| Description |
xxv, 374 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
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text rdacontent |
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unmediated rdamedia |
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volume rdacarrier |
| Note |
Originally published: London : John Murray, 2015. |
| Summary |
"With the world at war, ten days can feel like a lifetime.... On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin. But victory over the Nazi regime was not celebrated in western Europe until May 8, and in Russia a day later, on the ninth. Why did a peace agreement take so much time? How did this brutal, protracted conflict coalesce into its unlikely endgame? After Hitler shines a light on ten fascinating days after that infamous suicide that changed the course of the twentieth century. Combining exhaustive research with masterfully paced storytelling, Michael Jones recounts the Fuhrer's frantic last stand; the devious maneuverings of his handpicked successor, Karl Dönitz; the grudging respect Joseph Stalin had for Churchill and FDR, as well as his distrust of Harry Truman; the bold negotiating by General Dwight D. Eisenhower that hastened Germany's surrender but drew the ire of the Kremlin; the journalist who almost scuttled the cease-fire; and the thousands of ordinary British, American, and Russian soldiers caught in the swells of history, from the Red Army's march on Berlin to the liberation of the Nazis' remaining concentration camps. Through it all, Jones traces the shifting loyalties between East and West that sowed the seeds of the Cold War and nearly unraveled the Grand Alliance."--Dust jacket flap. |
| Contents |
The funeral pyre, April 30, 1945 -- May Day in Berlin, May 1 -- East meets west, May 2 -- A shadow realm, May 3 -- Lüneburg Heath, May 4 -- Prague, May 5 -- The dispossessed, May 6 -- Rheims, May 7 -- Karlshorst, May 8 -- Moscow, May 9 -- The war that did not end. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-363) and index. |
| Subject |
World War, 1939-1945 -- Europe -- End.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Peace.
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| Added Title |
Last ten days of World War II in Europe |
| ISBN |
9780451477019 (hardback) |
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0451477014 (hardback) |
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