Victory '45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders

by James Holland, Al Murray

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the Italian Alps to northern Germany, to London, New York, Washington and Tokyo, Victory ’45 tells the story of the extraordinary summer when the greatest conflagration the world had ever known finally came to an end after six surrenders that heralded the Allied victory.

Comprised of eight chapters based around each of those surrenders and the victory celebrations which followed, it will be rich in character and human drama with revealing stories and perspectives behind the end of the war not yet told before. Each chapter will follow the viewpoints of a number of key characters as they traverse these world-changing events – from ordinary servicemen and women and civilians to generals and political leaders.

What took place during the negotiations of those surrenders and the terms that were agreed there would determine the directions the participating countries would take in the years that followed and ultimately the shape of our current world.

'Murray breaks the story into its constituent parts and, demonstrating a deep understanding of events... an original and insightful account' Telegraph

'Reinforces Holland’s reputation as certainly the busiest and probably the most popular military historian of the second world war working today’ Spectator

'A gripping, eye-opening and satisfying new account.' Daily Express

Al Murray and James Holland 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Audiobook, Germany, Military History, American History

Audible Audio

First published April 24, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.

Reviews

[David Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite reading various books on WWII, I always assumed that the conflict came to an abrupt and final end following the suicide of Hitler and the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Japan. However, like many things in life, the end of the war was not quickly wrapped up in a pretty present with a bow on top. Instead, in Victory ’45, historians James Holland and Al Murray shine a spotlight on the huge bumps in the road that needed to be overcome before the final six surrender agreements were signed by Germany, as well as the two surrenders for Japan. Among other problems for the German surrender, SS Commander Heinrich Himmler and two of his generals attempted to escape the consequences of their crimes by negotiating a near-secret peace with Allen Dulles, who was with the US Office of Strategic Services in Switzerland. In addition, on the other side of the continent, before the use of the atomic bombs, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, was faced with intense pressure from the military to push civilians to near “suicidal resistance” to the very end of the war.

Along with detailing the steps towards peace with Germany and Japan, the authors also provided insightful nuggets into the personalities of the key players in the war. On top of that, there were long passages on people involved in various key moments of the war’s end. Among these included the courageous General Jonathan Wainwright, who survived more than three years as a prisoner of Japan, as well as the description of the brilliant, egotistical, and ever-arrogant General Bernard Montgomery setting up a peace treaty with Germany. In addition, the authors provided an inside look at Auschwitz, as well as including the story of the young female Russian translator, who was put in charge of carrying Hitler’s teeth…which ultimately proved that he was dead.

All in all, this is a well-written and fascinating book filled with both facts and anecdotes about the final days of the war. Well worth the read for WWII enthusiasts!

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and well written book about the end of the war and the various capitulations of the German armies as well as the last days of the Pacific War; lots of interesting details - for example how by helping bring peace in Italy and keeping the looted artworks there and assisting the allies in recovering them, the SS general Wolff (joint) second in command after Himmler evaded punishment and while being eventually convicted in the 1960's after Eichmann was caught and testified still did only a little jail and became a noted war historian. In contrast, Ernst Kaltenbrunner the other SS general joint second with Wolff tried also to betray the Reich and make a deal with the allies, but failed and got the noose at Nurnberg.

Similarly, there is the saga of General Wainwright who after MacArthur strategic retreat from the Philippines in 1942 had the unenviable task of surrendering to the Japanese and spent the rest of the war in ghastly internment conditions, though he was released in time to witness the official capitulation of Japan on the Missouri in September 1945. Many other stories of less notable participants add a lot of interest, including a downed American pilot in Japan just around the Hiroshima bombing who interrogated brutally by the Kempeitai managed to convinced them he knew about the atomic program and was sent to Tokyo for further interrogation escaping the brutal murders of many American pow's in the prison he was held in Osaka at the time

While the broad brush strokes of the events are well known, the details and the energetic writing style that compels one to turn pages makes this history excellent and highly recommended.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

This book covers the final days of World War II and six different surrender ceremonies which ended the hostilities. Four of the surrenders are of the Germans and the other two concern the Japanese. The German ones take place in Northern Italy, Northern Europe to Field Marshal Montgomery and then two surrenders in Berlin, one to the Western Allies and one to the Soviets. The Japanese surrenders take place in Tokyo Bay and in Manila.

Since the surrender to the Western Allies in Berlin and the one conducted aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay are the most well-known in the Western world, those are the two of which I was most familiar. Thus, the book was really helpful in filling in a few blanks for me about how things ended in other areas. The Italian surrender was particularly interesting due its secret negotiations in Switzerland and the conflicting German commanders who each had their own plans. The aftermath of the celebrations in the U.S. and Great Britain were also quite interesting.

The surrenders in Europe take up roughly 70% of the book, with the final surrender of Japanese forces in Manila being relegated to just a few pages, so that was disappointing.

Overall, I'd give this one four stars for being informative and an enjoyable read. Better balance would have generated another star.

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victory ‘45 is the poppiest of pop history books, right down to the readership being dear old pops (i.e. any man over 35 with a military history bent).

Accordingly, a straight rating system will always be flawed with books like these. Does it advance the average understanding of its subject? Marginally… …There is a reasonable defence for the perspective. Holland and Murray are very good at humanizing their subjects. They do also tease out certain aspects of the final elements of the conflict, such as the coup attempt on the Emperor of Japan, or the initial discovery of Hitler’s body. You would expect both matters to have been well covered before, yet I struggle to recall this level of detail despite reading about both since the mid 1990s.

However, there is a place for an eye of skepticism. The Kaltenbrunner vs Wolff “duel” is clearly the centerpiece story in terms of providing a distinctive angle to the book. It is barely justifiable: The probably were working against each other, but their tracks run slightly too separately for it to be the perfect confrontation, though the showdown just before they both see Hitler does have a cinematic quality to it. The respective efforts of Kaltenbrunner and Wolff represent the double dealing of certain Nazis in the final days (Himmler is also alluded to) but the authors avoid developing it into something more in terms of the reintegration of ex-Nazis into public life. I suspect making that effort would have required taking the book into the realms of serious scholarship whereas the goal with Victory ‘45 is to maximise readability (and podcastability).

That does read as snarky but a reader should be aware of the genuine style choices the authors make. I have credited Holland and Murray for going a bit deeper in their immediately prior books and the examples listed above do evidence that again (along with elements of other stories in the books). It does feel “safer” though this time, there are limited insights and a lack of granularity. Despite this, their story choices do deserve respect, the nod to the Holocaust being particularly moving.

I am rating it four stars on the basis there should be no shock as what it is trying to do, and it does it well. But be aware it is a disposable bit of “fun”.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is by James Holland and Al Murray. I'm not sure how the work was divided but they cover the key surrenders of the two main Axis powers in 1945. Starting with the surrender of German forces in Italy.

It is also the story of the bitter cruelty that resulted from the continuing delusional mindset of the German and Japanese political and military leadership. Both had some weird expectation that they could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The German's were more delusional. They were done, but until Hitler's death there was a kind of stench of delusion that came off of him that affected too many people who should have known better. Once he was dead the end was close. It should have come even quicker but the Nazis thought they could somehow either persuade the Western powers to surrender just to them so that they could try and escape the avenging Soviet troops. It was never going to happen.

The Japanese delusion was built on their willingness to sacrifice their entire population to defend the home islands so that, hopefully, enough deaths could be forced on the Allies to bring them to the negotiating table. This was partly a cultural hatred of the idea of surrender, which was part of the reason their treatment of Allied POWs was so bad (alongside a culture of violence inside the Japanese Army against their own men.) But once the two Atomic bombs had been dropped it was over. And eventually, partly because the Allies let the Emperor stay in place despite his role in his country's murderous Imperial project.

Indeed one of the things this book makes you realise is that the Japanese got away with their crimes in World War Two in a way that the Germans didn't. Yes, more Nazis should have been punished more severely - Kesselring for example escape execution because the Allies never understood - or wanted to understand - his cruelty in Italy. But the Japanese, with a handful of exceptions, got away with it. Starting with the Emperor. Japan is still in denial about its role in World War Two. You only have to watch a film like 'In This Corner of the World' where Japan being attacked by an enemy seems to come out of nowhere and for no reason. Part of this is because the dropping of the Atom Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki allowed the Japanese government to position themselves as the ultimate victims. I will say again and again that those bombs saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions of live, both Allied and Japanese. They were terrible things. They were - by neutral standards - war crimes. But they ended the war.

Anyway the book itself is fine. Holland and Murray do a good job of telling individual stories entwined in with the big picture stuff, which I think is one of Holland's strengths as an historian. For example General Jonathan Wainwright's experience after surrendering in the Philippines. This chapter also confirmed for me that whatever his qualities as a general MacArthur was an utter shit.

It is episodic so each surrender is dealt with separately, contextualised and taken through to its conclusion.

I wasn't blown away by it, but I'd recommend it to a reader who wants to know how the war ended. I suspect a lot of what is here would be well-known to the World War Two obsessive, but that doesn't stop it having value for the non-obsessed. Obviously they timed the release of this book for the 80th Anniversary of the end of the war, which would be highly cynical if the book didn't have value.

Liked it. Didn't love it.

[Chris Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The surrenders of 1945 are also a reminder of the terrible cost and sacrifices that were made to reach that point. The freedoms and the peace we enjoy here in the West should not be taken for granted; they were hard won. We must never, ever forget it.”

This is popular narrative history at its best, and is co-written by two of the best in the business. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who wrote each chapter, but unlike many co-written books, this one also works as a coherent whole. James Holland and Al Murray are masters at crafting historical prose that is accessible to the casual reader and yet still informative and entertaining for those with a deeper interest in the subject. While they aren’t breaking any new scholarly ground with this book, they bring the end of the Second World War to life which is no mean feat when we are so distant from it in time and in our experience. What struck me most was how everyone was exhausted by the time the end came, as well as the utter self-delusion of the German leadership in the war’s final days.

Take the following example, where they briefly survey the events of the years preceding Hitler’s final days in Berlin’s Führerbunker:

“In truth, Hitler's grand plan had always been an extremely unlikely proposition long before a single shot had been fired in this cataclysmic war; it had remained so even when he had been basking in the triumphs of the early Blitzkrieg years and dreaming of Germania. When his forces failed to rout the Soviet Union at their first attempt in 1941, the edifice began to crack badly. By the time the emaciated wreck of 6. Armee surrendered at Stalingrad in February 1943, the great retraction had begun. Whatever faint, lingering chance there was of a change in fortunes had vanished on the smoke-filled air - despite rockets and other scientific wizardry - long before Marshal Zhukov launched his final offensive on 16 April. And so in this fetid, ghastly, twenty-four-hour existence, Hitler and his remaining acolytes waited for the alternative, Armageddon, while the enemy guns approached ever closer, the ground trembling more violently and more consistently not just with every passing day but with every hour…The Third Reich was rotten at its core because Hitler was. He'd surrounded himself with men equally corrupted and equally full of hate, anger and jealousies.”

Punchy and evocative writing like this reflects the style of the whole book, and the authors effectively balance their coverage of the grand, sweeping, and epic events of 1945 with smaller-scale, individual human-interest stories. On the one hand, we read stories of almost unbelievable jeopardy, drama and tragedy, taking place in a world we can scarcely imagine. On the other hand, the characters who populate these stories exhibit the same qualities, flaws, behaviours and emotions as we do. We marvel at Elena Kagan’s search for Hitler’s dental records, laugh nervously at the horrific tragi-comedy of Wolff vs Kaltenbrunner, and cry with Monty on the needless death of John Poston - and that is what makes history, and the Second World War in particular, endlessly fascinating.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read with a detailed explanation of the surrenders in the Far East ,Italy and Germany but with some very human stories of people living through the war on both sides , like their podcast brilliant.

[Mando B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get into history. Victory '45 doesn't delve too deep into the events, which i do miss from James Holland's usual style, but each chapter is dealt episodic, adding to how easy to read and follow for such a delicate and complex event.

[Marshall Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on WW II.

[Kadin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't believe this is the first book by either James Holland or Al Murray that I've read, but here we are. Solid book on WWII viewed from the eyes of both victors and the defeated at the end of the war.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley Grove Atlantic-Atlantic Monthly Press for an advance copy of this book that looks at the final year of the Second World War focusing on how the Axis powers dealt with their coming defeat, and how a select few planned for a new world order, escaping the blame for their actions.

Success has may fathers, but failure is an orphan. This is attributed to President John F. Kennedy after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. This can also be said about victory in many ways. For one to be victorious, one has to defeat someone else. I have always found the history of defeats interesting. Maybe it is my nature of only being happy when it rains. One can learn much from defeat. Who to trust, how to lead, how to gain information, and even more when to lay the cards down. Though for the Axis powers during the Second World War, defeat was unthinkable, impossible, and improbable. Until it was. Victory '45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders by historians authors and podcasters James Holland and Al Murray is a look at the various surrenders that gave the Allies their victory in both Europe and in Japan, where once thought unstoppable war machines ground to a halt, in a mess of exhaustion, finger pointing, and bad decisions.

The book begins with a meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt discussing the post-war world, something that was becoming a distinct possibility. The idea of what to do with the enemy countries was discussed, as was the taste of the last surrender of enemy forces, this being French Vichy forces, friendly to Germany to General Eisenhower. This was not a possible decision, and one that made the freedom talking Americans look not only foolish, but willing to do anything for victory, even deal with enemies. So the idea of unconditional surrender was floated, and approved. This gave strength to the Axis, knowing that they had no choice to fight, Japan especially, with the idea of even a negotiated surrender not even an option. The book than focuses on the last days of Hitler in the bunker, Italy and finally Japan. The Hitler bunker was a miserable moldy smelling place, home of a leader who had no idea things were as bad as they were, surrounded by true believers and others hoping to get away. Italy was under control of the German SS, with their own ideas of surrender. Japan had thoughts of mobilizing the entire nation, as the idea of surrendering the Emperor was something not even contemptible. All had plotters and schemers trying to either get freedom or power, or trying to negotiate their own separate peaces, as the Allied forces closed in.

An interesting look at the end of the war, with a lot of information and a good sense of pacing and narrative style. The two men host a podcast about history, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, and much I assume has been discussed on their show. The chapters are all well-written and very interesting. I enjoyed the fact that so many people knew the end was coming, and were trying to get out, but their leaders were lost in their own world. The writers have a good grasp, and make these characters what they were, scared people in many ways hoping for a miracle. Though there were a few who would have loved a death with meaning. The book looks at the events up to the end, as well as what came after, the punishments, the appeasements, and in some cases, the allowing of certain crimes to just be forgotten.

This is a good book for people just learning about history, or who want to know how many Fascist governments end. Full of finger pointing, blaming others and usually a lot of suicides. Nothing to envy, nothing to look up to. Just defeated men, with old ideas, tired ways who would rather look back in destruction, than look forward and grow. I look forward to the authors next book.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have finished reading “Victory ’45: The End of the War in Six Surrenders” by James Holland and Al Murray.

“The freedoms and the peace we enjoy in the West should not be taken for granted, they were hard won. We must never, ever forget it”

James Holland and Al Murray.

There are many books about the Second World War, but very few that talk about the end of the war. This tells the story for how the surrenders happened to bring about Victory in Europe (V.E.) and Victory Over Japan (V.J. Day).

The finishing line for the Allies brought it’s own challenges. These were challenges raised by the soon-to-be officially vanquished and challenges between the Allies. The battle lines for the coming Cold War were already evident.

The book starts with the curious story about how US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, through a misinterpretation of US Civil War history came to declaring at the Allied Casablanca Summit that Unconditional Surrender would be insisted on the Axis Powers when they were defeated. This brought with it challenges and advantages. It would avoid the ambiguity and back door negotiations of the Versailles Peace Conference but also raised the stakes. For the Japanese Government the stakes were arguably higher in their eyes. How could they sacrifice their leader who is part man and part god?

If the Allies were hoping that being militarily checkmated would bring the Nazis to their senses, they were to be disappointed. The start of the contacts between the Allies and the Nazis started off with a somewhat deluded efforts by the latter to delay and stall in order to allow time for German Nazis, soldiers and civilians to surrender to the Allies. The ultimate disconnect between the victors and the vanquished was when General Jodl, after signing the official surrender, asked the victors to be kind to the Germans. This came at a time after many Allied troops and Generals had already seen the Concentration Camps.

The surrender of the Japanese and the struggle for the Allies to get there is recounted. British General Perceval and American General Wainwright, had the unique distinction of attending a surrender ceremony for the enemy they had surrendered to before. Wainwright’s ordeal of bravely resisting the Japanese in the Philippines while Douglas McArthur fled in a fit of vainglory is both inspiring and harrowing and deserved to be recounted.

Overall, I found this book to be a unique read out of the many World War 2 books I have read up to now. The end for the war was messy, with hope always bordering on adversity, and sometimes absurdity. After a long struggle both sides were faced with different uncertainties about what the world would look like after the war. The soon to be winners were loath to risk any more of their number being killed on the verge of victory. The diehards on the losers side fought to keep the fight going, no matter what the cost to others. The authors did credit to the wisdom of some of the giants of history, but was brave enough to show sides of their character that were less than flattering. Who would have thought that FDR and Eisenhower both had vicious prejudices against the Germans? Just like those who came together to put an end to the killing, the authors had to settle with showing human nature with it’s nobleness and flaws.

[Chad Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Holland and Al Murray’s “Victory ’45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders” is a compelling and accessible account of the climactic final months of World War II in Europe, presented through the dramatic lens of key surrenders that sealed the fate of the Third Reich. Holland, a respected military historian, and Murray, a comedian with deep interests in history, make for an unlikely yet effective pairing. Their approach balances scholarly depth with a sharp, sometimes irreverent wit, making the book both educational and entertaining. Rather than simply rehearsing the well-trodden trajectory from D-Day to VE Day, the authors structure the narrative around eight moments of capitulation—from the Wehrmacht’s collapse in Italy to the formal surrender in Berlin. This framework allows them to shift perspectives between different theaters, illuminating the diverse circumstances of German defeat while emphasizing the fragility and inevitability of a regime in rapid disintegration. Threads of politics, logistics, and individual human stories are woven into each chapter, creating a multi-dimensional picture of Europe in spring 1945. What makes the book especially fascinating is its combination of operational detail and cultural texture. Holland brings his characteristic mastery of military sources, highlighting the grinding nature of late-war combat, the impact of Allied air power, and the struggle for morale among exhausted German and Allied forces alike. Murray counterbalances this with anecdotes, personal accounts, and wry reflections, reminding readers of the absurdities and tragedies coexisting in wartime. Together, they make the history alive, vivid, and accessible without trivializing its gravity. The narrative also underscores how the war’s end was not a neat, linear unraveling but rather a chaotic mosaic of collapses, negotiations, and violent last stands. By spotlighting moments of surrender rather than battles alone, the book highlights the human dimension of choice—commanders weighing futility against loyalty, civilians caught between survival and devastation, and soldiers forced to accept the inevitable. “Victory ’45” succeeds as both a fresh retelling of a familiar story and a poignant reminder of war’s brutal conclusion. It is an insightful and richly engaging work that will appeal to serious students of history and general readers alike.

[Leandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victory '45 tells the story of the end of the second world war in eight different surrenders. From the surrender of the German forces in Italy to the signing of the instrument of surrender by Japanese envoys aboard the USS Missouri.

However, the book does a bit more than that, it dives into the drama leading up to and surrounding these surrenders. From the story of the Reichsführer-SS Karl Wolff desperately trying to negotiate a surrender with the Allies while secretly in Switzerland to that of the Belarusian interpreter involved in verifying the death of Adolf Hitler. From the story of the Holocaust survivor Hugo Gryn to that of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The book, although from the title seeming rather straight forward, ends up painting a far larger picture than I had initially expected, whether all the details are of equal interest is subjective. I'm glad to know more about Harry Truman's early political career but I didn't exactly pick the book up for that. For me in that regard perhaps looses a little bit of focus at times and goes off on tangents.

The postscript of this book is very poignant and draws on many of the lessons from the war that we have or, more often, have not learned. Very important stuff.

Overall this is a good read, a solid 9/10 for me. I wanted to read this in the run up to (American) VJ-Day 80.

[Federico Lucifredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting idea - viewing the end of World War II through the eyes of the individuals on both sides that negotiated the perilous waters of stopping a defeated yet still running war machine.

I found the portrayal of the laborious surrenders in Italy and Japan most interesting, as the German theater has been covered in so many facets by others. The authors make an attempt to bring the characters to life through their misadventures during the conflict — Wolff and Wainwright for two.

A couple of nits — in places a little too British a perspective (no surprise!), but does not distract from the overall narrative. Sounds hasty in sentence structure to my American ear, but it is definitely not short on adjectives and adverbs — an unusual combination. A couple of factual mistakes here and there (the Japanese defenders at Okinawa numbered definitely more than 20,000), nothing major that can't be corrected in a future reprint.

Five stars overall - I really enjoyed the read, I devoured it in two days.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book deals with the last few weeks of the war in both the European and Asian theaters. It shows that rather than two surrenders, there were many regional ones that finally culminated in the decisive ones that everyone knows today.

The leadership of Germany and Japan were blind to the suffering of their people and had some illusion of a surrender on negotiated terms. This conflicted with the clearly stated goal of the Allies for total and unconditional surrender. Only the Japanese received any condition, the continuation of the Emperor, and that may have been for strategic reasons of convincing the Japanese to accept defeat and also acknowledgement that the Emperor did not have a direct hand in the military strategy and subsequent atrocities, although they were conducted in his name.

The overall impression of those last weeks is one of confusion, self-delusion, and self-serving behavior to save one's skin on the part of the vanquished. As Chinua Achebe says in his book, things fall apart, and World War II is the ultimate example of that, all the way to the bitter end.

[Martin Southard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book takes you through the final months of World War II, focusing on eight key moments when the fighting finally came to an end. It’s not just a dry rundown of facts or battle maps — the authors do a great job of bringing the people involved to life, from famous leaders to everyday soldiers and civilians caught in the chaos.
What I really liked was how the story moves around the globe, covering Europe, the Pacific, and beyond. It keeps the narrative fresh and exciting, giving a real sense of how the war unfolded on many fronts at once. Sometimes I had to pay close attention to keep up with all the locations and characters, but that only added to the feeling of being caught up in a fast-moving, gripping story rather than a history lesson.
What stood out most was how it made me feel the human side of history—the fear, the relief, and the confusion as the war finally ended. It’s full of details, but it never felt boring or too technical.

Many thanks to Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for providing this advanced copy.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first joint book by James Holland and Al Murray, who host the World War II podcast 'We Have Ways of Making You Talk.'

It begins with Roosevelt insisting on unconditional surrender and then moves from the Surrender of Berlin through to the Surrender of Japan. As any fans of the podcast will know, this is full of excellent detail. The book takes you through the discovery of concentration camps and the realisation of what the Nazi regime entailed, through the discovery of Hitler's body and a young Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, going into the crowds on V.E. Day.

Obviously, with the anniversary of V.E. Day this year, this is a timely reminder of the end of the war, which is so often ignored in books.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Holland and Al Murray combine forces to tell tales of surrenders for the axis forces and even the allies. It's well researched and gives more insight into the surrenders such as at Luneburg Heath, to the competing German officers in Italy, Herr Kaltenbrunner and Herr Wolff. Learning about US General Wainwright's ordeal at the hands of the barbaric Japanese was also very fascinating. Excellent postscript too.
Only downside is I would have liked more stories on surrenders such as the Japanese surrenders to the British in Hong Kong and Singapore. Because as far as im concerned perhaps from a non linear viewpoint General MacArthur's little showboating session on the USS Missouri was not the end of the war.

[Andrés CM · Rating 4 out of 5]

El auge y la caída de las potencias del Eje se han cubierto de manera exhaustiva, con la publicación de montañas de libros sobre el tema cada año. A pesar de eso, el conocimiento común de la caída de estos regímenes suele centrarse en los días finales de Hitler en el búnker de Berlín hasta su suicidio el 30 de abril de 1945 o los lanzamientos de las bombas atómicas y la posterior rendición de Japón. Pero, ¿qué pasó realmente en esos días del verano de 1945 donde se escenificaron una serie de rendiciones fragmentadas y cargadas de dramatismo? La respuesta nos la da este esplendido Victoria 1945, publicado por Ático de los libros.
RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://atrapadaenunashojasdepapel.bl...

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Audiobook) A survey of the final months and days of the war, looking at the various surrenders, primarily between the Nazis and Japanese. Most of the work focuses on the Nazi surrenders, as there was more than just the taking of Berlin and the final V-E surrender on May 8. Holland discusses how those particular events went down, along with noting what happened to many of the key players. Holland does offer insight into the Pacific Theater, but that one didn't seem as strong as his descriptions/analysis of the European surrenders. With this the 80th year of the surrenders of World War II, a work like this is quite timely. Not a bad read/listen for wanting to learn just how the theaters really ended their conflicts.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holland walks through the eight surrenders that ultimately ended World War II. He explains the circumstances, participants and ceremonies.

Why I started this book: I'm on another WWII kick, and I've really enjoyed Holland's podcast WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk with Al Murray.

Why I finished it: Quick listen, especially since most of these stories/surrenders had been shared on the podcast. Even with that, Holland is very good at bring history to life and engaging the reader with the drama, the decisions and gravity of ending WW2.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

B: If Vice President Vance is right that all wars end in negotiations, this book reviews the negotiations that ended the Second World War which were not always between victor and vanquished. Often they are between the victors to soothe the egos of the various allies. This book is also a reminder of what the democracies have to lose as they squander the unity of the rules-based order that resulted from these eight surrenders.

[CASPER HILEMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holland, does an admirable job of setting the stage for the final months of the Second World War in both Europe and the Pacific. That sounds so antiseptic and benign like this was not a war to defeat evil that had come upon the Earth of such a grand scale as to become the benchmark for all future evils. The cost was high and Holland does an excellent job of humanizing that cost.

[Christopher Lutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Examining each major surrender of the Axis powers to the Allies over the course of 1945. Quite a bit was previously unknown to me such as the details of the Soviet efforts to locate Hitler’s remains and the astonishing fact that elements of the Japanese government tried to prevent the broadcast of the Emperor’s surrender message through a coup.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a devoted fan of James Holland's books about WW2. As usual, Holland tells us the story of eight surrenders through the eyes of selected participants in a way that really connects the reader to the humanity of individuals in the midst of earth-shaking events. Hugo Gryn's touching but tragic story of incarceration and eventual liberation from a Nazi concentration camp made me weep.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Holland AND Al Murry? Yes please. I pre-ordered this, like will for any book either of them write. I loved the focus on the end of WWII, and the surrenders. We saw the big picture and the small pictures of eight surrenders. Fascinating. If you liked this book or any WWII subject you should check out their podcast and YouTube.

[Conall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good review of the actual surrenders themselves, really shows the delusion inherent in fascism! Less detailed than the standard Holland book, but I think that works for the concept! Would recommend to anyone who isn’t a big ww2 fan but is looking to get into the end of the war

[LBA · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about the formal ending of World War II.
Several histories from different people about the end of that barbarian conflict.
Like the authors wrote “ the freedoms and the peace we enjoy here in the West should not be taken for grandes”.

[Sam Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5! I’m a fan of their podcast, and am going into this with some bias, but I really enjoyed the accessible language and interesting premise. Recognized some familiar figures too. But I wish they had devoted more time to the war in the Pacific. Could’ve had a few more chapters there.