Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
by Max Hastings
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Book Summary Information
Author: Max HastingsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-11-16
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 640
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
Book Review: Be prepared for the long haul...
Summary: 3 Stars
First off, I graded this moreso on how difficult a read this was and not so much the content. There is no doubt that Hastings thoroughly researched this material. It's all here and then some. I've read the reviews about incorrect details which is something I can forgive when such a broad subject is covered.
For me, the difficult part was keeping it all tied together - it may not be the author's fault - more of a personal limitation. Be warned, if you aren't interested in having most if not all major and minor events broken down and examined, then this may not be the book for you. The overall story is here in spades, but several chapters overlap and repeat upon past events already covered. I understand why this is done, but there is so much here it can be overwhelming. This won't be a quick read for the casual reader. I'm sure from time to time, I can go back and re-read the chapters that interest me at any given time and always find something new that I hadn't concentrated on. I guess that is where this work will find its longevity. It is well written for sure and taken in small chunks, can be a rewarding study.
Also, don't be worried about being put off by the critical views of the leaders, especially the victorious Allies and the Red Army. This conflict was a worldwide terror and not even those who emerged on the winning side could have been expected to make the best choice at every turn. Those who think so are simply naive.
A gigantic work that needs a gigantic effort to finish, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Summary of Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
Armageddon is the epic story of the last eight months of World War II in Europe by Max Hastings-one of Britain's most highly regarded military historians, whose accounts of past battles John Keegan has described as worthy "to stand with that of the best journalists and writers" (New York Times Book Review).In September 1944, the Allies believed that Hitler's army was beaten, and expected that the war would be over by Christmas. But the disastrous Allied airborne landing in Holland, American setbacks on the German border and in the H?rtgen Forest, together with the bitter Battle of the Bulge, drastically altered that timetable. Hastings tells the story of both the Eastern and Western Fronts, and paints a vivid portrait of the Red Army's onslaught on Hitler's empire. He has searched the archives of the major combatants and interviewed 170 survivors to give us an unprecedented understanding of how the great battles were fought, and of their human impact on American, British, German, and Russian soldiers and civilians.
Hastings raises provocative questions: Were the Western Allied cause and campaign compromised by a desire to get the Soviets to do most of the fighting? Why were the Russians and Germans more effective soldiers than the Americans and British? Why did the bombing of Germany's cities continue until the last weeks of the war, when it could no longer influence the outcome? Why did the Germans prove more fanatical foes than the Japanese, fighting to the bitter end? This book also contains vivid portraits of Stalin, Churchill, Eisenhower, Montgomery, and the other giants of the struggle.
The crucial final months of the twentieth century's greatest global conflict come alive in this rousing and revelatory chronicle.
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