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Berlin: The Story of a Battle
The battle for Berlin brought an end to the bloodiest conflict in European history. During the last days of the battle, Andrew Tully was one of three Americans allowed to enter Berlin as a guest of a Russian artillery battalion commander. His extraordinary experience spawned a seventeen year journey gathering eye-witness accounts, collecting war diaries and letters, and reading over one hundred books in order to write this gripping and comprehensive account about the fall of Berlin.
However, Tully's account does not just chronicle military strategies and statistics. It also includes personal stories of German civilians, housewives, Hitler Youth, S.S., Mohnke Girls (a combat battalion formed by order of S.S. Brigadefuhrer Mohnke), nurses, and soldiers. If there is any balance to be had in the examination of this battle, it is the ability of people to survive, to find humor, and to be kind when all kindness seems to be lost. Andrew Tully captures it all.
However, Tully's account does not just chronicle military strategies and statistics. It also includes personal stories of German civilians, housewives, Hitler Youth, S.S., Mohnke Girls (a combat battalion formed by order of S.S. Brigadefuhrer Mohnke), nurses, and soldiers. If there is any balance to be had in the examination of this battle, it is the ability of people to survive, to find humor, and to be kind when all kindness seems to be lost. Andrew Tully captures it all.
430 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
8 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Tully
62 books Andrew F. Tully Jr., (October 24, 1914 - Sept 27, 1993), author, columnist and war reporter was one of the first American reporters to enter conquered Berlin in April 1945.
His writing career spanned six decades and his works included several novels and popular nonfiction books on the workings of Washington, where he was a syndicated political columnist for more than 20 years. In 1962, Mr. Tully had both a novel, Capital Hill, and a nonfiction book, C.I.A.: The Inside Story, on the New York Times's best-seller lists.
He started working for newspapers while still in high school, as a sports reporter for his hometown daily newspaper in Southbridge, Mass. At 21, he bought the town's weekly newspaper, The Southbridge Press, for about $5,000 with loans from friends, making him the youngest newspaper publisher in America. He sold the paper two years later and became a reporter at The Worcester Gazette in Worcester, Mass., leaving there to become a correspondent in Europe for The Boston Traveler during World War II.
He began writing his own column in 1961, which came to be called Capital Fare, and was syndicated in more than 150 newspapers at its peak.
He was the author of 16 books in all, including Where Did Your Money Go? with Milton Britten, an examination of foreign aid, and Supreme Court, a novel.
His writing career spanned six decades and his works included several novels and popular nonfiction books on the workings of Washington, where he was a syndicated political columnist for more than 20 years. In 1962, Mr. Tully had both a novel, Capital Hill, and a nonfiction book, C.I.A.: The Inside Story, on the New York Times's best-seller lists.
He started working for newspapers while still in high school, as a sports reporter for his hometown daily newspaper in Southbridge, Mass. At 21, he bought the town's weekly newspaper, The Southbridge Press, for about $5,000 with loans from friends, making him the youngest newspaper publisher in America. He sold the paper two years later and became a reporter at The Worcester Gazette in Worcester, Mass., leaving there to become a correspondent in Europe for The Boston Traveler during World War II.
He began writing his own column in 1961, which came to be called Capital Fare, and was syndicated in more than 150 newspapers at its peak.
He was the author of 16 books in all, including Where Did Your Money Go? with Milton Britten, an examination of foreign aid, and Supreme Court, a novel.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 14, 2018
Excellent account of the battle for Berlin
This book tell this story from both sides. I believe it tends to gloss over the many atrocities on both sides but mostly the rape of German women by the Russian. It doesn't big down with intricacies of tactics but describes how some units were successful and how others failed. If you are interested in this topic you should definitely read this book.
This book tell this story from both sides. I believe it tends to gloss over the many atrocities on both sides but mostly the rape of German women by the Russian. It doesn't big down with intricacies of tactics but describes how some units were successful and how others failed. If you are interested in this topic you should definitely read this book.
March 29, 2018
Factual & Evocative
Years before the ‘net - a well researched, compelling book on the Battle for Berlin. Great ‘starter’ book on the topic.
Years before the ‘net - a well researched, compelling book on the Battle for Berlin. Great ‘starter’ book on the topic.
November 3, 2025
What a remarkable book. My copy is an old paperback with lurid cover blurbs, the sort of book that used to be available at stores and newsstands around the country. It is amazing to think this book, and others like Plievier's "Moscow" or "Berlin" could be picked up at a bus station or street corner!
I'm not sure why this had never come across my radar before, but Tully's look at the Battle of Berlin, published in 1963, is chock-full of amazing stories. Some of them may be familiar to readers, as parts of it read like the screenplay for "Downfall," the famous German movie of Hitler and his entourage in the Berlin bunker at the 1945 end. Tully was one of the first American correspondents to enter Berlin in 1945, riding in with a U.S. team on a jeep and quickly leaving when the surrender's immediate aftermath became politically fraught. He returned to Berlin years later, however, and in a brief forward mentions all the civilians and veterans he interviewed, along with using the Nuremberg trial transcripts and some correspondence with Russian sources (his visa to the USSR was denied).
From these he has culled a gripping story of the final two months, April-May 1945, the horrific climax of the war in Europe. The story would later be retold (also very well) by Cornelius Ryan in "The Last Battle" and Antony Beevor in "Berlin" (Keegan also has a good chapter on the battle in his "World War II"), and for the first time I recognize what a debt they owed Tully. The scene where Hitler loses it after being told Steiner's "war group" would not relieve Berlin - the scene that has spawned a million memes - it's here. Krebs' surreal meeting with Chuikov when he hopes to negotiate some terms? Here. The evil Bormann and his gang trying to slip out in May? Also here.
But as riveting as the military story is, the real strength of Tully's book is in the stories of civilians trying to survive. These include Hitler Youth conscripts, bomb shelter managers, nurses and others. The appalling, sustained orgy of rape Red Army soldiers unleashed across eastern Europe is here, too, and some of the stories of atrocities are tough to read. It is depressing to think of how low some people can go. There are some highlights of deep humanity also that redeems some (not all) of the criminal behavior. It is difficult to comprehend how demented these S.S. groups were, prowling behind the front lines and combing through the bloody ruins of Berlin looking for people to murder for allegedly "deserting" or for "defeatist attitudes." The framework of command has been shattered along with the buildings and transportation, yet somehow these brainwashed, homicidal automatons move across an apocalyptic landscape, committing their capital crimes. All for no gain whatsoever.
And it doesn't even have to be murder: there are stories here of S.S. teams blowing up food supplies because they have "orders" not to let them fall to the Russians. In one case, they do so even after teams of foreign soldiers fighting in some S.S. divisions urge the commander of the site to share out the food he has with the civilian population.
As mentioned, Tully's "Berlin" is not for the squeamish. But it packs the whole story into a much tighter, shorter narrative than the other outstanding versions of this terrible end to World War II.
I'm not sure why this had never come across my radar before, but Tully's look at the Battle of Berlin, published in 1963, is chock-full of amazing stories. Some of them may be familiar to readers, as parts of it read like the screenplay for "Downfall," the famous German movie of Hitler and his entourage in the Berlin bunker at the 1945 end. Tully was one of the first American correspondents to enter Berlin in 1945, riding in with a U.S. team on a jeep and quickly leaving when the surrender's immediate aftermath became politically fraught. He returned to Berlin years later, however, and in a brief forward mentions all the civilians and veterans he interviewed, along with using the Nuremberg trial transcripts and some correspondence with Russian sources (his visa to the USSR was denied).
From these he has culled a gripping story of the final two months, April-May 1945, the horrific climax of the war in Europe. The story would later be retold (also very well) by Cornelius Ryan in "The Last Battle" and Antony Beevor in "Berlin" (Keegan also has a good chapter on the battle in his "World War II"), and for the first time I recognize what a debt they owed Tully. The scene where Hitler loses it after being told Steiner's "war group" would not relieve Berlin - the scene that has spawned a million memes - it's here. Krebs' surreal meeting with Chuikov when he hopes to negotiate some terms? Here. The evil Bormann and his gang trying to slip out in May? Also here.
But as riveting as the military story is, the real strength of Tully's book is in the stories of civilians trying to survive. These include Hitler Youth conscripts, bomb shelter managers, nurses and others. The appalling, sustained orgy of rape Red Army soldiers unleashed across eastern Europe is here, too, and some of the stories of atrocities are tough to read. It is depressing to think of how low some people can go. There are some highlights of deep humanity also that redeems some (not all) of the criminal behavior. It is difficult to comprehend how demented these S.S. groups were, prowling behind the front lines and combing through the bloody ruins of Berlin looking for people to murder for allegedly "deserting" or for "defeatist attitudes." The framework of command has been shattered along with the buildings and transportation, yet somehow these brainwashed, homicidal automatons move across an apocalyptic landscape, committing their capital crimes. All for no gain whatsoever.
And it doesn't even have to be murder: there are stories here of S.S. teams blowing up food supplies because they have "orders" not to let them fall to the Russians. In one case, they do so even after teams of foreign soldiers fighting in some S.S. divisions urge the commander of the site to share out the food he has with the civilian population.
As mentioned, Tully's "Berlin" is not for the squeamish. But it packs the whole story into a much tighter, shorter narrative than the other outstanding versions of this terrible end to World War II.
March 16, 2015
This unique and historically valuable story I found fascinating for Tully, besides being one of the first war-correspondents to arrive in Berlin in April 1945, gathered information including eye-witness statements for the next 17 years. The horrible fog of war could not be clearer than in this account of a leadership in disarray. A gruesome time of Berlin's history is exceptionally real here and the human dimension is tangible. An all absorbing account of huge losses & savage cruelty yet courage and humanity shining through at times.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews