Military history, even at its best, can be a cold art. It's easy to lose sight of the fact ... more
that wars involve individuals, each with their own hopes, fears and desires. Berlin: the Downfall, 1945, is Antony Beevor's account of the bloody Götterdämmerung...
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Military history, even at its best, can be a cold art. It's easy to lose sight of the fact ... more
that wars involve individuals, each with their own hopes, fears and desires.Berlin: the Downfall, 1945, is Antony Beevor's account of the bloodyGötterdämmerungth...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Germany's capital and most interesting city Disadvantages: a bit too large, distances too long
Berlin*, Berlin,
Wir fahren nach Berlin!
(Berlin, Berlin,
We're heading for Berlin!)
(pronounced Ber-leen, stress on the second syllable)
This slogan has been chanted enthusiastically for ages whenever a German sports team made it to the capital for the last round, meanwhile it has left the confines of sports and is now even used by the Berlin Tourist Board for a campaign to attract visitors.
I've been to four Berlins in my life: when in my mother's womb I was in Berlin, then the capital of the Third Reich, from the GDR (German Democratic Republic), where we later lived, I visited Berlin once in the 1950s, a much smaller city then (only the Soviet sector), but still a capital, the capital of the GDR.
After fleeing to West Germany I visited West Berlin, not a capital any more, but no ordinary city, either, it had become ...
It is one of my life's ambitions to visit all the capital cities of Europe so I was thrilled when my parents said we could go to Berlin. Berlin is the Capital City of Germany and is located in the north-eastern part of the country.
We stayed in Berlin for four nights. That may not sound like a long time but we managed to cram an awful lot of exploring into our time there! I will go through which attractions we visited each day to give you an idea of how long it takes to see the main sights.
~ Day 1 ~
The majority of day one was travelling to Berlin. We flew with easyjet from Newcastle airport. It was late afternoon when we arrived at Schonefeld airport. It took us about an hour to get from the airport to our hotel (Marriott) which was in Berlin City's centre. After unpacking we went for a walk in the immediate area of our hotel ...
Advantages: A fascinating insight in the death throes of the Third Reich Disadvantages: Disturbing reading at times
INTRODUCTION
I have previously read Stalingrad by the author AntonyBeevor, and found it disturbing and yet compelling reading and this was how I ended up reading Berlin. Stalingrad covers the World War Two siege of the Soviet city of Stalingrad from both sides in great detail, and Berlin is in a similar vein. The excellent documentary series The World At War only hints at what is detailed in this book in the episode "Nemesis", so anyone who watched that and wants to know more about what happened will find what they want here.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
World War Two started in 1939 with the invasion of Poland and Czechoslovakia by Germany under the Nazi rule of Adolf Hitler, drawing Europe into conflict. However, the ideological enemies the Soviet Union and Germany had a secret pact of non-aggression which divided Poland once the Nazis ...
Product Information for "Berlin - Antony Beevor" »
Product details
EAN
9780140286960
Type
Non-Fiction
Genre
History
Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd
Title
Berlin
Author
Antony Beevor
ISBN
0140286969
Manufacturer's product description
The advance on Berlin - it was to be the largest battle in history - began at exactly 4am on 16 April 1945. Along the Oder Neisse front two and a half million Soviet troops attacked one million Germans. The panic this induced in the German civilian population is easy to imagine. Hitler had sworn that Germany would never be invaded yet now overwhelming Soviet armies were advancing on Berlin. Hitler ensconced deep in his concrete bunker could only scream at his military staff denouncing the cowardice of the Wehrmacht. He had become convinced that Germany's defeat proved that its people were not worthy of him - that they deserved to die. With many a score to settle from the German invasion of Russia in 1941 the battle was one of the most terrifying examples of fire and sword recorded with mass rape murder pillage and destruction. Men women and children suffered to the end from folly cruelty and the naked exercise of power on a massive scale.
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