A thrilling account of one of the most dramatic final acts in modern history: the collapse of the Third Reich.
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'Nobody has written a better account' -- Observer
'moves like a blood-racing thriller' -- Catholic Times
'such pace, drama and immediacy that one could almost believe he had been an eye-witness' -- Spectator
'unputdownable' -- Sunday Times
'vivid and creepy, as well as darkly comic' -- Craig Brown, Mail On Sunday
'moves like a blood-racing thriller' -- Catholic Times
'such pace, drama and immediacy that one could almost believe he had been an eye-witness' -- Spectator
'unputdownable' -- Sunday Times
'vivid and creepy, as well as darkly comic' -- Craig Brown, Mail On Sunday
Book Description
In this compelling new reconstruction, Germany’s greatest historian of Nazism describes in vivid detail the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Fuhrer's bunker during the bitter last days of the war when, drugged and enfeebled, Hitler veered between hysterical despair and lunatic optimism while his regime disintegrated amid desperate acts of betrayal, recrimination and suicide. 'vivid and creepy, as well as darkly comic' – Mail On Sunday 'unputdownable' - Sunday Times 'Nobody has written a better account' – Observer 'such pace, drama and immediacy that one could almost believe he had been an eye-witness' - The Spectator 'moves like a blood racing thriller' - Catholic Times 'There has never been a more evocative account' - Daily Mail
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Joachim Fest is a distinguished German journalist and the author of an acclaimed biography of Hitler. In "Inside Hitler's Bunker," he focuses on the last days of the Third Reich, beginning his narrative on April 16, 1945 as the Soviets open their final offensive against Berlin. The book explores the surreal and miserable world of the "Fuhrer Bunker" under the Reich Chancellery, the fanatical resistance and eventual collapse of the German armies defending Berlin, Hitler's delusional attempts to command armies that had been wiped out, and the astonishing willingness of soldiers and civilians to obey his orders until the very end.
This is a highly readable and very powerful book, and the translator (Margot Bettauer Dembo) deserves high marks for the result. I read the book avidly, and as soon as I was done my wife picked it up and did the same.
"Inside Hitler's Bunker" may be somewhat disappointing for those who have read a great deal about the Battle of Berlin or Hitler's last days, but it will prove to be a gripping narrative for those who are new to the horrors of Berlin in 1945. Part of the continuing fascination of this dark time is the challenge of trying to understand the incomprehensible: how could a madman like Hitler stay in control of Germany in the last weeks of April 1945, and why did so many Germans follow him as he dragged them into the final catastrophe?
The answer to those questions may lie in the 12 years of indoctrination that preceded those fateful days in 1945. For a brief and readable perspective on this period (which has been thoroughly explored in numerous more massive tomes), you may want to try "Inside Hitler's Germany: Life Under the Third Reich" by Matthew Hughes and Chris Mann.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By G. L. Haggett
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
A vivid account of the events at the end of Hitler's life.
Margot Bettauer Dembo's excellent translation conveys Fest's straightforward style to great effect. Fest is very good on Hitler's need to destroy, but he also paints a not altogether unsympathetic picture of a man in physical, moral and mental decline, with a continuous tremor and a prodigious appetite for cake. The latter detail is typical of those throughout the book which make infamous characters more "human" for the general reader for whom this book is intended.
Fest is particularly good on the nature of history and its interpretation and on how difficult it can be to unravel the truth behind even recent events, as different interested parties seek to place a different spin on them.
As other reviewers have said, this book is probably a good starting point for those unfamiliar with the subject, rather than a reference work for the expert. As such, it represents a very worthy addition to the recent genre of vivid historical narrative.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Jl Adcock
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Let's be honest - how many of those 800+ page tomes on Hitler and the Nazis actually come off the shelf, get read, or remembered when we've finished with them? Not many, I'll wager. Here, Fest bucks the trend of history being all about narrative and yet more narrative, and replaces it with a sound, analytical account of the last days of the Third Reich. It's a well-known story given a dust down in the light of new evidence, but it still wears the learning lightly, which so many histories of this perod don't do. Concise, crisp and to the point, if more books were produced with this kind of approach, history and historical analysis would be served much more richly. In any list of the "best history books under 200 pages long" - this would be on it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brief Review
Well written, and a lot of effort in research must have gone into writing this book.
There has been so much over the years, written about Hitler, and the bunker, but I... Read more
There has been so much over the years, written about Hitler, and the bunker, but I... Read more
Published 13 months ago by L. Hughes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid account
This publication is a solid account of those last days. The days when the Gross Deutches Reich, once spanning most of Europe, was not much bigger than the city of Berlin. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2008 by I just had to write
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very readable and gripping narrative
An immensely readable short book about the fall of Hitler and the Third Reich. Fest's writing style is perfect for the non-specialist and his analysis of Hitler as a wholly new... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2007 by John Hopper
3.0 out of 5 stars
A decent enough account
An interesting account if somewhat short.
Published on 24 April 2005 by MR TC GRAHAM
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good on the facts, but over-analyzed
Joachim Fest has written a very solid account of what happened in Hitler's bunker. He has reviewed the other books on the subject, and in this book, has summarized what they seem... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2004 by Niels Petter Liset
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