ArmageddonArmageddon
the Battle for Germany, 1944-1945
Title rated 4.05 out of 5 stars, based on 8 ratings(8 ratings)
Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, 1st American ed, Available .Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, 1st American ed, Available . Offered in 0 more formatsA history of the final eight months of World War II in Europe examines the pact between the Allies and the Soviet Union, the role of strategic bombing, the combat abilities of soldiers on all sides, and the roles of military leaders.
A sweeping history of the final eight months of World War II on the European front draws on interviews with survivors and the archives of the major combatants to raise provocative questions about the pact between the Allies and the Soviet Union, the role of strategic bombing, the combat abilities of soldiers on all sides of the conflict, and the roles of such leaders as Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Churchill, Montgomery, and others.
In September 1944, the Allies believed that Hitler's army was beaten and expected the war to be over by Christmas. But the disastrous American landing in Holland, setbacks on the German border and in the Hürtgen Forest, and the bitter Battle of the Bulge stretched the fighting on through the winter and spring. Hastings outlines the last eight months of the war in Europe, drawing on the archives of the major combatants and interviews with 170 survivors to understand how the battles were fought and what the effects were on American, British, German, and Russian soldiers and civilians. Hastings, a journalist based in the UK, has also presented historical documentaries for the BBC and is the author of Bomber Command and Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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 Hürtgen 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.
A sweeping history of the final eight months of World War II on the European front draws on interviews with survivors and the archives of the major combatants to raise provocative questions about the pact between the Allies and the Soviet Union, the role of strategic bombing, the combat abilities of soldiers on all sides of the conflict, and the roles of such leaders as Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Churchill, Montgomery, and others.
In September 1944, the Allies believed that Hitler's army was beaten and expected the war to be over by Christmas. But the disastrous American landing in Holland, setbacks on the German border and in the Hürtgen Forest, and the bitter Battle of the Bulge stretched the fighting on through the winter and spring. Hastings outlines the last eight months of the war in Europe, drawing on the archives of the major combatants and interviews with 170 survivors to understand how the battles were fought and what the effects were on American, British, German, and Russian soldiers and civilians. Hastings, a journalist based in the UK, has also presented historical documentaries for the BBC and is the author of Bomber Command and Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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 Hürtgen 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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- New York : A.A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2004.
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