Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
by Max Hastings
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Book Summary Information
Author: Max HastingsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-18
ISBN: 0375714227
Number of pages: 584
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
Book Review: Imrpessive! A sober reminder of what war is about.
Summary: 5 Stars
Max Hastings is a renowned author on World War II subjects, and especially on the campaigns of the Western Front. This book is a rich and valuable account of the last year of the war, startimg from September 1944, directly after the Falaise Gap actions and continuing until the end of the war in May 1945. He achieves a splendid mix of great battles and hundreds of personal stories, being academic and popular history at the same time which is something really difficult. Many personal accounts from civilians to soldiers are sprinkled throughout the chapters, and thus effectively remind the reader of the human tragedy taking place as the Third Reich falls around them. From the concentration camp prisoners to the Dutch suffering from hunger and cold, to the bomber crews flying on dangerous missions, to the inhabitants of bombed-out German cities to the East Prussians being brutalized by the advancing Red Army seeking revenge, Hastings has included everything possible in this monumental account.
The readers who want to learn more about the titanic battles of that period will get some fresh perspectives and some hard to find statistics, but Hastings' aim is not simply to tell the military history of that era. He focuses rather on some interesting and straightforward questions, like why did it take almost a year after D-Day for the allies to finally defeat Nazi Germany. Hastings' criticism on the Allied side is sincere and sometimes harsh. He accuses the Western Allies for lack of aggressive leadership despite overwhelming superiority of resources, for a nasty relationship between the U.S. and the Brits, for significant waste of materials, for waging the wrong battles (like that in Huertgen Forrest) and for an absolute reliance upon artillery which very often slowed advance to a crowl. He praises the German Army for its operational and tactical skills and for the superior weapons it employed, but also acknowledges the advantages that the Soviets enjoyed due to their brutal methods and complete disregard for human and material losses.
Of course this is a history about a war and the vast scale of suffering makes the narrative powerful and grim. The text is supported by some good but general maps and many black and white photographs, some of them very dramatic indeed. I would say that although this book is massive in appearance and may seem too much detailed for some readers, it doesn't offer really new conclusions for anyone who has studied this subject thoroughly. It just concentrates every available (and interesting) piece of information in a sinlge large account which it reads quickly and smoothly because it is generally very engrossing.
Summary of Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
In September 1944, the Allies believed that Hitler?s army was beaten and expected the bloodshed to end by Christmas. Yet a series of mistakes and setbacks, including the Battle of the Bulge, drastically altered this timetable and led to eight more months of brutal fighting. With Armageddon, the eminent military historian Max Hastings gives us memorable accounts of the great battles and captures their human impact on soldiers and civilians. He tells the story of both the Eastern and Western Fronts, raising provocative questions and offering vivid portraits of the great leaders. This rousing and revelatory chronicle brings to life the crucial final months of the twentieth century?s greatest global conflict.World War II Books
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