The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known,with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks,mass rape,pillage and destruction.
Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs,refusing to face defeat,had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army.
Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse,telling a terrible story of pride,stupidity,fanatacism,revenge and savagery,but also one of astonishing endurance,self-sacrifice and survival against all odds.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780141032399Number of pages: 560Weight: 419 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 34 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Recounts,in harrowing details and with formidable skill,the brutal death-throes of Hitler's Reich at the hands of the rampaging Red Army.'- Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'An irresistibly compelling narrative,of events so terrible that they still have the power to provoke wonder and awe.'- Adam Sisman,Observer
'Brilliant. Combines a soldier's understanding of war's realities with a novelist's eye for detail.'- Orlando Figes,Sunday Times
'Startling,chilling,compelling. Beevor's writing burns like a torch at night in a landscape of ruins.'- LiteraryReview
'Powerful,diligently researched and beautifully written...even better than Stalingrad.'- Andrew Roberts,Mail on Sunday
'Fascinating,extraordinary,gripping.'- Jeremy Paxman
'A masterpiece of modern historical writing.'- Michael Burleigh,Guardian
'This brilliant storyteller makes us feel the chaos and the fear as if every drop of blood was our own. It is much more than just a humane account; it is compellingly readable,deeply researched,and beautifully written.'- Simon Sebag Montefiore,Spectator
Antony Beevor
The bestselling historian of our times,Antony Beevor made his name with the books Stalingrad and Berlin which recount Soviet-German conflict during WWII,making judicious use of previously un-seen Soviet archive material. Known for his vivid narrative accounts of Twentieth-Century military conflicts,his primary interest is in revisiting and re-evaluating the Second World War; recent volumes including D-Day and a history of the war from an Eastern perspective,The Second World War.
Visit the Antony Beevor author page
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