Mesmerising. The final cataclysmic struggle between Nazism and Stalinism is laid out for the reader with its human cost spread out like some morbid tableau; the whole affair has a grim fascination like some historical train wreck. Though being one of the terminal events, to use Speers phrase, of the 20th century, the detail is something missing from most peoples knowledge of WWII's famous event. The human scale is what makes Beevors history writing so engaging.For the second time in thirty years, Germany ignored Bismarck's dictum of not fighting Russia militarily and reaped the terrible, terrible whirlwind it had sowed. The fighting retreat from the East left half of Europe 'vasta', a wasteland. The diary and notebook accounts record a vengeful retribution as the Red Army raped and looted its way to Berlin, punishing Germany for the wounds it had inflicted, along with anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the way.The ordinary heroism and self-sacrifice amid the barbarism and cynical indifference to life exhibited by both sets of leaders stand out like beacons but those vignettes only serve to highlight the full horror as Chuikov ,the Soviet general at Stalingrad had his revenge. Stalin's dissembling to the allies, the Americans in particular is laid out, explaining his desire to seize Berlin himself with the Nazi Atomic facilities at Dahlemberg and bolster the myth of Soviet suffering and superiority as the only army to seize the 'lair of the fascist beast'. Eisenhower's naivety in not pressing on past the Elbe increased the Soviet position in post-war Europe may have prolonged the Cold War may be open to interpretation, but the suffering of the people condemned to live under their rule because of that decision is not. That duplicity was recognised by the British who struggled to make the Americans aware of it. Their unauthorised dash across the north German coast prevented an opportunistic Soviet march west to annexe Denmark.For the Germans, the loss forever of Prussia, Pomerania and their Baltic lands as the Soviets redrew the map of eastern Europe to better suit themselves led to one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of WWII as millions were uprooted from lands their families had held for generations. All ignored or overlooked and greeted with indifference and regarded as retribution earned.The Fűhrerdammerung wasn't the Wagnerian funeral pyre for Germany that Hitler wanted but a sordid orgy of destruction fought out in the rubble of a levelled Berlin by his loyal foreign supporters in the SS and children and old men press ganged into the Vőlksturm who had no opportunity to escape, unlike the 9th and 12th Armies who were able to fight to the Elbe and escape being sent to the camps or shot like so many others.A brutal story laid out with th authors usual compassionate observation

Antony Beevor's much awaited text on the cataclysmic and brutal Battle of Berlin simply never fails to impress readers and academics alike, with gripping first hand accounts of those who experienced the bloodiest siege battle of all time, aswell as a balanced narrative of the military and politcal events surrounding this last major battle for of the Third Reich. Truthfully, Beevor's depth of research truly captivates the true brutality of this conflict where other authors have failed, and never fials to impress no matter how many times one reads this text. For all of those who adore researching The Second World War, an adept knowledge of one of the bloodiest battles of this conflict is necessary, and Beevor's book is truly exemplary. An absolute must read for historians and scholars alike.