Conquest of the Reich D Day to Ve Day A

By Robin Neillands

Book Overview

The defeat of Nazi Germany in the words of those who were there

New Year's Day 1945 was not a day for rest or rejoicing on the embattled continent of Europe. Hard winter gripped the land, from the Channel coast to the distant Urals. Only the thought of victory warmed the frozen soldiers huddled in tanks and foxholes as the New Year dawned and they faced the prospect of battling onwards toward Berlin.

This is the story of the last five months of Hitler's Thousand Year Reich, from New Year's Day to VE Day, May 8, 1945. It is a story told not in the words of historians or scholars, but in the words of the people who lived through it, who fought and endured: soldier and civilian, American infantryman and British paratrooper, Canadian gunner and Australian pilot, New Zealand POW and German civilian.

With his unrivaled gift for popular history, Robin Neillands, in his follow-up to the enormously successful D-Day 1944, recreates in engaging narrative fashion the most dramatic and bloody months of the war. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, letters, and inside eyewitness testimony from veterans about such subjects as the esprit de corps in the Allied and Axis armies, the discovery of the concentration camps, the dissension in the Allied command, and the meeting of Russians and Americans at the Elbe, the book recounts the effects of many of the most crucial events of the conflict on soldier and citizen alike. The Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of Auschwitz, the Malmedy Massacres, the fall of Warsaw to the Red Army, the destruction of Dresden, the lynching of Allied aircrews, Yalta, Hitler's Scorched Earth directive, the massive parachutes drops by the Allied forces, the death of Roosevelt, the last days of Hitler, and, finally, the surrender of Germany--it's all here, rendered in engrossing and rich detail in this example of military history at its finest.

For a comprehensive and thrilling account of the end of World War II, The Conquest of the Reich will stand as the definitive people's history for years to come.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814757898
• ISBN13: 9780814757895
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Detailed and Readable

At first I thought that this book might be a little heavy and unbalanced, but in fact the mixture of narrative and soldiers' reminiscences works well. The author has obviously done a lot of hard work and research and his efforts pay off. The book gives a grim and I'm sure accurate picture of the realities of war. The chapter on the concentration camps is particularly harrowing. But the book is very readable.

Common Ordinary People - life over death

As an avid reader of both Civil War and World War II material, this book struck me as filled with experiences of ordinary people. Common every day folk, many just telling their story of life and death. Yet, this book is more than that, it's a remembrance of those that "Have borne the battle", and how they survived to give us a glimpse into the past, through their eyes. As I opened the cover and began my journey into the past, I was introduced to camp inmates, civilians, soldiers, women and children of all ages. Each riveting me to my seat as I read their story.This book brings you from the comforts of your living room couch into the thick of battle and returns you safely as you move from chapter to chapter. Very hard to put down and at times very emotional to read.

Moving & Interesting Account of the Final Months of WW2

I have been a keen fan of Robin Neillands since reading his books on the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses. This book was a break from his usual manner of writing, similar in style to Gerald Astor and just as good. The author covers the final stages of WW2 using accounts of the participants, both military & civilian. From tank drivers, infantryman, pilots and gunners in the fighters & bombers and from every country involved - US, UK, USSR, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, etc.The narrative flowed along and was easy to read with the accounts from the veterans blending in without interrupting the flow of the story. Numerous B & W photos and maps along with drawings added to the story.Overall this book offers a different perspective to the War in Europe in those final few months. With the movie 'Saving Private Ryan' generating such interest in this period of history this book should offer many readers an insight to what people suffered and experienced in WW2.