German History, Fascism, World War II

The Fall of Berlin

Name: The Fall of Berlin
Author: Anthony Read
ISBN: 9780393332414

by Anthony Read, David Fisher

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

From the pomp and glitter of the 1936 Olympics to the apocalyptic battle to capture the ruined capital of the Nazi Empire, The Fall of Berlin presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the world's greatest cities caught between the lunacy and cruelty of its leaders and the brutal determination of encircling Soviet armies. The authors have delved into archival research, diaries, and memoirs, and conducted numerous interviews to recreate through brilliantly detailed vignettes the story of Berlin and its resilient inhabitants: the soldiers and ordinary citizens pounded by Allied bombing but maintaining their gallows humor; the endless procession of refugees; the 5,000 Jews who foiled the Nazi's rabid attempt to "purify" the capital; people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who gave their lives in heroic anti-Nazi resistance while film stars and the well-connected lived in precarious luxury; the Third Reich's leaders jockeying for power in Hitler's underground bunker even as a ragged army of children, invalids, and old men confronted Soviet tanks in the rubble above; and of course, Hitler himself, trapped beneath a city he hated, waiting for the miracle promised him in horoscope readings. Not since Is Paris Burning? has a book so vividly evoked the daily struggle for survival and dignity in the nightmarish center of total war.

Synopsis

"From the pomp and glitter of the 1936 Olympics to the apocalyptic battle to capture the ruined capital of the Nazi Empire, The Fall of Berlin presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the world's gr"

Publishers Weekly

Read and Fisher ( Kristallnacht ) present a vivid verbal panorama of conditions in the German capital from the staging of the 1936 Olympics early in the Hitler era to the Nazi surrender in 1945. Significant events such as the Reichstag fire and the Kristallnacht pogrom are examined in detail, but the focus remains largely on the resourceful, resilient Berliners themselves as they deal with increasing hardship and danger. In the background of the narrative, one can virtually hear the almost incessant--and alarmingly effective--propaganda broadcasts by the Nazi minister of information, Joseph Goebbels. The authors relate the unfolding events in Hitler's underground headquarters, where his lieutenants continued to jockey for position even as old men and boys were rounded up in the streets above for a last-ditch stand against the approaching Soviet army. Finally, Read and Fisher describe the orgy of rape that began when the Red Army breached the city's defenses, the scope of which is conveyed by the statistics: more than 90,000 women and girls sought medical treatment for rape in Berlin in 1945. Photos. (Apr.)

About the Author, Anthony Read

Anthony Read has collaborated on many award-winning books, among them Colonel Z, Kristallnacht, The Deadly Embrace, and Berlin Rising. David Fisher has collaborated on many award-winning books, among them Colonel Z, Kristallnacht, The Deadly Embrace, and Berlin Rising.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Library Journal

The British team of Read and Fisher ( Kristallnacht , LJ 10/15/88, and The Deadly Embrace , LJ 11/15/89) turn their attention to the bombing of Berlin by the British and Americans and how the Russian Army fought its way toward and through Berlin in 1945. The authors intend no startling new interpretations or profound analysis. Instead, they offer vignettes, often based on diaries, to describe life in Berlin late in the war. They also retell the story of fanatical Nazi leaders and of the Wehrmacht's desperate efforts to defend the city. The result is a highly readable and, at the same time, sophisticated and reliable narrative history. One objection: no good reason exists to call the Oder-Neisse ``the ancient frontier of the German empire.''-- Robert W. Frizzell, Hendrix Coll. Lib., Conway, Ark.

Booknews

An exciting narrative of the last days of Berlin and the Third Reich. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

A kaleidoscopic portrait of the last days of the Nazi Reich, narrated in the best apocalyptic style by British historian/journalists Read and Fisher (Kristallnacht, 1989, etc.). The bloody final days of the bloodiest European war in history provide a spectacle that, in its stupefyingly tragic depth, could have overwhelmed a Tolstoy—although Read and Fisher manage to hold up pretty well. They set their scene carefully, starting in 1936 with the opening of the Olympic games in Berlin and guiding us along the complex route that led inexorably to the eruption of war three years later. This is preeminently a history of the German capital (rather than of the German nation) during wartime, and, as such, it possesses a clarity of focus that few other accounts of the war have achieved. As Read and Fisher see them, the Berliners as a whole were vastly unenthusiastic about Hitler and his war, suspecting from the start that the Nazis were gambling with their lives. Hitler himself seems to have requited their affections in full: For all of his grandiose dreams of rebuilding the capital into an imperial showplace, the Fhrer obviously hated Berlin and (until the end of the war) never stayed there more than a few days at a time. When the Nazi regime finally collapsed, its end was just as Wagnerian as its rhetoric had been, and it is here that Read and Fisher manage best to convey the tenor and shape of the war's intrusion into urban life: the endless procession of refugees; the increasing chaos and lawlessness; the progressive disappearance of basic goods and amenities—and, in the midst of everything, the insane survival of Germanic traits of loyalty and duty, which led thousands todie for a doomed cause they had long since lost faith in. Splendidly researched and admirably constructed, this stands as one of the best accounts yet of the war and its terrible toll.

From Barnes & Noble

Beginning with the 1936 Olympics, with Germany poised on the threshold of war, the authors recount the story of Berlin, the hub of Hitler's vast military and industrial machinery and the crown jewel of the Nazi empire. A series of detailed vignettes re-creates the drama of a city at war, from the relentless Allied bombings to the spectacle of a ragtag army of old men, invalids, and children attempting to fend off the encircling Soviet troops. A vivid retelling of one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of warfare. B&W photos.