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World War II Trilogy #3
The Last Battle
The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of WWII in Europe, the last offensive against Hitler's 3rd Reich, which devastated one of Europe's historic capitals & marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the war's bloodiest & most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come. The Last Battle is Ryan's compelling account of this final battle, a story of brutal extremes, of stunning military triumph alongside the stark conditions that the civilians of Berlin experienced in the face of the Allied assault. As always, Ryan delves beneath the military & political forces that were dictating events to explore the more immediate imperatives of survival, where, as the author describes it, "to eat had become more important than to love, to burrow more dignified than to fight, to exist more militarily correct than to win." The Last Battle is the story of ordinary people, soldiers & civilians, caught up in the despair, frustration & terror of defeat. It's history at its best, a masterful illumination of the effects of war on the lives of individuals & one of the enduring works on WWII.
Foreword
The city
The general
The objective
The decision
The battle
A Note on Casualties
The Soldiers & Civilians: That They Do Today
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
Foreword
The city
The general
The objective
The decision
The battle
A Note on Casualties
The Soldiers & Civilians: That They Do Today
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
573 pages, Hardcover
First published March 28, 1966
301 people are currently reading
5106 people want to read
About the author
Cornelius Ryan
20 books286 followersCornelius Ryan was born in Dublin. After finishing his education he moved to London in 1940, and became a war correspondent for ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1941.
He initially covered the air war in Europe during WW II, flew along on fourteen bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force and Ninth Air Force United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), then joined General Patton's Third Third Army and covered its actions until the end of the European war. He transferred to the Pacific theater in 1945, and then to Jerusalem in 1946.
Ryan emigrated to the United States in 1947 to work for Time magazine, where he reported on the postwar tests of atomic weapons carried out by the United States in the Pacific. This was followed by work for other magazines, including Collier's Weekly and Reader's Digest.
He married Kathryn Morgan (1925–1993), a novelist, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1951.
On a trip to Normandy in 1949 Ryan became interested in telling a more complete story of D-Day than had been produced to date. He began compiling information and conducting over 1000 interviews as he gathered stories from both the Allies and the Germans, as well as the French civilians.
In 1956 he began to write down his World War II notes for The Longest Day, which tells the story of the invasion of Normandy. Published in 1959 it was an instant success.
His next work was Last Battle The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin (1966), about the Battle of Berlin.
This work was followed by A Bridge Too Far (1974), which tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the ill-fated assault by allied airborne forces on the Netherlands culminating in the Battle of Arnhem.
Ryan was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Ohio University, where the Cornelius Ryan Collection is housed (Alden Library). He was diagnosed with cancer in 1970, and struggled to finish A Bridge Too Far during his illness. He died in Manhattan, while on tour promoting the book, A Bridge Too Far, only two months after publication.
Four years after his death, Ryan's struggle with cancer was detailed in A Private Battle written by his wife, from notes he had secretly left behind for that purpose. He is buried in the Ridgebury Cemetery in northern Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Biography info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneliu...
He initially covered the air war in Europe during WW II, flew along on fourteen bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force and Ninth Air Force United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), then joined General Patton's Third Third Army and covered its actions until the end of the European war. He transferred to the Pacific theater in 1945, and then to Jerusalem in 1946.
Ryan emigrated to the United States in 1947 to work for Time magazine, where he reported on the postwar tests of atomic weapons carried out by the United States in the Pacific. This was followed by work for other magazines, including Collier's Weekly and Reader's Digest.
He married Kathryn Morgan (1925–1993), a novelist, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1951.
On a trip to Normandy in 1949 Ryan became interested in telling a more complete story of D-Day than had been produced to date. He began compiling information and conducting over 1000 interviews as he gathered stories from both the Allies and the Germans, as well as the French civilians.
In 1956 he began to write down his World War II notes for The Longest Day, which tells the story of the invasion of Normandy. Published in 1959 it was an instant success.
His next work was Last Battle The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin (1966), about the Battle of Berlin.
This work was followed by A Bridge Too Far (1974), which tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the ill-fated assault by allied airborne forces on the Netherlands culminating in the Battle of Arnhem.
Ryan was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Ohio University, where the Cornelius Ryan Collection is housed (Alden Library). He was diagnosed with cancer in 1970, and struggled to finish A Bridge Too Far during his illness. He died in Manhattan, while on tour promoting the book, A Bridge Too Far, only two months after publication.
Four years after his death, Ryan's struggle with cancer was detailed in A Private Battle written by his wife, from notes he had secretly left behind for that purpose. He is buried in the Ridgebury Cemetery in northern Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Biography info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneliu...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews
July 24, 2021
Why have I read this book three time........because I have read several book on the Battle of Berlin but this one stands near, if not at the top, of the list of winners. The author divides the book into sections.....the City, the Generals, the Objective,the Decision, and the Battle. Within each chapter, he supplies intricate detail of each topic without becoming pedantic.....he is telling the story of what happened, as it happened, and does not allow any bias to color the narrative.
It is a straightforward history of the race by the Allies for Berlin as the Third Reich collapses and the taking of the capital that will end the slaughter. The interaction among the Allies as to who should be allowed the honor of entering the city first is fascinating and the fear of the civilians that the Russians would be the invaders was real, as it should have been. The common Russian soldier was on a mission of revenge for the atrocities committed by Germany when they invaded Russia and were savage in their retribution. The last days and hours within the Fuehrer Bunker are fascinating as Hitler's madness increased and he ordered all to stand and fight to the last man. Needless to say, that did not happen, although the city could have been saved if one General would have stepped forward and approached the Allies directly with a statement of surrender.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII, and even to those who may not be. Beautifully done.
It is a straightforward history of the race by the Allies for Berlin as the Third Reich collapses and the taking of the capital that will end the slaughter. The interaction among the Allies as to who should be allowed the honor of entering the city first is fascinating and the fear of the civilians that the Russians would be the invaders was real, as it should have been. The common Russian soldier was on a mission of revenge for the atrocities committed by Germany when they invaded Russia and were savage in their retribution. The last days and hours within the Fuehrer Bunker are fascinating as Hitler's madness increased and he ordered all to stand and fight to the last man. Needless to say, that did not happen, although the city could have been saved if one General would have stepped forward and approached the Allies directly with a statement of surrender.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII, and even to those who may not be. Beautifully done.
December 18, 2020
This is historical narrative history at its finest and though first published in 1966 it has stood the test of time. Generally narrative history is not my style of presentation but it was very hard to fault the author’s ability to take this reader along the journey of all the participants. Be they the military, the politicians or the civilians who were all caught up in the final drama that was the fall of Berlin this is a riveting and harrowing history told. Some of the civilian’s stories of the sheer terror they suffered in this brutal final battle are heart-rending and to be frank must be read by anyone that has some sympathy to the glory that was never Nazism and the confidence trick it played on the German peoples.
Footnotes are scarce though there is a list of all the individuals that were interviewed and a very good bibliography.
Recommended to anyone with any interest in World War 2.
Footnotes are scarce though there is a list of all the individuals that were interviewed and a very good bibliography.
Recommended to anyone with any interest in World War 2.
May 28, 2018
There is no easy way to put to words something with such enormity as the last battle in the deadliest military conflict in history. And yet, Cornelius Ryan manages to do just that not with the use of staggering statistics, but with a series of stories that even my simple human mind could comprehend. Don't get me wrong, Ryan is thorough in his coverage of the military history of the
Battle of Berlin
. However, for me, sometimes the big picture is brought home by the little things, so I'm just gonna go ahead and copy the model of Jeff's lovely review and tell you a few of the many things I learned (or hadn't previously considered).
The Zoo
Early on Ryan tells us of a zookeeper who, unable to bear the thought of it being left there to perish, took home his favorite rare stork to live in his bathtub. I'm not gonna get all PETA on you here, but, yes the fate of the Berlin Zoo hit me pretty hard.
I won't attempt to devastate you (or myself) with pictures of perished elephants and whatnot, but the thought of the zoo's inhabitants as Berliners made for an interesting meditation.
One Way Out of Berlin
What do you do when you're told that your city full of women and children residents is about to be sacked by a group of savages with no regard for humanity (the Goebbels propaganda machine in perpetual motion)? Well, for one, you stock up on cyanide . It seems that parlor talk included whether to go for the wrist or other major arteries among women who took to keeping razor blades on their person along the Strasses of Berlin. Among the deaths by poisoning were the six Goebbels children who died at the hand of their mother, Magda, before she and her husband/Reich Minister of Propaganda committed suicide.
Soldiers of Last Resort
So who was left to defend the city? For the most part, the Volkssturm who, as Ryan describes, "occupied a kind of netherworld among the military." In addition to the problems arising from the fact that the invite decidedly read BYOW (Bring Your Own Weapon) which resulted in a hodgepodge of mismatched guns and ammo, the "people's militia" did not feature battle-ready demographics. Children as young as 13 were among the members of the 92 battalions sent out to the streets of battle.
On the flip-side at least one Volkssturm unit was made up of World War I veterans and other men past their "prime" fighting years. One such individual (potentially a former senior ranking police official according to some internet comments) is pictured below wearing a Volkssturm armband after being taken captive by a young Soviet soldier (left).
Hitler Loyalists Had Second Thoughts
In an egregious oversimplification of things, I'll just say that some of Hitler's higher-ups were seriously starting to question his judgement during those final days. Albert Speer, architect and Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production was considering assassinating Hitler. However, Ryan best captures the internal turmoil of General Gotthard Heinrici (pictured below meeting Hitler in 1937) who, in the end (and, in reality, too late) realized his responsibility to the German people and god superseded even direct orders from the Fuhrer.
My Recommendation
Read this one (or listen to it, as I did). I'm skipping, well, pretty much everything, and if you're at all interested in this period of history then you won't regret taking the time to go through this.
The Zoo
Early on Ryan tells us of a zookeeper who, unable to bear the thought of it being left there to perish, took home his favorite rare stork to live in his bathtub. I'm not gonna get all PETA on you here, but, yes the fate of the Berlin Zoo hit me pretty hard.
I won't attempt to devastate you (or myself) with pictures of perished elephants and whatnot, but the thought of the zoo's inhabitants as Berliners made for an interesting meditation.
One Way Out of Berlin
What do you do when you're told that your city full of women and children residents is about to be sacked by a group of savages with no regard for humanity (the Goebbels propaganda machine in perpetual motion)? Well, for one, you stock up on cyanide . It seems that parlor talk included whether to go for the wrist or other major arteries among women who took to keeping razor blades on their person along the Strasses of Berlin. Among the deaths by poisoning were the six Goebbels children who died at the hand of their mother, Magda, before she and her husband/Reich Minister of Propaganda committed suicide.
Soldiers of Last Resort
So who was left to defend the city? For the most part, the Volkssturm who, as Ryan describes, "occupied a kind of netherworld among the military." In addition to the problems arising from the fact that the invite decidedly read BYOW (Bring Your Own Weapon) which resulted in a hodgepodge of mismatched guns and ammo, the "people's militia" did not feature battle-ready demographics. Children as young as 13 were among the members of the 92 battalions sent out to the streets of battle.
On the flip-side at least one Volkssturm unit was made up of World War I veterans and other men past their "prime" fighting years. One such individual (potentially a former senior ranking police official according to some internet comments) is pictured below wearing a Volkssturm armband after being taken captive by a young Soviet soldier (left).
Hitler Loyalists Had Second Thoughts
In an egregious oversimplification of things, I'll just say that some of Hitler's higher-ups were seriously starting to question his judgement during those final days. Albert Speer, architect and Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production was considering assassinating Hitler. However, Ryan best captures the internal turmoil of General Gotthard Heinrici (pictured below meeting Hitler in 1937) who, in the end (and, in reality, too late) realized his responsibility to the German people and god superseded even direct orders from the Fuhrer.
My Recommendation
Read this one (or listen to it, as I did). I'm skipping, well, pretty much everything, and if you're at all interested in this period of history then you won't regret taking the time to go through this.
August 14, 2021
Meticulously researched and detailed, using personal accounts of survivors and their letters and diaries to give the history a more narrative feel. Ryan is best know for his war-histories-made-into-movies 'A Bridge to Far' and 'The Longest Day.' Both are invaluable accounts of momentous western-front battles; here, Ryan documents the fourth. (The battle of the bulge would be #3, but Ryan did not chronicle that battle, perhaps because John Toland had already done so. Toland's 'The Last 100 Days', covering the same period as 'The Last Battle' appears to have been published less than a year earlier. Ryan's book may have been published anyway because it was already in the pipeline, and may have benefited from the success of 'The Longest Day', already a movie with John Wayne and just about every major Hollywood actor of the time.)
To further contrast Toland and Ryan, Ryan's book is more engaging, with more personal accounts and illustrative episodes of ordinary people, caught in the battle zone. Toland focuses more on the big players, the generals and politicians.
There are dozens of accounts of D-Day, and Ryan's 'The Longest Day' is undoubtedly the best, though curious reader will be fascinated by 'Invasion, They're Coming' by Paul Carell, a historical account of D-Day and the battle for France as seen from the German side, translated from German for American and British markets.
To further contrast Toland and Ryan, Ryan's book is more engaging, with more personal accounts and illustrative episodes of ordinary people, caught in the battle zone. Toland focuses more on the big players, the generals and politicians.
There are dozens of accounts of D-Day, and Ryan's 'The Longest Day' is undoubtedly the best, though curious reader will be fascinated by 'Invasion, They're Coming' by Paul Carell, a historical account of D-Day and the battle for France as seen from the German side, translated from German for American and British markets.
March 11, 2017
Typical sprawling Ryan--not much new, but he sure brings back some great diary-captured dialogue.
And who knew that around April 25th, 1945, Major Werner Pluskat slipped quietly away from Wenck's 12th Army, swam across the Elbe, and surrendered to the Americans (Bradley)? You may recall Pluskat from Ryan's previous book "D-Day", but most especially the movie made from that book. Posted at the Normandy beaches, he's the first to sight the Allied invasion:
P: "There must be 10,000 ships!"
Supercilious Colonel: "That's impossible; the Anglo-Americans don't have 10,000 ships. Tell me, Herr Major, if they had 10,000 ships, where are they heading?"
P: "Right at me!"
That's from a different book, but good to know Pluskat deserted the sinking Reich just in time.
I think Ryan undercounts Soviet losses taking Berlin (100k in the book), and spends too much time emphasizing the first and second wave of Russians that overran Berlin were professionals, not rapists. Those soldiers warned of "the pigs" behind them, and they were right: girls from 9 to women of 90 were raped. Ryan discusses but somehow downplays it. Fortunately, there's subsequently published diaries (e.g., "A Woman in Berlin") making this hell of war all too ugly.
And who knew that around April 25th, 1945, Major Werner Pluskat slipped quietly away from Wenck's 12th Army, swam across the Elbe, and surrendered to the Americans (Bradley)? You may recall Pluskat from Ryan's previous book "D-Day", but most especially the movie made from that book. Posted at the Normandy beaches, he's the first to sight the Allied invasion:
P: "There must be 10,000 ships!"
Supercilious Colonel: "That's impossible; the Anglo-Americans don't have 10,000 ships. Tell me, Herr Major, if they had 10,000 ships, where are they heading?"
P: "Right at me!"
That's from a different book, but good to know Pluskat deserted the sinking Reich just in time.
I think Ryan undercounts Soviet losses taking Berlin (100k in the book), and spends too much time emphasizing the first and second wave of Russians that overran Berlin were professionals, not rapists. Those soldiers warned of "the pigs" behind them, and they were right: girls from 9 to women of 90 were raped. Ryan discusses but somehow downplays it. Fortunately, there's subsequently published diaries (e.g., "A Woman in Berlin") making this hell of war all too ugly.
September 17, 2014
The Last Battle is a bundle of Stars, 5 at least bringing you another chapter in Cornelius Ryan’s historical storytelling of WWII. An excellent account of the end of Nazi Germany for the novice, amateur and professional historian alike. Completed in 1966, it remains a wonderful source of first-hand accounts and one of the first to include detailed Soviet accounts of the battle. No mean feat in the middle of the Cold War.
Ryan begins with building up the picture of an overwhelmed Germany and a destroyed Berlin waiting for whoever would capture it first. The Allies are flooding in, taking huge swaths of territory daily. Most hoped the Western Allies would beat the Russians to Berlin. Ryan’s writing is so simple, it is brilliant. He brings in all sorts of key and obscure characters from all sides and uses their words to tell the story. For instance, after describing the rubble of Berlin and the fantasy of the Nazi leadership in defending the Reich, Ryan brings the scene down to earth with the simple day-to-day existence of a Berlin milkman making his delivery rounds, touching the lives of so many others, a sliver of everyday normality in a world gone mad. From civilians caught in the crossfire to the “grunts” on every side to the Axis and Allied leaders you will get a vivid picture of this violent time.
Some things I learned or gained a better appreciation for from this book:
-The Eisenhower decision to not take Berlin caused immense frustration to Churchill, the British Army and the US Army. The drama around this decision was fascinating.
-Roosevelt was adamant that the US Army should be attacking on the north German plains, where the British actually were. He did not want to be in southern Germany or near France or Italy.
-The decision of a probable mid-level British staff officer to stage the American forces and supplies in south and southwestern England had far ranging impacts to D-Day and the entire campaign.
-Col Gen Gotthard Heinrici, given command of Army Group Vistula, is a fascinating character.
-Stalin was convinced the Western Allies were going to try to beat him to Berlin. He plays his generals against each other to get to Berlin first. So many Russian soldiers were thrown away in the race to the city. But the frenzy of the Russian troops to get to Berlin was also amazing.
-The US and UK were not all buddy-buddy in the execution of the war in Europe. Interesting to read how bad the situation was at times.
Highly recommended. Easy to read and keeps your attention.
If you want a great contrast, read Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, about the desperate situation in 1940. Taken together, these two books are great bookends to WWII history.
Ryan begins with building up the picture of an overwhelmed Germany and a destroyed Berlin waiting for whoever would capture it first. The Allies are flooding in, taking huge swaths of territory daily. Most hoped the Western Allies would beat the Russians to Berlin. Ryan’s writing is so simple, it is brilliant. He brings in all sorts of key and obscure characters from all sides and uses their words to tell the story. For instance, after describing the rubble of Berlin and the fantasy of the Nazi leadership in defending the Reich, Ryan brings the scene down to earth with the simple day-to-day existence of a Berlin milkman making his delivery rounds, touching the lives of so many others, a sliver of everyday normality in a world gone mad. From civilians caught in the crossfire to the “grunts” on every side to the Axis and Allied leaders you will get a vivid picture of this violent time.
Some things I learned or gained a better appreciation for from this book:
-The Eisenhower decision to not take Berlin caused immense frustration to Churchill, the British Army and the US Army. The drama around this decision was fascinating.
-Roosevelt was adamant that the US Army should be attacking on the north German plains, where the British actually were. He did not want to be in southern Germany or near France or Italy.
-The decision of a probable mid-level British staff officer to stage the American forces and supplies in south and southwestern England had far ranging impacts to D-Day and the entire campaign.
-Col Gen Gotthard Heinrici, given command of Army Group Vistula, is a fascinating character.
-Stalin was convinced the Western Allies were going to try to beat him to Berlin. He plays his generals against each other to get to Berlin first. So many Russian soldiers were thrown away in the race to the city. But the frenzy of the Russian troops to get to Berlin was also amazing.
-The US and UK were not all buddy-buddy in the execution of the war in Europe. Interesting to read how bad the situation was at times.
Highly recommended. Easy to read and keeps your attention.
If you want a great contrast, read Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, about the desperate situation in 1940. Taken together, these two books are great bookends to WWII history.
August 22, 2017
Outstanding book! The author packs so much factual evidence in that it's still making my head spin. Loved this book. Would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in WWII history!
September 27, 2018
In my opinion, this was the best one of the 3 Cornelius Ryan books. I read all 3 this year and this was the most informative.
March 24, 2022
This is the definite account of the fall of Berlin. In "The Last Battle," Cornelius Ryan presents the battle of Berlin in shocking, realistic detail, rather than the usual broad stroked, glossed over version of history that we usually get in movies and textbooks. Ryan shows the events unfold through the stories of individuals that were there. What better way of reading history than reading oral history? From civilians to foot soldier, politicians to high-ranking command officers. All sides are presented to the reader. Everything is explained perfectly, and all the maps, diagrams and photographs are well mentioned. There are times you will get bog down in the military excursions of the Soviets and German armies, but they do not outweigh the terrible personal dramas that accompany all wars. As the Soviets enter Berlin, they unleash their vindictive revenge on the German people. Ryan does not spare us the gory details of rape, murder, suicide, starvation, and societal collapse that accompanied the capitulation of the Reich.
Ryan has recreated the Battle for Berlin wonderfully. The research and interviews with the participants from both sides is as good as he has done in his other WWII books. Written in 1965 this book has still withstood the test of time and is great resource to turn to learn about the ending of Hitler and his Nazi regime. It also I feel solidified Cornelius Ryan as the greatest historian of WWII.
Ryan has recreated the Battle for Berlin wonderfully. The research and interviews with the participants from both sides is as good as he has done in his other WWII books. Written in 1965 this book has still withstood the test of time and is great resource to turn to learn about the ending of Hitler and his Nazi regime. It also I feel solidified Cornelius Ryan as the greatest historian of WWII.
July 23, 2021
A great historical read. Factually questionable in parts. A recent trip to Berlin and during a tour of the Reichstag the guide told us that the Red Army that fought in the Berlin battle on the soviet side could have had one third women front line soldiers. Who to believe? The questionable fact about history is the victors decide n the narrative.
The description of the information the allies based their strategy on was questionable, such as the phantom German redoubt in Bavaria. So much for enigma. The civilian scenes of the battle and aftermath were harrowing. Hitlers delusion of imaginary German armies and madness was evident as was his cronies such as Goebbels.
I found out why the allies let the Russians take Berlin which made sense with the Eclipse plan that divided Germany into three zones once the Germans were defeated. Eisenhower probably saved thousands of allied soldiers lives by ignoring Montgomery and his glory seeking. Stalin was completely untrustworthy and you can see the seeds of the Iron Curtain developing with Poland and other Eastern European countries.
All in all a good read and it was good to see Henrici finally disobeying Hitlers orders to save his men.
The description of the information the allies based their strategy on was questionable, such as the phantom German redoubt in Bavaria. So much for enigma. The civilian scenes of the battle and aftermath were harrowing. Hitlers delusion of imaginary German armies and madness was evident as was his cronies such as Goebbels.
I found out why the allies let the Russians take Berlin which made sense with the Eclipse plan that divided Germany into three zones once the Germans were defeated. Eisenhower probably saved thousands of allied soldiers lives by ignoring Montgomery and his glory seeking. Stalin was completely untrustworthy and you can see the seeds of the Iron Curtain developing with Poland and other Eastern European countries.
All in all a good read and it was good to see Henrici finally disobeying Hitlers orders to save his men.
August 6, 2013
Like the other books of Cornelius Ryan that I have read, The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far, the author brings immediacy to what in the wrong hands could be a confusing mass of events and people. The book focuses on the last major battle, the Battle of Berlin, and the events that led up to it. A few things I learned from reading the book:
1) U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgentheau wanted to eliminate all industry from Germany and turn it into an agricultural state.
2) Allied intelligence feared that there was a secret base (Redoubt) somewhere in Southern Germany, fully armed with chemical warfare weaponry and outfitted with secret commando squads called “Werewolves”. This turned out to be a false rumor.
3) The Germans had captured the Allies’ plans to divide up Germany at the end of the war into respective U.S., British and Soviet zones. This was revealed for the first time when the book was published.
4) The fact that Berlin fell in the Soviet zone, was the main reason that Eisenhower did not have the Anglo-American forces try to take the city. He felt it was pointless for troops to give their lives for territory that they would have to give back at the end of the war.
5) On secret orders from Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, a commando group led by Nicholas Joseph Fury was able to neutralize a HYDRA group located 50 miles south of Coberg.*
6) The Allies would routinely use captured vehicles and even planes. They would capture them, paint them olive drab and slap on the regiment designation.
7) During his initial artillery barrage, General Zhukov thought that shining blinding anti-aircraft lights into German positions would confuse them. The Germans had retreated from those positions hours earlier. Still, an interesting, yet failed, tactic.
*Just to see if you were paying attention.
1) U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgentheau wanted to eliminate all industry from Germany and turn it into an agricultural state.
2) Allied intelligence feared that there was a secret base (Redoubt) somewhere in Southern Germany, fully armed with chemical warfare weaponry and outfitted with secret commando squads called “Werewolves”. This turned out to be a false rumor.
3) The Germans had captured the Allies’ plans to divide up Germany at the end of the war into respective U.S., British and Soviet zones. This was revealed for the first time when the book was published.
4) The fact that Berlin fell in the Soviet zone, was the main reason that Eisenhower did not have the Anglo-American forces try to take the city. He felt it was pointless for troops to give their lives for territory that they would have to give back at the end of the war.
5) On secret orders from Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, a commando group led by Nicholas Joseph Fury was able to neutralize a HYDRA group located 50 miles south of Coberg.*
6) The Allies would routinely use captured vehicles and even planes. They would capture them, paint them olive drab and slap on the regiment designation.
7) During his initial artillery barrage, General Zhukov thought that shining blinding anti-aircraft lights into German positions would confuse them. The Germans had retreated from those positions hours earlier. Still, an interesting, yet failed, tactic.
*Just to see if you were paying attention.
April 20, 2019
It's been a crazy hectic couple of weeks for me recently. Ramping up into a new role at my job (work for which I'm postponing to try to catch up on my reviews... PRIORITIES.), travelling for a conference for said new role, getting delayed on my flight home from said conference due to crazy weather, delayed again, flight cancelled, then cancelled again and again, and essentially being stranded for TWO DAYS half a country away from home... and then trying to get caught up with life afterward... it's just been a bit crazy.
So I'm a bit behind on my reading (but what else is new there??) and my reviewing. But it's interesting that all of this happened to me while listening to this book, because it made it that much easier to empathize and understand how displaced people would have felt during that time. And, let's be honest here... As frustrating and annoying as my travel situation was (a 3 hour non-stop flight turning into a delay-to-repeated cancellation nightmare, complete with a night in the airport and then another night at a hotel out of pocket, followed by a full day of flying and driving to get home) it was nothing, NOTHING, compared to the realities that people had to deal with in WWII. I only mention it because it was a new experience for me - not knowing when I would be able to get home, not knowing where I was supposed to go, etc - and I could extrapolate from that how terrible it would have been to have that be your foreseeable future, rather than just a weekend inconvenience.
So, yeah. My weekend sucked, but in the grand scheme of things, I was never more than 5 minutes from a Starbucks, so it's not like I can TRULY understand how it would have been to live through WWII.
But this book does a really fantastic job at bridging a lot of that gap. This isn't just the story of the battle for Berlin, and all of the military actions and plans and maneuvers that took place, it was the story of the people and the city and the lives that were affected by it. It does a great job at piecing together the stories of the names we know, as well as ordinary people lost to history but for this book holding their story. It reminds us that the cost of war isn't just political, or military, or monetary, it's measured in individual lives, both human and animal. It's measured in potential. It's measured in the brutality of conquering armies, the retaliation against invaders, the innocent citizens who are caught in the middle of a war they didn't want or sign up for, but must try to survive any way they can. It's measured in the physical and psychological traumas, the loss of hope, the bleakness of the continuing on, the eroding of trust in one's community and country, etc.
One of the things that kept surprising me was the fact that Hitler lost the war for himself because of his massive ego. Had he listened to his military generals and experienced experts, the outcome of this war might have been very, very different. But as it was, he essentially hamstrung his own forces, keeping armies stationed in useless areas, splitting forces up, failing to ensure that armies had the weapons and support needed for the battles they were supposed to fight, throwing untrained bodies at problems, and in short, expecting miracles. Again and again, he refused to listen to his generals and advisers, claiming that if the Nazi forces believed strongly enough, and were faithful enough in their cause, they'd be triumphant.
Anyway, for this being a nonfiction about war, it was surprisingly not dry and boring, but interesting and personal and heartbreaking at times. I found it interesting and compelling, and it doesn't read like a book that's over 50 years old. (I was VERY surprised when I learned that this was originally published in the 60s!)
The audio read by Simon Vance is, as usual, fantastic. If you're at all interested in this topic, I would suggest checking this out. It is really good.
So I'm a bit behind on my reading (but what else is new there??) and my reviewing. But it's interesting that all of this happened to me while listening to this book, because it made it that much easier to empathize and understand how displaced people would have felt during that time. And, let's be honest here... As frustrating and annoying as my travel situation was (a 3 hour non-stop flight turning into a delay-to-repeated cancellation nightmare, complete with a night in the airport and then another night at a hotel out of pocket, followed by a full day of flying and driving to get home) it was nothing, NOTHING, compared to the realities that people had to deal with in WWII. I only mention it because it was a new experience for me - not knowing when I would be able to get home, not knowing where I was supposed to go, etc - and I could extrapolate from that how terrible it would have been to have that be your foreseeable future, rather than just a weekend inconvenience.
So, yeah. My weekend sucked, but in the grand scheme of things, I was never more than 5 minutes from a Starbucks, so it's not like I can TRULY understand how it would have been to live through WWII.
But this book does a really fantastic job at bridging a lot of that gap. This isn't just the story of the battle for Berlin, and all of the military actions and plans and maneuvers that took place, it was the story of the people and the city and the lives that were affected by it. It does a great job at piecing together the stories of the names we know, as well as ordinary people lost to history but for this book holding their story. It reminds us that the cost of war isn't just political, or military, or monetary, it's measured in individual lives, both human and animal. It's measured in potential. It's measured in the brutality of conquering armies, the retaliation against invaders, the innocent citizens who are caught in the middle of a war they didn't want or sign up for, but must try to survive any way they can. It's measured in the physical and psychological traumas, the loss of hope, the bleakness of the continuing on, the eroding of trust in one's community and country, etc.
One of the things that kept surprising me was the fact that Hitler lost the war for himself because of his massive ego. Had he listened to his military generals and experienced experts, the outcome of this war might have been very, very different. But as it was, he essentially hamstrung his own forces, keeping armies stationed in useless areas, splitting forces up, failing to ensure that armies had the weapons and support needed for the battles they were supposed to fight, throwing untrained bodies at problems, and in short, expecting miracles. Again and again, he refused to listen to his generals and advisers, claiming that if the Nazi forces believed strongly enough, and were faithful enough in their cause, they'd be triumphant.
Anyway, for this being a nonfiction about war, it was surprisingly not dry and boring, but interesting and personal and heartbreaking at times. I found it interesting and compelling, and it doesn't read like a book that's over 50 years old. (I was VERY surprised when I learned that this was originally published in the 60s!)
The audio read by Simon Vance is, as usual, fantastic. If you're at all interested in this topic, I would suggest checking this out. It is really good.
November 15, 2011
Wow. This book was really interesting. It kept making me think what would have happened if...Knowing what did happen to Eastern Europe after WWII kept me wishing that things would have turned out differently. I still think Eisenhower made the right choice, based on the information he had, when he decided not to cross the Elbe and race the Soviets for Berlin across territory the politicians had already said would be in the Soviet zone. (Especially when I read that the Red Army planed to "accidentally" shell the Americans when they met, just so they would know how strong the Red Army was.) But I wonder what would have happened if Roosevelt (or someone on his staff) had pushed harder for his map of post-war Germany. Or if the Allies hadn't had the whole Market Garden fiasco that held them up in Sept '44. Or if the German army would have done the common-sense thing and let the Anglo-American armies come in from the West and move everything to the Eastern front.
Ryan did a wonderful job of showing different perspectives: the men in the 82nd airborne division being briefed for a possible drop into Berlin; the civilians in Berlin worrying about being raped when the Red Army arrived; one of Hitler's croonies trying to figure out a way to save the musicians in the Berlin orchestra from being turned into cannon fodder; Soviet troops whose families had been slaughtered by Nazis and had nothing to go back home to. I found myself feeling sorry for people on every side of the war. I was so glad when Heinrici finally decided to disobey his absolutely-no-retreat orders from Hitler because he knew he would have to answer to the German people and to God. And speaking of Hitler, if I didn't already think him demonic for his other war-time atrocities, how he treated his own loyal people in the final months of the war would alone be enough to make me hate him. Is it really necessary to arm your 13 and 14 year old children and send them off to be slaughtered when you know you will lose the war? (I use the term "arm" loosely, since most of them were given rifles and ammunition that weren't compatible, so they might as well have been using rocks and spears.)
Anyway, if you want to know more about the last bit of the war in Europe, and the reasons things ended up the way they did, this is the book to read. Well-written, fair. I'll admit I was a little worried that the book would end up being just a catalogue of revenge-driven Soviet troops taking their anger out on Berlin civilians. There were a few pages of that, but the book covered so much more. Makes me very glad to live in the US in the twenty-first century.
Ryan did a wonderful job of showing different perspectives: the men in the 82nd airborne division being briefed for a possible drop into Berlin; the civilians in Berlin worrying about being raped when the Red Army arrived; one of Hitler's croonies trying to figure out a way to save the musicians in the Berlin orchestra from being turned into cannon fodder; Soviet troops whose families had been slaughtered by Nazis and had nothing to go back home to. I found myself feeling sorry for people on every side of the war. I was so glad when Heinrici finally decided to disobey his absolutely-no-retreat orders from Hitler because he knew he would have to answer to the German people and to God. And speaking of Hitler, if I didn't already think him demonic for his other war-time atrocities, how he treated his own loyal people in the final months of the war would alone be enough to make me hate him. Is it really necessary to arm your 13 and 14 year old children and send them off to be slaughtered when you know you will lose the war? (I use the term "arm" loosely, since most of them were given rifles and ammunition that weren't compatible, so they might as well have been using rocks and spears.)
Anyway, if you want to know more about the last bit of the war in Europe, and the reasons things ended up the way they did, this is the book to read. Well-written, fair. I'll admit I was a little worried that the book would end up being just a catalogue of revenge-driven Soviet troops taking their anger out on Berlin civilians. There were a few pages of that, but the book covered so much more. Makes me very glad to live in the US in the twenty-first century.
February 7, 2020
سوف أدافع عن المدينة إلى النهاية ..إما أن أكسب هذه المعركة لعاصمة الرايخ أو أسقط كرمز للرايخ
هذه كانت كلمات هتلر الأخبرة ردا على اقترحات كيتل رئيس أركان حربه إما بالاستسلام أو بترك برلين و الطيران إلى بر حتشجادن وبدء المفاوضات من هناك
من ضمن الأسئلة التى كنت أستغرب لها والتي أجاب عتها هذا الكتاب : لماذا لم يضغط الانجليز والأمريكان للاستلاء على برلين كما فعل الروس
والجواب:أن إيزنهاور كان قد خُدع بخرافة القلعة القومية التي كان يعتقد أن هتلر موجود فيها في جنوب ميونخ وأنه غير موجود في برلين
ولم يعرفوا حقيقة إستمرار تواجد هتلر في عاصمة الرايخ إلا بعد استسلام الجنرال كورت ديتمار المكلف بإذاعة آخر الأنباء و الذي كان صوت القيادة الألمانية العليا كصحاف العراق
سقطت برلين بعد أن تسابق جيشين روسيين لأختراق آخر خطوط القتال المدافعة عن المدينة بقيادة كونييف و زوكوف كاملي العتاد والمؤن
ففي مقابل 20 الف مدفع لدي جيش زوكوف و 6500 طائرة كان لدي الجيش الألماني المدافع أو ما تبقى منه سوى 600 مدفع فقط
هذه كانت كلمات هتلر الأخبرة ردا على اقترحات كيتل رئيس أركان حربه إما بالاستسلام أو بترك برلين و الطيران إلى بر حتشجادن وبدء المفاوضات من هناك
من ضمن الأسئلة التى كنت أستغرب لها والتي أجاب عتها هذا الكتاب : لماذا لم يضغط الانجليز والأمريكان للاستلاء على برلين كما فعل الروس
والجواب:أن إيزنهاور كان قد خُدع بخرافة القلعة القومية التي كان يعتقد أن هتلر موجود فيها في جنوب ميونخ وأنه غير موجود في برلين
ولم يعرفوا حقيقة إستمرار تواجد هتلر في عاصمة الرايخ إلا بعد استسلام الجنرال كورت ديتمار المكلف بإذاعة آخر الأنباء و الذي كان صوت القيادة الألمانية العليا كصحاف العراق
سقطت برلين بعد أن تسابق جيشين روسيين لأختراق آخر خطوط القتال المدافعة عن المدينة بقيادة كونييف و زوكوف كاملي العتاد والمؤن
ففي مقابل 20 الف مدفع لدي جيش زوكوف و 6500 طائرة كان لدي الجيش الألماني المدافع أو ما تبقى منه سوى 600 مدفع فقط
June 11, 2020
This is a fantastic book about the last major battle in Europe during World War II, but it's not really a story of the battle. It's more a story of what different soldiers and civilians experienced, as well as what went on in the various political arenas to shape how things turned out.
With the help of Professor John Erickson, the author was able to review Soviet documents and maps, as well as interview many of the Soviet generals involved in the fight for Berlin. Considering the book was written in 1966, the amount of detail on the Soviet side is extremely impressive. There is also plenty from the German, American and British sides as many of the key participants were still alive to be interviewed, or their notes and diaries could be examined. Some of the stories of the indecision, chaos and horror are incredible to read, especially the stories from Adolf Hitler's bunker underneath the city.
I would say this book is similar to Antony Beevor's book on the Battle of Berlin in that it's more of a political and personal history of the battle as opposed to a military history. This doesn't make it any less worthwhile, but it might not be what some are looking for if they want all sorts of military information and details.
A truly excellent book and worth picking up!
With the help of Professor John Erickson, the author was able to review Soviet documents and maps, as well as interview many of the Soviet generals involved in the fight for Berlin. Considering the book was written in 1966, the amount of detail on the Soviet side is extremely impressive. There is also plenty from the German, American and British sides as many of the key participants were still alive to be interviewed, or their notes and diaries could be examined. Some of the stories of the indecision, chaos and horror are incredible to read, especially the stories from Adolf Hitler's bunker underneath the city.
I would say this book is similar to Antony Beevor's book on the Battle of Berlin in that it's more of a political and personal history of the battle as opposed to a military history. This doesn't make it any less worthwhile, but it might not be what some are looking for if they want all sorts of military information and details.
A truly excellent book and worth picking up!
April 7, 2023
One of the best history books that I've had the pleasure of reading.
This book - as the title suggests - focuses on the last two months before the Fall of the Third Reich. It is so much more than a book on Hitler's final hours.
We learn why the Americans stopped at the Elbe and - much to the dismay of many German citizens and leaders - did not roll into Berlin. There was a prior agreement to let the Soviets take Berlin. By most accounts it saved the Americans tens of thousands of casualties. The Soviets alone saw nearly 100,000 casualties and they took several weeks to advance the remaining 35 miles.
A good chunk of the narrative on the Eastern outskirts of Berlin is told through the words of German General Gotthard Heinrichi. He is one of the only Generals to speak openly to Hitler and Goering about how dim their prospects were in the last month. Hitler was delusional and it did little good to convince him otherwise.
It is depressing that so many died in the Battle of Berlin, some estimates are 300,000 including the German and Russian military and German civilians. If only the German leadership had surrendered instead of supporting a last stand with the cowardly madman
who took the easy way out.
It is a sobering read and much richer than I anticipated. I should not have been surprised since Ryan has penned other 5 star books on my shelf.
Highly recommended! 5 Stars
This book - as the title suggests - focuses on the last two months before the Fall of the Third Reich. It is so much more than a book on Hitler's final hours.
We learn why the Americans stopped at the Elbe and - much to the dismay of many German citizens and leaders - did not roll into Berlin. There was a prior agreement to let the Soviets take Berlin. By most accounts it saved the Americans tens of thousands of casualties. The Soviets alone saw nearly 100,000 casualties and they took several weeks to advance the remaining 35 miles.
A good chunk of the narrative on the Eastern outskirts of Berlin is told through the words of German General Gotthard Heinrichi. He is one of the only Generals to speak openly to Hitler and Goering about how dim their prospects were in the last month. Hitler was delusional and it did little good to convince him otherwise.
It is depressing that so many died in the Battle of Berlin, some estimates are 300,000 including the German and Russian military and German civilians. If only the German leadership had surrendered instead of supporting a last stand with the cowardly madman
who took the easy way out.
It is a sobering read and much richer than I anticipated. I should not have been surprised since Ryan has penned other 5 star books on my shelf.
Highly recommended! 5 Stars
October 5, 2014
الكتاب يثير الشجون..فقد ارتبط عندي بمرحلة المراهقة ، التي قرأت فيها هذا الكتاب عشرات المرات، كان لدي نهم معرفي ورغبة في مسابقة الجميع للقراءة..لم يكن عندي من أتنافس معه في القراءة من أقران، ولكن كانت لدي الرغبة المحمومة في السباق. اشتريت الكتاب وقرأت فيه. تمكنت من معرفة كبار قيادات ألمانيا في عهد هتلر، لأن المؤلف قد وضع في ثنايا الكتاب صورا للقيادات العسكرية. وعرفت أيضاً كيف تقاد ألمانيا وتدار الأمور بعقلية القائد الفذ العبقري إلخ..هتلر!
الكتاب يناسب المبتدئين، لأنه يعرض تاريخا سياسيا وعسكريا واجتماعيا في توليفة هي أقرب للسرد القصصي المباشر. ستشعر بمعاناة الناس من تبعات الحروب طويلة الأمد، وستجد وصفا مثيرا (لشخصي المراهق) حول كيفية سقوط برلين في الحرب العالمية الثانية..وكيف ساد الخوف من القوات الروسية بين أفراد شعب برلين،ولماذا كانت أمانيهم أن تصل قوات التحالف الغربية البريطانية والأمريكية قبل الروسية إلى برلين.كل هذا مخافة الوقوع ضحايا لاعتداءات محتملة من قبل الجيش الروسي
الكتاب من ترجمة العقيد المتقاعد رشيد صالح العزاوي، ومراجعة اللواء الركن المتقاعد محمود أحمد عزت، وطباعة دار الشؤون الثقافية العامة،التابعة لوزارة الثقافة والإعلام العراقية أيام كان العراق بعثيا..قبل أن يستجير من رمضاء البعث إلى نار الطائفية الصفوية.
الترجمة كانت جميلة ورائعة..وهي سمة ميزت الكتب المترجمة من العراق..إذ كان النظام الجامعي آنذاك يمنع المبتعث العراقي من التوظيف في الجامعات العراقية إلا إذا ترجم كتابا مضى على نشره بلغته الأم سنتين على الأكثر.
من يرى نهوض ألمانيا الاقتصادي والتقني، بعد خرابها؛ سيرجو من الله أن يعيد العراق إلى عصور النهضة التي اشتهر بها العراق قبل أن يعبث بها الصفويون..فشكل انتكاسة البلدين متشابه إلى حد كبير.
سحبت من التقييم نجمة..لأن الكتاب لم يكن طويلا كما ينبغي له، رغم تأريخه للجوانب العسكرية لمختلف أطراف الحرب العالمية الثانية،وتخصيصه للجانب الألماني بحصة الأسد من كتابه هذا. ورغم ذلك، فالكتاب ممتع وإن لم يكن يشمل جوانب كثيرة في الحرب،كالجانب الاستخباري..الذي كان له دور مهم في حسم الحرب.
الكتاب يناسب المبتدئين، لأنه يعرض تاريخا سياسيا وعسكريا واجتماعيا في توليفة هي أقرب للسرد القصصي المباشر. ستشعر بمعاناة الناس من تبعات الحروب طويلة الأمد، وستجد وصفا مثيرا (لشخصي المراهق) حول كيفية سقوط برلين في الحرب العالمية الثانية..وكيف ساد الخوف من القوات الروسية بين أفراد شعب برلين،ولماذا كانت أمانيهم أن تصل قوات التحالف الغربية البريطانية والأمريكية قبل الروسية إلى برلين.كل هذا مخافة الوقوع ضحايا لاعتداءات محتملة من قبل الجيش الروسي
الكتاب من ترجمة العقيد المتقاعد رشيد صالح العزاوي، ومراجعة اللواء الركن المتقاعد محمود أحمد عزت، وطباعة دار الشؤون الثقافية العامة،التابعة لوزارة الثقافة والإعلام العراقية أيام كان العراق بعثيا..قبل أن يستجير من رمضاء البعث إلى نار الطائفية الصفوية.
الترجمة كانت جميلة ورائعة..وهي سمة ميزت الكتب المترجمة من العراق..إذ كان النظام الجامعي آنذاك يمنع المبتعث العراقي من التوظيف في الجامعات العراقية إلا إذا ترجم كتابا مضى على نشره بلغته الأم سنتين على الأكثر.
من يرى نهوض ألمانيا الاقتصادي والتقني، بعد خرابها؛ سيرجو من الله أن يعيد العراق إلى عصور النهضة التي اشتهر بها العراق قبل أن يعبث بها الصفويون..فشكل انتكاسة البلدين متشابه إلى حد كبير.
سحبت من التقييم نجمة..لأن الكتاب لم يكن طويلا كما ينبغي له، رغم تأريخه للجوانب العسكرية لمختلف أطراف الحرب العالمية الثانية،وتخصيصه للجانب الألماني بحصة الأسد من كتابه هذا. ورغم ذلك، فالكتاب ممتع وإن لم يكن يشمل جوانب كثيرة في الحرب،كالجانب الاستخباري..الذي كان له دور مهم في حسم الحرب.
April 1, 2023
Brilliant, utterly gripping narrative history. This is a classic for a reason - well researched and well written, drawing on accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors of all parts and on all sides of the final push in the European theatre of WWII.
February 15, 2019
Ahh.. Cornelius Ryan never disappoints. Another brilliant piece of work from him. Excellent portrayal of the last battle for Berlin and the three main sides (US, Britain, Germany) and the civilian population that were involved in it. Loved it! :)
September 10, 2017
To the generations that came after its end, World War II has a kind of mythical quality about it. It feels and reads like a Hollywood blockbuster, and has in fact been used as the basis for many Hollywood blockbusters. And, like any great myth or movie, it has larger than life heroes AND villains.
As a result of this, the gruesome details of what went on in WWII often get lost in depictions of cartoonish villains and heroic deeds.
The Battle for Berlin is ripe with all these elements. The villains are there, on both sides, heroes emerge, also on both sides, and the gruesome details are in no short supply. This battle encapsulates everything that war is. The complexity of it, the tragedy of it, and the fact that there really is nothing heroic or good in it.
But like WWII itself, Cornelius Ryan's account of "The Last Battle" is fascinating. Ryan really had amazing access to the people that took part in the battle, on both sides, and he looks at the battle with a microscope. It is the short, personal details that stand out in this telling.
The milkman who continues on his route despite the impending collapse of the city. The zookeeper who keeps the zoo's rare stork in his bathtub in an attempt to keep it safe. The communists who, having eagerly awaited the arrival of the Soviets in the city, are then brutally raped when they finally arrive.
Yes, the rapes. It was interesting to read in the author's acknowledgments that both the U.S. State Department and the British Foreign Office discouraged the author from raising the issue of the Berlin rapes with the Soviets during his interviews with him, fearing that it would be "undiplomatic to raise the question". Then-President John F. Kennedy disagreed with that view, telling the author that the Russians were "horse traders" and that he should "lay it on the table" and be blunt.
Ryan does not shy away from depicting the horrible brutality of the Red Army as it sweeps into Berlin. Many Berliners are relieved when they find that the first waves of the Red Army are professional, even helpful. But the Soviets are apparently well aware of their reputation, as one officer tells a group of women sequestered at a convent to be careful because the men coming up behind them are "pigs" and another man, after having brutally assaulted a woman in an alleyway, raises his hands over his head in helpless admission afterwards, admitting "I'm a pig".
Women hide in overturned bathtubs cast on the street outside, under tables, blankets, and anywhere else in order to try and avoid being raped. Many women are gang raped, left half-dead, and then raped again when another group of soldiers enters the city. It is little surprise then that many of these women attempted suicide to avoid this particularly cruel fate.
I'm currently living in eastern Ukraine and, while reading this book, I asked some of the locals I know about their thoughts on this. Some of the responses I got resembled those the author received to an uncanny degree. The German women, they told me, "deserved their fate" because of crimes their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers had committed during Hitler's plunge into eastern Europe. Perhaps the worst thing about war is how mercy is so often in short supply on all sides.
Other notable events depicted by Ryan include Patton's Third Army discovering the remains of uncountable corpses when they liberate a Nazi Concentration Camp. The famously stern Patton is, we are told, reduced to tears and the next day leads the local townspeople, who deny all knowledge of the nearby camp, by gunpoint through it so they can see firsthand the atrocities committed there.
The Berlin Zoo is, as well, a sadly tragic tale. The "dangerous" animals had to be shot and other animals starve to death or are killed by the bombs or shelling. Sometimes one can't help but sympathize with the animals the most. For weren't they the only ones we can point to as having been truly innocent in the whole affair?
But in between moments of seeming unrelenting darkness in "The Last Battle", I found myself laughing. Once at the insight that while Berlin was being shelled and its occupants were busy fleeing for their lives, eleven of the city's seventeen breweries continued making beer because the government had deemed its production "essential". Or again at the darkly comic image of some of the Soviets who, having never seen a lightbulb before, stuffed their pockets full of the bulbs thinking that they contained light. Many Soviets, having a similar lack of knowledge of plumbing, pulled the water faucets from the wall thinking they would have instant access to water whenever they wished.
"The Last Battle" reiterates the madness that gripped Hitler, especially in those final months, and left me asking once again - why the hell did not even his own top advisors try to stop a man who clearly had no grip on reality and fostered a growing hatred for his own people in those final mad months?
Ryan has given us essential insight into an event and a war that should never be forgotten. That it is also an essential insight into the nature of man and of the potential we all have for good and evil makes it all the more valuable.
As a result of this, the gruesome details of what went on in WWII often get lost in depictions of cartoonish villains and heroic deeds.
The Battle for Berlin is ripe with all these elements. The villains are there, on both sides, heroes emerge, also on both sides, and the gruesome details are in no short supply. This battle encapsulates everything that war is. The complexity of it, the tragedy of it, and the fact that there really is nothing heroic or good in it.
But like WWII itself, Cornelius Ryan's account of "The Last Battle" is fascinating. Ryan really had amazing access to the people that took part in the battle, on both sides, and he looks at the battle with a microscope. It is the short, personal details that stand out in this telling.
The milkman who continues on his route despite the impending collapse of the city. The zookeeper who keeps the zoo's rare stork in his bathtub in an attempt to keep it safe. The communists who, having eagerly awaited the arrival of the Soviets in the city, are then brutally raped when they finally arrive.
Yes, the rapes. It was interesting to read in the author's acknowledgments that both the U.S. State Department and the British Foreign Office discouraged the author from raising the issue of the Berlin rapes with the Soviets during his interviews with him, fearing that it would be "undiplomatic to raise the question". Then-President John F. Kennedy disagreed with that view, telling the author that the Russians were "horse traders" and that he should "lay it on the table" and be blunt.
Ryan does not shy away from depicting the horrible brutality of the Red Army as it sweeps into Berlin. Many Berliners are relieved when they find that the first waves of the Red Army are professional, even helpful. But the Soviets are apparently well aware of their reputation, as one officer tells a group of women sequestered at a convent to be careful because the men coming up behind them are "pigs" and another man, after having brutally assaulted a woman in an alleyway, raises his hands over his head in helpless admission afterwards, admitting "I'm a pig".
Women hide in overturned bathtubs cast on the street outside, under tables, blankets, and anywhere else in order to try and avoid being raped. Many women are gang raped, left half-dead, and then raped again when another group of soldiers enters the city. It is little surprise then that many of these women attempted suicide to avoid this particularly cruel fate.
I'm currently living in eastern Ukraine and, while reading this book, I asked some of the locals I know about their thoughts on this. Some of the responses I got resembled those the author received to an uncanny degree. The German women, they told me, "deserved their fate" because of crimes their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers had committed during Hitler's plunge into eastern Europe. Perhaps the worst thing about war is how mercy is so often in short supply on all sides.
Other notable events depicted by Ryan include Patton's Third Army discovering the remains of uncountable corpses when they liberate a Nazi Concentration Camp. The famously stern Patton is, we are told, reduced to tears and the next day leads the local townspeople, who deny all knowledge of the nearby camp, by gunpoint through it so they can see firsthand the atrocities committed there.
The Berlin Zoo is, as well, a sadly tragic tale. The "dangerous" animals had to be shot and other animals starve to death or are killed by the bombs or shelling. Sometimes one can't help but sympathize with the animals the most. For weren't they the only ones we can point to as having been truly innocent in the whole affair?
But in between moments of seeming unrelenting darkness in "The Last Battle", I found myself laughing. Once at the insight that while Berlin was being shelled and its occupants were busy fleeing for their lives, eleven of the city's seventeen breweries continued making beer because the government had deemed its production "essential". Or again at the darkly comic image of some of the Soviets who, having never seen a lightbulb before, stuffed their pockets full of the bulbs thinking that they contained light. Many Soviets, having a similar lack of knowledge of plumbing, pulled the water faucets from the wall thinking they would have instant access to water whenever they wished.
"The Last Battle" reiterates the madness that gripped Hitler, especially in those final months, and left me asking once again - why the hell did not even his own top advisors try to stop a man who clearly had no grip on reality and fostered a growing hatred for his own people in those final mad months?
Ryan has given us essential insight into an event and a war that should never be forgotten. That it is also an essential insight into the nature of man and of the potential we all have for good and evil makes it all the more valuable.
April 26, 2020
A great read.
This is my first Cornelius Ryan book and I must say that it is truly a marvel. Ryan is a master at writing the "living-history" and retells the Battle of Berlin, and the many events surrounding it, with page-turning detail. He is the best writer of history I have read since Ben Macintyre.
Interestingly, 2/3rds of the book does not deal with the actual battle itself. Instead, it introduces us to the context of the battle and the many, many faces that were either directly or indirectly involved. Some of my favorite parts were his many civilian profiles of Berliners. Reading about how different people lived during the prelude of the siege and the siege itself was fascinating. One memorable moment was the description of one group of Berliners who got so used to air raids that they did not bother taking cover anymore since they did not want to lose their spot in line for food.
All in all, a wonderful read. The last chapter was difficult to read as Ryan gives many harrowing accounts of civilians being assaulted by the Russians. It was noteworthy to read this after reading "German Boy" as many of the assaults described in that book are present here as well. A truly depressing part of the war. Yet, it is important that these atrocities are part of history so that people can know the truth about what transpired.
Bravo Cornelius Ryan!
This is my first Cornelius Ryan book and I must say that it is truly a marvel. Ryan is a master at writing the "living-history" and retells the Battle of Berlin, and the many events surrounding it, with page-turning detail. He is the best writer of history I have read since Ben Macintyre.
Interestingly, 2/3rds of the book does not deal with the actual battle itself. Instead, it introduces us to the context of the battle and the many, many faces that were either directly or indirectly involved. Some of my favorite parts were his many civilian profiles of Berliners. Reading about how different people lived during the prelude of the siege and the siege itself was fascinating. One memorable moment was the description of one group of Berliners who got so used to air raids that they did not bother taking cover anymore since they did not want to lose their spot in line for food.
All in all, a wonderful read. The last chapter was difficult to read as Ryan gives many harrowing accounts of civilians being assaulted by the Russians. It was noteworthy to read this after reading "German Boy" as many of the assaults described in that book are present here as well. A truly depressing part of the war. Yet, it is important that these atrocities are part of history so that people can know the truth about what transpired.
Bravo Cornelius Ryan!
October 26, 2014
Terrific history and sublime story-telling - there is a reason this books has stood the test of time - I only wish I'd read it earlier.
There's not much point in reviewing a highly regarded, commercially successful book that, after nearly 50 years, is still widely accessible on library and bookstore shelves. But, if you're unfamiliar with Ryan, his genius lies in taking the grandest (or the most terrible) of events - here, the fall of Berlin and the Third Reich at the end of WWII - and introducing the reader to an enormously broad range of personal, or, more accurately, intimate vignettes and anecdotes, without letting the reader's attention wander from the primary story line.
It's all here - German, Russian, American, and British armies, from the civilian leaders (dictators, presidents, prime ministers) and generals to the junior officers and privates to the prisoners of war and the populace/residents, to, and I could not make this up, the most exotic of animals in the Berlin zoo. And you can't help but care about all of them.
Oh, and the icing on the cake is a generous dose of photos, which makes this brilliant web of human interest stories even more, well, human.
The book represents an epic achievement, and I'm glad I finally took the time to read it.
There's not much point in reviewing a highly regarded, commercially successful book that, after nearly 50 years, is still widely accessible on library and bookstore shelves. But, if you're unfamiliar with Ryan, his genius lies in taking the grandest (or the most terrible) of events - here, the fall of Berlin and the Third Reich at the end of WWII - and introducing the reader to an enormously broad range of personal, or, more accurately, intimate vignettes and anecdotes, without letting the reader's attention wander from the primary story line.
It's all here - German, Russian, American, and British armies, from the civilian leaders (dictators, presidents, prime ministers) and generals to the junior officers and privates to the prisoners of war and the populace/residents, to, and I could not make this up, the most exotic of animals in the Berlin zoo. And you can't help but care about all of them.
Oh, and the icing on the cake is a generous dose of photos, which makes this brilliant web of human interest stories even more, well, human.
The book represents an epic achievement, and I'm glad I finally took the time to read it.
March 12, 2022
We should thank our lucky stars for those of us who were either infants or still gleams to be born after this unmitigated nightmare called WWII. This is completely focused on the European struggle with the Bosch, or the Germanic barbarians, in the 20th century.
This multi-part series has added to my limited, yet expanding knowledge of this epic 12 million dead, slaughter of mankind.
This multi-part series has added to my limited, yet expanding knowledge of this epic 12 million dead, slaughter of mankind.
February 8, 2017
-Otra forma de aproximarse a la historia.-
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Con el subtítulo La caída de Berlín y la derrota del nazismo, aproximación al fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Europa mediante la narración de las vivencias de diferentes protagonistas, participantes y víctimas de los eventos en sus últimas seis semanas, pero centrado en la toma de Berlín.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Con el subtítulo La caída de Berlín y la derrota del nazismo, aproximación al fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Europa mediante la narración de las vivencias de diferentes protagonistas, participantes y víctimas de los eventos en sus últimas seis semanas, pero centrado en la toma de Berlín.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
September 10, 2016
«Oh Alemania, Alemania, Patria mía», escribió Erna Saenger, un ama de casa de 65 años, madre de seis hijos, en su Diario. Y añadía: «La confianza trae consigo la decepción. Creer fielmente equivale a ser tonto y ciego… pero… nos quedaremos en Berlín. Si todos nos marchásemos como nuestros vecinos, el enemigo conseguiría lo que se propone. No… no queremos esa clase de derrota».
Abril de 1945, los aliados acorralan a los Nazis en Berlín. Los rusos llegan por el este, están detenidos en el río Oder a escasos kilómetros, donde se dinamitaron todos los puentes. El resto de los aliados ya cruzó el Rin y se dirigen al Elba, a marchas forzadas, con poca resistencia. Es una carrera frenética, la última de la guerra, y el premio es la capital del Reich.
En un acto de desesperación, Hitler llama al General Gotthard Heinrici, veterano de la batalla de Leningrado, impopular, pero experto en defensa y retiradas controladas. Es despreciado por los jerarcas del régimen, a los que también él desprecia; no tiene tropas suficientes, ni municiones, ni blindados, ni apoyo aéreo, ni de donde obtener cualquiera de ellos. Sólo le queda una cosa, la estrategia, y es lo que usará para defender lo único que en realidad importa: la población civil de la ciudad.
De las tres obras que leí de Cornelius Ryan en días pasados, una tras otra, sin descanso entre ellas; podría decir con certeza, a pesar de ser todas de una calidad tremenda, y de que la crítica probablemente esté en mi contra, que para mí ésta es la mejor de todas. Haber sido el primero en tener acceso a la fuente rusa, de manera casi ilimitada, en medio de las tensiones de la guerra fría, le da un gran plus al autor. Pero no es sólo eso, es la calidad narrativa que no decae nunca, son los variados puntos de vista (alemanes, rusos, ingleses, norteamericanos y civiles); es la profundidad con la que trata a cada personaje, como un autor de ficción consagrado, consiguiendo transmitir una vibrante empatía, realismo y vitalidad. Además, logra mantener la tensión y el entusiasmo en todo momento, haciéndole dudar a uno, que ya sabe como terminó todo, del destino final de los hechos.
Imperdible para los que gustan de la literatura bélica, entusiastas de la segunda guerra mundial, y para cualquiera que sienta curiosidad.
Abril de 1945, los aliados acorralan a los Nazis en Berlín. Los rusos llegan por el este, están detenidos en el río Oder a escasos kilómetros, donde se dinamitaron todos los puentes. El resto de los aliados ya cruzó el Rin y se dirigen al Elba, a marchas forzadas, con poca resistencia. Es una carrera frenética, la última de la guerra, y el premio es la capital del Reich.
En un acto de desesperación, Hitler llama al General Gotthard Heinrici, veterano de la batalla de Leningrado, impopular, pero experto en defensa y retiradas controladas. Es despreciado por los jerarcas del régimen, a los que también él desprecia; no tiene tropas suficientes, ni municiones, ni blindados, ni apoyo aéreo, ni de donde obtener cualquiera de ellos. Sólo le queda una cosa, la estrategia, y es lo que usará para defender lo único que en realidad importa: la población civil de la ciudad.
De las tres obras que leí de Cornelius Ryan en días pasados, una tras otra, sin descanso entre ellas; podría decir con certeza, a pesar de ser todas de una calidad tremenda, y de que la crítica probablemente esté en mi contra, que para mí ésta es la mejor de todas. Haber sido el primero en tener acceso a la fuente rusa, de manera casi ilimitada, en medio de las tensiones de la guerra fría, le da un gran plus al autor. Pero no es sólo eso, es la calidad narrativa que no decae nunca, son los variados puntos de vista (alemanes, rusos, ingleses, norteamericanos y civiles); es la profundidad con la que trata a cada personaje, como un autor de ficción consagrado, consiguiendo transmitir una vibrante empatía, realismo y vitalidad. Además, logra mantener la tensión y el entusiasmo en todo momento, haciéndole dudar a uno, que ya sabe como terminó todo, del destino final de los hechos.
Imperdible para los que gustan de la literatura bélica, entusiastas de la segunda guerra mundial, y para cualquiera que sienta curiosidad.
November 15, 2011
Another amazing book about WWII from Cornelius Ryan. Similar to "A Bridge Too Far," Ryan does a skillful job of weaving in personal stories with the bigger political and military picture.
My only constructive critique of "The Last Battle" is that the book ends too soon on the historical timeline. Throughout the book he hints at bad things to come with the fall of Berlin transitioning into the beginning of The Cold War, but the book ends a bit abruptly before exploring this more, or providing an epilogue.
My only constructive critique of "The Last Battle" is that the book ends too soon on the historical timeline. Throughout the book he hints at bad things to come with the fall of Berlin transitioning into the beginning of The Cold War, but the book ends a bit abruptly before exploring this more, or providing an epilogue.
March 19, 2025
A very solid account of the final battle of World War II in Europe. The book is actually so much more than just an account of the Battle for Berlin. It covers all aspects, mostly political and military, of the last few months of the war against Germany. The first half of the book was focused heavily on the Western Allies, but the Soviet and German perspective was more present in the last half of the book that actually dealt with the fall of Berlin.
Overall an interesting and informative book.
Overall an interesting and informative book.
May 22, 2021
Ryan has completed his study of WWII with the climactic last battle of the Third Reich. Hitler's dream/vision meets its end in the Russian capture of Berlin -- the ultimate prize. Through careful research and numerous hours of interviews, he relates the events from American, British, Russian and German perspectives. The French contribution is virtually ignored. The consternation among American leaders is portrayed with detail. Eisenhower didn't want to waste American lives taking Berlin and so ordered. The Americans stopped on the Elbe in spite of Stalin's prediction that they would try for Berlin. Fascinating tale told through first person accounts of the tragedy as it occurred. Very well done. A WWII classic!
July 20, 2025
this is not my usual genre. However, this pulled me in by both arms. Excellent historical audio book delving deep into the WW2 fall of Berlin from every perspective with meticulously researched detail. the book focuses less on specidic acts of war and more on the affects of war. It explores the personalities of those making the decisions and how events unfolded as a result. It unapologetically wades through the worst - and perhaps best - of human kind, but doesn't linger unnecessarily.
October 21, 2025
The question about this book is this: Was the book about the battle between the Allies and the Nazis? Or was it about the internal battle between the Allies, as to who would reach Berlin first?
There is not a clear answer, however, each is explored in this well-researched and documented telling of the struggle to end WWII. The last of a trilogy that Ryan wrote on the war, it is a satisfying conclusion.
Recommended for those who appreciate an author who does his research in the history of an event.
There is not a clear answer, however, each is explored in this well-researched and documented telling of the struggle to end WWII. The last of a trilogy that Ryan wrote on the war, it is a satisfying conclusion.
Recommended for those who appreciate an author who does his research in the history of an event.
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