Five Days That Shocked the World: Eyewitness Accounts from Europe at the End of World War II

by Nicholas Best

In the momentous days from April 28 to May 2, 1945, the world witnessed the death of two Fascist dictators and the fall of Berlin. Mussolini's capture and execution by Italian partisans, the suicide of Adolf Hitler, and the fall of the German capital signaled the end of the four-year war in the European Theater. In Five Days That Shocked the World , Nicholas Best thrills readers with the first-person accounts of those who lived through this dramatic time. In this valuable work of history, the author's special achievement is weaving together the reports of famous and soon-to-be-famous individuals who experienced the war up close. We follow a young Walter Cronkite as he parachutes into Holland with a Canadian troop; photographer Lee Miller capturing the evidence of Nazi atrocities; the future Pope Benedict returning home and hoping not to get caught and shot after deserting his infantry unit; Audrey Hepburn no longer having to fear conscription into a Wehrmacht brothel; and even an SS doctor's descriptions of a decadent sex orgy in Hitler's bunker. In skillfully synthesizing these personal narratives, Best creates a compelling chronicle of the five earth-shaking days when Fascism lost it death grip on Europe. With this vivid and fast-paced narrative, the author reaffirms his reputation as an expert on the final days of great wars.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Historical, Military Fiction, Military History

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Nicholas Best grew up in Kenya and was educated there, in England and at Trinity College, Dublin. He served in the Grenadier Guards and worked as a journalist in London before becoming a full time author.
His first novel ('As a satire on military bigotry and shambling officialdom, Where were you at Waterloo? is in places as sharp as Waugh and sometimes better' - Times Literary Supplement) was written at Harvard. His second, Tennis and the Masai ('The funniest book of the year - Daily Telegraph) was serialized on BBC Radio 4.
He has since written many other books, including Happy Valley: the Story of the English in Kenya, The Greatest Day in History, about the Armistice of 1918, and Five Days that shocked the World, about the end of the Second World War.
Best was the Financial Times's fiction critic for ten years. In 2010, he was long-listed for the Sunday Times-EFG Bank award of £30,000, the biggest short story prize in the world. He lives in Cambridge.
For more information, visit www.nicholasbest.co.uk

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes readers through the short, but tumultuous, period at the end of WWII; from Saturday the 28th April to Wednesday, 2nd May, 1945. Events are really bookended by the deaths of Mussolini and the news of Hitler’s suicide, but take in an enormous amount of major political, and historical, events.

This is very much a popular history and the author uses a lot of very famous names (as well as those in the very middle of the action) and explains their part in events – these include Mussolini’s wife, Rachele, Audrey Hepburn, Sofia Loren, Roman Polanski, Spike Milligan, Ezra Pound, Kurt Vonnegut, Gunter Grass, Henry Kissinger, Victor Klemperer, Simon Wiesenthal, William Joyce, and others. As such, this would make a good beginning point for those who, perhaps, have not read much about the period before, as there are all sorts of links and characters that the reader will know.

However, you really do not need famous faces to make this time period more interesting… With Mussolini’s end, Hitler aware that his only option was suicide, the top Nazi’s attempting to make peace, or simply escape, the liberation of concentration camps, ‘Operation Manna,’ attempting to save a starving Holland, and the beginning of the United Nations, only some of the major events of these few days, you can see there is no lack of things to write about.

Although this is obviously a tragic time, with chaos reigning in Europe, and terrible war crimes coming to light, there are also some light moments. The United Nations met for the first time in San Francisco, where one of the Saudi Arabian delegates was nonplussed when told he was not able to buy one of the pretty Japanese lift girls, as the ‘customs of the country forbade it.’ We also have Churchill, so hard at work that he never noticed he had set himself alight with his cigar, being gently extinguished by a secretary… This book is full of lots of little snippets – many moving, some amusing and others terribly sad, but all showing that the world did not come to the end of the war easily and that there were to be huge struggles until the fighting was over in Europe.

[Anatoly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, when I first came by this book I didn't thought I will enjoy it. Obviously, the last days of the war were significant with a lot of important events such as Hitler`s death and the surrender of Nazi Germany. But if you try to focus on single events that had a big influence on the war, days like D-day or the beginning of Operation Barbarossa will probably be the ones that come to mind (yes, I know there are a lot of books about these important events).

Well, I was wrong. I think that this was one of the best books I have ever read about World War II. It was absolutely fascinating and I almost couldn't bring myself to stop. If I had the time I could have finish it in a single reading session. Marvelously written and is filled with first-hand accounts. An interesting aspect about these accounts is that many of them are by people who were or will eventually became famous such as Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller and Sophia Loren.

[Nimrodds]

זה ספר ממש מעניין, קל לקריאה עם פרקים קצרים והרבה מידע מעניין, לחובבי התחום הוא מומלץ מאוד

[Alona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good!

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Days That Shocked The World covers the events that took place during the last five days of WWII. Nicholas Best's writing is exceptional, he chronologically describes each day with eyewitnesses statements in each chapter. Many well-known people and their recollections of those specific days are included in the book. In my opinion, this book is very distressing, as so was WWII.

The story begins with Mussolini's capture and execution. The author does not sugarcoat anything in the book. Eyewitness's statements bring us back to those tragic days when the whole world was waiting for Germany to surrender and for Hitler to be captured.

I've read many books about WWII, nonetheless, when I opened this book I was not prepared for the horror and barbarity that took place during WWII. The book is dark and distressing, I was shocked by how much cruelty and inhumanity people had in themselves during those devastating days.

I think it takes a strong character to write a book like this. Yes, the stories inside the book are heartbreaking and wicked, but it has to be told. The world needs to know and remembers those dreadful events. This is my first book by Nicholas Best, and I am very impressed by his work. I already added few of his previous books to my TBR list.

[Zohal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

A big thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was an incredibly fascinating book. It really made me research more based on what I read. I believe it is well-researched and this is exactly the sort of history non-fiction book I was after.

World War II is one of the areas of modern history that fascinates me the most. I thought this book was unique in that it focused on the last five days of the war and was focused on the eyewitness accounts. I liked the parallels about where famous, or soon to be famous, individuals were when all of these events were occurring. It does not shy away from the horrific accounts of the war.

Probably the chapter on Hitler's death and the aftermath of it for his supporters, was the most compelling part of the book, due to how it was well-written. You do not usually get the German perspective of the end of the war, so that made this book unique in its take.

For history buffs like myself, I highly recommend!

[Noah Goats · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last days of WWII were some of the most terrifying, hopeful, awful, triumphant, and sad days in the history of mankind. With the war so close to an end every death seemed somehow more tragic (except the deaths of fascist leaders). This book looks at these events from the level of those experiencing them, mostly lower level people (although some of them, like Audrey Hepburn and Gunter Grass, would eventually become famous) instead of generals and presidents. It’s hard to imagine the mix of terror and hope felt by those locked up in concentration camps. They knew the war was ending; would they soon be free or would the Nazis murder them in one last spasm of hate? And the stories of Nazi leaders alternately jockeying for power and scrambling to flee are grimly fascinating.

[Filiz Demiral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Şunu söyleyebilirim, bir film izliyorken esas karakterin vurduğu yerde yatan figürana bakıp onun da bir ailesi vardı yazık oldu diye düşünenler bu kitabı okumalı. Sadece sığınaktaki Hitler ve Eva Braun ekseninde değil, 6 çocuğuna elleriyle siyanür içiren Magda Goebbels'i de anlatan bir kitap çünkü. Hep tarihi olaylar, iyi kötü tarihi kişilikler ekseninde anlatılır; bu kitapta bunun yanında sıradan insanın gözünden Hitler ve Mussollini'nin öldüğü günler anlatılıyor. İlgileneni sevecektir.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read quite a few books detailing the period leading up to WWII and it remains the period that I find most interesting due to the descent of a cultured nation into the worst kind of barbarism. However, this book focuses on a brief period at the end of the war - five days (actually a bit more than 5 days). I found it interesting the way the author viewed the past through some select individuals rather than simply listing facts, events, and timeframes. I think this is a sobering message for those who choose to vilify the other, those who are different and to exclude them from society. The Germans did it with the Jews, the Poles, the Russians, anyone on the left. They sent them to camps, took their property and then their lives. While I don't think our own right wing will ever go that far we have seen increasing stratification in our country as the income gap goes between the 1 percent and the rest of us and we see the growth that the immigrant and those who don't share conservative Christian beliefs are somehow less than the rest of us. German history from this period serves as a warning for us all.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I obtained a free copy via Netgalley for a honest and true review.

Five Days that Shocked the World: Eyewitness Accounts from Europe at the end of World War II by Nicholas Best is a fantastic read and perfect for all the history buffs out there!

In the book we follow a young Walter Cronkite as he parachutes into Holland with a Canadian troop; photographer Lee Miller capturing the evidence of Nazi atrocities; the future Pope Benedict returning home and hoping not to be caught and shot after deserting his unit; Audrey Hepburn no longer having to fear conscription into a Wehrmacht brothel; and even an SS doctor's descriptions of a decadent sex orgy in Hitler's bunker.

A good history book is all about the writing of the author and Nicholas Best does not disappoint. There are hundreds and hundreds of books on WWII but this isn't a book that will fall lost in the scholarship of WWII.

Anyone who loves history but specifically World War II I would definitely recommend this book!

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholas Best is an award winning writer of history who has recounted the days between Saturday, April 28 and Wednesday May 2, 1945, interviewing the people who were there, some famous and some not. Opening with the death of Mussolini and his mistress, then moving to the discovery of the concentration camps by the allies, the fight for Berlin, the death of Hitler, the surrender of Italy, etc
We meet the Nazi leaders, the Russian troops, Bob Dole, Leni Riefenstahl, T.S. Eliot, Audrey Hepburn, Otto Frank, and so many others. I had not known about the operations by British and American bombers to feed Holland in the final days before the surrender.

Kind of a lazy way to do. history, requiring lots of reading/interviewing, but much less work, I think, than a comprehensive narrative. Still, 4 stars.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Days That Shocked the World delivers many intriguing and powerful perspectives during the final days of World War 2 in this history novel. The Author, Nicholas Best, follows many personal accounts of those who lived through this period ranging from World Leaders to Soldiers fighting for their countries, and skillfully seams their stories together effectively so that they flow from one to another, creating an incredibly unique history novel.

Five Days That Shocked the World provides the reader with in-depth insight into the final days of the Second World War and the evocative writing skills enhance the overall reading experience.

[Kimberley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for book club.
I found this a relentless chore and tbh would have DNFed it but my honour wouldn't let me.
Look, it is meticulously researched and really well written and the reason I didn't like it is mostly because I simply don't find it interesting which is not poor Nicholas Best's fault, hence the three star rating.
One thing I didn't love which actually was his fault was the very cavalier and off the cuff discussion of rape and sexual assault of women. It wore thin very quickly.
But if the second world war is a particular interest to you, then I really recommend it for you.

[David Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book by mistake on Kindle Unlimited, which was almost impossible to put down once I began reading the first chapter. Although the bulk of the characters in the book never interacted with one another during the last five momentous days of WWII in Europe, the author ably connected all of them to the events of any given hour. For example, while Hitler was ruminating on whether to commit suicide, Audrey Hepburn was nearly starving in Holland, while Kurt Vonnegut was laboring as a POW in Dresden. Highly recommended for all history buffs!

[Clara Buscail · Rating 3 out of 5]

el vaig agafar a l’atzar d’una llibreria perquè la premisa em semblava molt interessant (5 dies del final de la segona guerra mundial, viscuts a través dels ulls de personatges famosos), però em sembla que la execució falla una mica.. és bastant caòtic i al final se m’ha fet pesat.

[Cristina]

This is one book that can make your head spin and will surely put a heavy weight on your soul. Most likely for a long time.

[Susan Mathis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional account of the last days of WW2 taken from interviews and accounts of those that were there. Highly recommend this book!

[Jose Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

La carne de la Historia: Cinco días que estremecieron al mundo, de Nicholas Best

Uno de los mayores problemas al aproximarse a la Segunda Guerra Mundial es la ingente bibliografía que existe. Varios cientos de volúmenes apilados en las estanterías de mi estudio así me lo recuerdan cada vez que intento quitarles el polvo o buscar una referencia. No en vano, es uno de los temas sobre los que más se ha escrito, algo realmente notable si pensamos que sólo duró seis años. Pero el impacto que tuvo el conflicto sobre el mundo futuro fue de una significación tal, aparejado a la crisis moral y al derrumbe de los valores tradicionales, que lo desbordante del asunto está más que justificado. Este es, quizás, el principal problema, que resuelve de forma sobresaliente Nicholas Best en su obra Cinco días que estremecieron al mundo (editorial Pasado & Presente). Ofrecer una perspectiva novedosa sobre la contienda, y presentar una información interesante y fresca, es todo un desafío culminado en este libro de una manera brillantísima.

1. La mirada del General Anton Dostler

Desde la portada del libro elegida por la editorial Pasado & Presente, ya se nos lanza una seria advertencia. La imagen presenta al general alemán Anton Dostler en los instantes previos a su fusilamiento. Fue condenado por un tribunal militar, que lo halló culpable de crímenes de guerra —al parecer había ejecutado en Italia a 15 soldados norteamericanos que eran sus prisioneros—. En la estremecedora foto de portada, Dostler mira fijamente a la cámara mientras lo atan al poste en donde va a ser ejecutado. A un lado, un sacerdote militar sujeta una pequeña Biblia en la mano y parece estar rezando el último responso.

Todo radica en la mirada del alemán que, vestido con su uniforme de la Wermacht, perfora con sus ojos al lector que se encuentra al otro lado del libro, dispuesto a abrirlo e iniciar una extraordinaria lectura, pero también un recorrido por la barbarie y las bajezas más infames de las que es capaz el ser humano. Entonces, al contemplar esa mirada helada, cargada de pánico y también de inhumanidad, uno se pregunta con las palabras de Primo Levi —que también son el título de una de sus obras—: Si esto es un hombre (Península).

No se me escapa, como experto en la contienda y en su descomunal literatura, que la afirmación de Levi se refiere al estado en el que quedaron los prisioneros de los campos de concentración (Levi pasó por Auschwitz). El italiano plasma la reflexión en un poema que encabeza el libro, y que en una de sus partes nos dice:

Los que vivís seguros
En vuestras casas caldeadas (…)
Considerad si es un hombre
Quien trabaja en el fango
Quien no conoce la paz
Quien lucha por la mitad de un panecillo
Quien muere por un sí o por un no.

Primo Levi, tras su experiencia en Auschwitz, duda de si continúa siendo un hombre: ha sido sometido a la más bestial de las deshumanizaciones. En la mueca más brutal de la Historia, esa misma deshumanización ha calado profundamente en sus verdugos. Y eso lo podemos encontrar en el fondo de los ojos de Anton Dostler: unos ojos hundidos, famélicos de fosas comunes, con el barro y el limo de las ejecuciones arbitrarias en las pupilas, y el fulgor de las balas y la sangre todavía colgando de sus párpados.

2. Las pequeñas historias de la Historia

Todo ello aparece en el texto de Nicholas Best que, acertadamente, decide fijarse, solamente, en los últimos cinco días de la contienda. Son esos Cinco días que estremecieron al mundo, un título colocado en contraposición a los Diez días que estremecieron el mundo (Akal), la obra de John Reed publicada en 1919, en donde se narran los sucesos de la Revolución de Octubre que trajo el terror bolchevique y soviético. Nazismo y comunismo, los dos ideales del siglo XX llamados a durar eternamente, cargados de odio y muerte, de cadáveres, y coincidentes en su extinción.

Lo que consigue Nicholas Best al ubicarse en esos cinco días finales, es un relato pormenorizado y cinematográfico, entretenidísimo, y por qué no decirlo, divertido, de los últimos estertores de la contienda. Y su intención minimalista de centrarse en las historias personales de los testigos —testigos presenciales del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, tal y como reza el subtítulo del libro— obran el milagro de trasladarnos los pedazos de la acción con realismo.

Podemos oler la cordita suspendida en el aire, tras cada bomba que azota el bunker de Hitler, saboreamos la humillación de Himmler mientras deambula desesperado en sus intentos por ocupar un lugar en el futuro gobierno alemán tras la rendición, o asistimos al pasmoso desfile de condenados a la horca en las ejecuciones de la cúpula nazi tras los juicios de Núremberg.

Best alterna testimonios de soldados, vecinos, oficinistas, y personajes anónimos, con las historias de testigos celebres: Sofía Loren y Audrey Hepburn, Günter Grass y Joseph Ratzinger, Kennedy o Kissinger, pasando por Ezra Pound, Kurt Vonnegut, Bob Dole, Solzhenitsyn, Viktor Klemperer o Roman Polanski. Junto a ellos, asistimos al devenir de los mariscales de Hitler, también al de los integrantes de su círculo más próximo, como Göring, Ribbentrop y Hess, o de su cocinera Constanze Manzarly y de su secretaria Traudl Junge. Sin dejar de lado a Mussolini y a su amante Clara Petacci, y las terribles últimas horas que vivieron.

De entre los momentos más deslumbrantes que se narran en el libro hay que destacar la ejecución y posterior profanación de los cuerpos de Mussolini y la Petacci, la huida del personal del bunker del Führer y las últimas horas vividas allí dentro, la batalla por la toma del Reichstag, y los capítulos dedicados a las liberaciones de los campos de concentración de Belsen y Dachau.

3. La carne de la Historia

Nicholas Best lleva a cabo un procedimiento de humanización de la Historia que sólo se encuentra al alcance de unos pocos. Hace muchos años, con motivo de la presentación de mi primera novela, el escritor Luis del Val me confesó su admiración por Stefan Zweig, pero no por el Zweig novelista (que también) sino por el autor de los libros históricos. En ellos, el escritor austriaco consigue unas cotas maestras de humanización de los personajes. Un ejemplo de esto es su extraordinaria biografía de Fouché (El acantilado). Desde entonces, he seguido esta máxima cuando he escrito novela histórica, técnica que llevé a su mayor exponente en Los pequeños caballos azules (Nostrum) y El vaso canope (El tercer nombre).

Best, también sigue por esa línea, y aplica una técnica tan difícil de llevar a la práctica como sensacional en sus resultados. Sumerge los acontecimientos en el caldero de su escritura, los hierve bien hervidos con su prosa viva y rápida, y consigue, así, desprender del hueso la carne de la Historia. Y es esa carne de la Historia la que nos sirve en un convite tan sabroso como espeluznante.
Porque el autor sabe que la carne de la Historia, en la mayoría de las ocasiones, está llagada por el sufrimiento de los inocentes. Sin embargo, eso no resulta un obstáculo a la hora de detener su mirada sobre los acontecimientos más infames, que nos aproxima con la steadicam de la escritura, permitiéndonos el privilegio de la inmersión en el corazón del terror de la humanidad. Todo ello, jalonado con los comentarios al margen de quienes sufrieron todo aquello con sus heridas: ellos son los verdaderos protagonistas de la Historia. Ellos son, pues, los que flotan en el caldo del libro. A quienes no hay que obviar ni olvidar, en quienes hay que fijarse para saber la verdad.

Cinco días que estremecieron al mundo aporta una perspectiva distinta al lector experto en la contienda, y es una forma perfecta de iniciarse en el tema para quienes no haya leído todavía nada sobre el asunto.

4. Epílogo: La mirada en el espejo

Al final, tras cerrar el libro, volvemos a encontrarnos con la mirada de Anton Dostler en la portada. Ha sufrido una mutación desde que empezamos nuestra inmersión en el texto. Ahora, interpretamos mejor la hondura de sus ojos, y sabemos que en el fondo de esas pupilas enfermas de odio y crímenes, se refleja nuestra imagen.

Sabemos, inquietos por el descubrimiento que hemos realizado —y que tal vez necesitamos expulsar rápidamente de nuestras cabezas—, que su mirada muy bien podría ser la nuestra y que, cualquiera, podría ser un verdugo por el mero hecho de ser humano. Sí, en efecto, y respondiendo a Primo Levi: todos somos hombres. ¿Pero deseamos serlo con todas nuestras fuerzas o a la mínima oportunidad dejaremos salir a Eichmann, a Bormann, desde lo más profundo del ser, y haremos que los crímenes del pasado sean nuestras leyes del futuro?

La respuesta continúa albergada en lo más recóndito de la naturaleza humana.

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this account of the final five days of World War Two in the European theatre. In terms of the historical detail; for the most part, it was a revisit of detail which was substantively previously reported in the press and academic accounts over the years. However, the appeal lay in the personal accounts of some of the principal players at the time (eg Admiral Donitz), but perhaps more so from the minor players (eg Sophia Loren, Kurt Vonnegut, Spike Milligan, Pope John Paul etc). It was "entertaining" reading about the individuals who would ultimately be the entertainers, politicians, writers, and reporters etc) in the years and decades following the war.

Could the book be considered valuable in a "historical" sense? Answer: No. The activities of the minor players was "interesting" but their contribution to the greater turn-point events of the time (ie, discovery and liberation of the concentration camps, execution of Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci, suicide of Hitler, the relentless onslaught of the allies etc) which were already well documented was negligible, with the exception of the reporters and photographers that made reports and photographs available after the discovery of the concentration camps.

The book did a good job of outlining the final five days as it related to critical members of the German and Allied forces. However, there were gaping holes, including, but not limited to;

1. The movement and escape of Joseph Mengele who alighted to Argentina
2. The movement and escape of Adolf Eichamann who also alighted to Argentina
3. The role that various governments and religious institutions played whilst aiding and abetting the escape of Nazis from Europe.

I was disturbed by the story of Joseph Ratzinger (who would one day become Pope Benedict X111), when I found a photograph of him dressed in a Hitler Youth uniform. Whilst he renounced the Nazi party and he was an adolescent at the time, his association with the Nazi party must have been a matter of concern for himself and interested parties.

[Saibal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most comprehensive account of the end of the Second World War that I have read. Nicholas Best has an amazing gift of putting events in perspective and making them so poignant. Refraining from romanticizing the war as most authors often do, his accounts paint a very honest but ghastly picture of human folly. I already knew most of the stories from the end of WW2 before I started reading the book. However, his descriptions echoed a new perspective and meaning. The book is filled with first-hand accounts of people who saw the war up close and had their lives changed forever. I believe personal accounts bring to life the real savagery of the war that no author can pen. The way he describes the Nazi hierarchy collapsing after the death of the Fuhrer makes you realize that most of the protagonists of the war (if I may call them, although they do not deserve that honour) were very ordinary people with misguided notions and short sightedness and who could stoop to the lowest levels just to ensure their own survival. The small anecdotes of complete strangers helping each other survive and celebrities brought crashing down to earth during the war makes it so real and vivid. The way he describes Operation Manna and how soldiers were eager to drop food packets risking their lives rather than go on another bomb raid makes you realize how much we can accomplish as a species only if we have our priorities right. I have never seen a war up close and I pray to God that I don't ever have to but this is as close to WW2 as I could get.

[Jose Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor libro que he leío al momento.
5 días que fueron descritos de forma congruente y natural. El libro esta dividido en 5 partes, que son los 5 dias que se mencionan; del 29 de abril al 3 de mayo de 1945.

Muy recomendable su lectura, no viene explicado tácticas militares o decisiones de algún General, se describen el acontecer de varios personajes en esos 5 dias -conocidos y no tan conocidos- y lo que enfrentaron justo antes de la rendición de Alemania.

Justo el libro que estaba buscando.

Mussolini, Hitler, Otto Frank, karol wojtyla, Joseph Ratzinger, Kennedy, Sofia Loren... aquellas personas que estuvieron esos 5 dias en europa y su forma de ver el final de la guerra en europa. Aclaro que sólo relata lo sucedido en europa.

A mi punto de ver, es un libro imperdible y que debe estar en la colección de aquellos interesados en el episodio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this historical read about the end of WWII. It's different in that you see the end from the point of view of people who later became famous or played important political roles then and in the future.
One cool thing, at the back of the book-you're told what happened to each of these people. Some of it I already knew, most I didn't. One hint-while you're reading, if a particular person interests you-check the back to see what happened to them. I realized too late and it would have made the read even better.
I am amazed that no matter how much I read about WWII, there is an unending supply of stories that showcase the depravity and the heroism of that war.

[Tami Morning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was packed with fascinating details. However it was a bit of a dry read. The author tries to be pretty clever by mentioning names that I ended up googling. At the end of the book, he gives a summary and ties those names to their current positions in modern day. I think it would have been more fascinating to give those updates as the book progressed. There were parts that definitely dragged, but it was worth reading just to find out the information.

[Ale Sandoval Tress · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://bibliobulimica.wordpress.com/...

[Sam Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a great read.

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Initially hesitant, as this ground has been covered extensively and exhaustively, the author has found a new (for me) angle to approach this tumultuous almost-week in world history.

5 Days That Shocked The World covers the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler, and the immediate events leading up to, during, and after them, as well as peripheral stories on that timeline, through the eyes and words of those who actually lived through them, both famous, to-be famous, and ordinary soldiers and civilians. The book covers Saturday 28th April to Wednesday 2nd, and then up to the eventual order to surrender as given by Donitz, effective May 07.

The author does a superb job meshing together the timeline of the various stories, from Traudl Junge who was Hitler’s secretary, who was there all through the suicide of Hitler and some of his associates, future popes Karol Wojtyla (literally shoveling crap to re-open a seminary) and Joseph Ratzinger (hoping not to be shot for deserting his unit), to Kurt Vonnegut (whose wartime experiences led directly to Slaughterhouse Five).

There are dozens of well-known names and their possibly less-well known stories here: 9-year-old Sophia Loren (described as scrawny) living in poverty in Naples with her younger sister (who in the future would marry the son of Mussolini –I did not know that!); Robert Runcie who would go on to marry Diana & Charles (who served his country in action, killing enemy troops, and being amongst the first into Belsen), reporter Walter Cronkite parachuting into Arnhem, future filmmaker Roman Polanski (now just 11) who sought escape in an epidiascope which projected picture postcards onto a wall; Audrey Hepburn avoiding a real possibility of being forced into a German brothel.

Each of the days are broken out, beginning with the death of Mussolini and his lover, his wife’s frantic efforts to save herself & her children, and the beginning of the end in Berlin.

The book then proceeds through the discovery by the Allies of the horrific concentration camps, the food drop over Holland (another fact of which I was unaware), the beginning of the United Nations discussions in San Francisco, and the advancing Russians attack on the Reichstag.

We witness the increasing chaos in Hitler’s bunker, with group sex orgies and general abandonment and degeneration into bacchanalia and mass suicide, as Hitler surrenders to the inevitable. The book ends with the confusion and general disorder in the German High Command, the various senior Nazis and their attempts to hide from justice, and the efforts by the Allies to preserve what they found, in a way that cannot be refuted (e.g. panning a recording camera from mass graves of concentration camp prisoners to the local town officials).

It is this eye-witness viewpoint that gives this book its immense readability, and interest. These are the hidden stories of every war – we can taste the fear and adrenalin coursing through their veins. It has to be said that no side emerges with reputations enhanced, with even the British and Americans failing to protect prisoners. Nothing is mentioned about reported atrocities perpetrated by troops of the Western Allies, whereas the Russian rape & pillaging is common knowledge – which I think is a flaw.

The writing is excellent, fast-paced, and doesn’t omit grisly detail. I think it’s a superb supplement to students of history, and for politicians, lest we forget the human cost of war, and how actions taken and decisions made can come home to roost.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for sending me a free copy, in return for an unbiased review.

[Mari LivTollefsonCarlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longtime history and travel author, Nicholas Best, sheds new light on momentous events at the end of WWII through the lens of eye witness accounts. He captures the reactions of people we don’t normally associate with the war: actresses and filmmakers, writers and soon-to-be Popes, as well as more familiar political figures like Bob Dole, Jack Kennedy, and Winston Churchill and his wife. More than a chronological sequence of events, this book reads like a series of snapshots, as vivid and captivating and as the events and people they describe.
He divides the book into five parts, corresponding to the last five days of the war, April 28 - May 2, 1945. Between Italy, Germany, Russia and the Netherlands, Best chronicles both Mussolini’s and Hitler’s gruesome deaths and the ensuing mayhem they inspire. Mussolini’s wife and two children just hope to get out alive after Mussolini’s body, and that of his girlfriend, are paraded through the streets. Hitler’s closest Nazi officials debate escaping their underground bunker, killing themselves like their leader, or surrendering to the Allies rather than the Bolsheviks. Those in charge of Dachau and other concentration camps have no choice; they’re dealt with by the Americans who liberate the camp. Russians celebrates May Day by storming the German Chancellery. Meanwhile, American and British pilots drop food instead of bombs over famished Holland in Operation Manna.
One of the most compelling storylines is to follow actress Hildegard Knef and her boyfriend Ewalt on Demandowsky over the course of the five days, as they fight their way through enemy lines, staying with willing friends until their presence makes their hosts easy targets for Russian soldiers. We don’t get such protracted stories of other personages, like Audrey Hepburn, one of the starving Dutch, or Kurt Vonnegut, a soldier, or Ezra Pound, American Nazi, or Gunther Grass, Nazi-turned-resistor, or Allen Dulles, negotiating a surrender in Italy, to name a few. But almost all the voices Nicholas Best cites, speak in their own words. At the beginning of the book, he makes no bones about the fact that some accounts contradict. He concludes the book with follow-ups of what happens to all these people after the war, making the overall project less about the war and more about preserving firsthand memories.

[Lady Alexandrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Five Days That Shocked the World” by Nicholas Best is a great starting point for readers interested in the Second World War. In this book the author describes the last five days of the war from many different perspectives. The war is shown from various points of view of people that were famous during the war or became well-known later. The book is not perfect just as human memory is far from perfect. There are many aspects of the events described in the book that were neglected and left out by the author, but of course it was impossible to put every piece of information in one volume.

It was an easy read. There were so many lives at stake, so many people fighting for survival, that it was easy to get engaged in reading about their fates. The events at the end of the Second World War were very dramatic, there was do much confusion! At times the book read like an action-packed thriller.

When I read the last sentence in this book I laughed out loud. It offered a much needed comic relief after reading so many pages about human misery, death, terrible suffering and destruction. But it left me surprised as well. It wasn’t an average way to end a book about such important and tragic historical events. The author at times seems to sacrifice historical accuracy for a dramatic effect.

To sum it up, it is a very interesting and informative book, that will without doubt inspire many readers to read more about the Second World War and to seek more information about fates of different people and nations.

I received “Five Days That Shocked the World” from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

[Wanda Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 2011, I recently came across this book at Half Price Books for $2.00. At the checkout the cashier saw the title and began telling me a story about his grandfather and what happened to him during WWII. I know many people have stories to share handed down from relatives and friends or read about in books. My own family has many stories. This book is a compilation of many stories told by eye witnesses about the five days between April 28 to May 2, 1945 as WWII was coming to an end.You will meet some very interesting people that you weren't expecting to come across such as a little Italian girl who grew up to be a famous actress, Sophia Loren and another little girl named Audrey Hepburn. You will meet aviator, Joseph Heller who went on to write the classic 'Catch 22' and one of his flight crew Francis Yohannon who Heller based his character Yosarian on. Another famous author, Kurt Vonnegut who based his book 'Slaughter House Five' on the bombing that he survived in Dresden. We meet a future Pope, movie producers, senators, and so many others. We also come to find out how the evil met their demise such as Hitler, Himmler, Mussolini, and so many others.I have often wondered how the men just stopped fighting once the war was declared to be over; how did everyone know to lay down their arms? This book explains a lot of those questions. How these people survived the horrors of the war and the concentration camps and how people could do some of the things to other human beings that were done to the Jewish population will take your breath away. Glad I found this gem of a book and highly recommend it.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a history of the last days of the war in Europe. You don't learn much about troop movement, military strategies or high-level political manoeuvres, but you do get exposed to individual stories of people caught in the chaos. Fleeing Nazis, Germans, prisoners of war, etc. Most were very famous then (Himmler, Mussolini, Bormann, etc.) or would be very famous in the future (Ratzinger, Loren). Some of them were not that obvious for me and I had to research a bit. This could have been avoided by knowing the epilogue has a quick who's who, but I saw that too late.

We learn that Bormann's son had a copy of Mein Kampf printed on human skin; a German soldier was killed in the humanitarian operation Manna, protecting a girl who was going to be hit by a supply package. We learn how Polanski used a device to project images on a wall to deal with the horrors of the war. Stuff like that.

I'd recommend this book if you already have a grasp (for the common person) of the war in Europe, otherwise it might not be that interesting.

With this, I'll stop reading about WWII for a while. I had studied the basics before, but my interest was reignited after watching the fantastic documentary, Hitler's Circle of Evil, on Netflix. Since then, I've only read about Nazism and the war in Europe.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I didn't have high expectations for it. I think I got it for free, and there have been so m any other history books recommended that failed to impress me and I thought this would be one. It was excellent. All about the fall of Hitler, the last five days of war in Germany, what both American, British, and Russian armies were doing, the various people who were affected by the war such as Audrey Hepburn and the future popes....I really cannot praise this book enough. The research was phenomenal, the writing was great and it kept my interest so that I ploughed my way through the book in four days. It really made this time period alive for me, and definitely taught me more than many history books have.

As we watch Nazism gain in the US, I am horrified at the similarities I see between MAGA and Trumpism, and the Nazi selfishness that led to WWII.This book should be required reading for everyone. It only took 70 years for Americans to forget what they saw happen in Europe. My family had 10 people serving during WWI and WWII...I"m glad they are all dead now to not see what America has turned into.

Great book, so glad I read it!