The Last Battle
The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin
Ratings1
Average rating5
The Battle for Berlin was the final struggle of World War II in the European theatre, the last offensive against Hitler's Third Reich, which devastated one of Europe's historic capitals and brought an end to the Nazi regime. It lasted more than two weeks across April -- May 1945, and was one of the bloodiest and most pivotal episodes of the war, one which would play a part in determining the shape of international politics for decades to come. THE LAST BATTLE is a story of brutal extremes, of stunning military triumph alongside the stark conditions that the civilians of Berlin experienced in the face of the Allied assault. It is history at its best, a masterful illumination of the effects of war on the lives of individuals, and one of the enduring works on World War II.
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When it comes to history books, there are hundreds, seemingly thousands on WWII, especially covering the European theater. With this in mind, I decided to go with a non-fiction classic, The Last Battle, which is all about Ryan's coverage of the Battle of Berlin. This is something that I really wanted to know more about, since I had just heard about the final days, but had never taken an in-depth look at them.
This book does an excellent job at studying the human aspect of the events leading up to the battle, with that time frame encompassing about 3/4ths of the book, with the actual battle itself being only about the last ¼ or so. With this in mind, if you are looking for a book on the specific tactics used by both sides in the battle, then you will not find it here. Instead, Ryan decides to look into the human stories of this time period. Everyone from those in the Fuhrerbunker, the high-ranking Allied generals, to the average people on the streets are explored here. This makes for a compelling human story that, for better or worse, should not be forgotten.
One aspect that the reader should also be aware of is that, for the most part, Ryan does not draw any conclusions about certain people, instead focusing on who said what and when leaving the reader to do this themselves. This is especially true with regard to the German generals, as I constantly wondered how someone could continue to fight when seemingly the whole world crumbled around them. I can only speculate that this was a certain element of pride in their country, and fear at what the Russians would do to them. But these conclusions are left up to the reader, overall.
As for the audio performance, Simon Vance was an excellent reader. While he is not a personal favorite, like say, Edward Hermann, I still enjoyed his work nonetheless. He lends a certain gravity to the role, as though no matter what the German people do, they are doomed and the horrors that have to come for them are inevitable. Yet, Simon also reads with a certain amount of detachment, where these are the things that happened and the legacy of all involved is bared for the reader to see and make their own judgments on. The only exception to this would be the voices of people talking, which Vance does well in terms of replicating what they may have been feeling at the time. In short, I will be checking out more stuff narrated by him in the future.
I would say this is an excellent book that I enjoyed reading and learning more about. I give it a four out of five.
