | 5 | 61 | 07 fév. 23:53 |
Antony James Beevor is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. He studied under the famous historian of World War II, John Keegan. Beevor is a former officer with the 11th Hussars who served in England and Germany for 5 years before resigning his commission. He has published several popular histories on the Second World War and 20th century in general.
More about Antony Beevor...
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