Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 | Max Hastings

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 | Max Hastings | WWII 'must read' for Germany's rise and fall

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Armageddon: The Ba...

	Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 Max Hastings Knopf, 2004 - 640 pages average customer review:based on 88 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945

Mr. Hastings has done a monumental research job of discovering so many first hand accounts of happenings in the lives of civilians and soldiers during the last months of the war in Europe. Particularly interesting to me was the savagery that took place in East Prussia as the Russians closed in on Germany. It seems that most accounts deal primarily with the war on the western front. Very well written and interesting from the first page to the last. Outstanding!

WWII 'must read' for Germany's rise and fall

A true epic work covering Germany's eastern front and their ultimate demise as the peasant armies of the Soviet Union marched back across Prussia, burning, killing, raping, and destroying in path to Berlin. Mr. Hasting's work is long, complex, and dramatically researched, but clarifies the huge losses of Germany and the Soviet Union which affects the politics of the region even today.

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Loved reading this book!

This sensational book is full of details, both personal and military, and does not get bogged down in too much of the latter. It was an addictive reading experience for me and I must admit I have never read a book about war before.

the last hellish nine months of World War 2

Armageddon is the story of the end of World War 2. This story begins at the end of September 1944 on the western front directly after the Falaise Gap actions and continues until the end of the war in May 1945. Along the way, the author explores the actions, motivations, and intentions of the American-British force, the Russians, the Nazi army and the various civilian populations who were caught up in the ordeal. Every aspect of the war is addressed including bombing attacks, the concentation camps, POW's and the aftermaths of the war.

This book is a tour de force of information and a fountain of data that will be hard pressed to be found elsewhere. One of its most interesting featurs is that the author is not afraid to share his extremely pointed opinions of the various generals and leaders of the differing countries. While it is not exceptional for historians to point out how crazy Hitler was in his pursuit of policies like not allowing military retreats; insisting the death of the Jews; and using precious resources to move POWs away from the fighting fronts, it is very unusual to read criticisms of Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton and other heroes of the western world.

In his criticisms, Hastings is unstinting. He portrays Eisenhower as a mostly inept general who nonetheless was a good people manager and thereby saved the alliance from disintegrating in acrimony. Montgomery is presented as an overweening and preening peacock who is only interested in his own glory and does not recognize that his only generalship skills are in fighting setpiee battles. Patton is shown to be a boor who conducts unrealistic battles, and launches raids to rescue his family members from German captivity. It is actually quite sobering to realize that the author has words of praise only for the Soviet generals and the German military men - on them he heaps unstinting praise for their fighting abilities while deplorin their cruel and wanton behaviors.

All the major events of this part of the war are laid out in chronological fashion. The follow of Operation Market Garden; The Battle of the Bulge; The Zhukov offensive in the East; terminating in the battle for Berlin are all explained in detail with maps assembled and placed ot aid understanding.

An interesting feature of this book is the telling of many events from the point of view of the participants, and most of those are the private soldiers and grunts who were in the trenches and really observed and participated in the war. The stories are told from the Bomber crews in both the British and American air forces, from the view of the American grunt, the Nazi privates, the German and Dutch civilians; the POW's and the concentration camp survivors. The author laments that so many people died on the Eastern fronts as he could not get as many diaries and source material as he was able to collect from the western front participants.

This is a large book. It is over 500 pages of text with several sets of photographs and assorted appendices. The text is rather small which means that more information is packed into every one of the pages.

The narrative is powerful and grim. This is not a book that you can simply pick up and read through in one shot. I frequently found myself putting it down when the going got too rough for me. It is a book that makes you think and really pounds its points home. If you are looking for a comprehensive look at the end of the war with pointed viewpoints, this is a good book for you to read.

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The Battle for Germany as a massive humanitarian tragedy.

"Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945" is an ambitious look at the eastern and western Allied thrusts into Nazi Germany. While many books will look at either the Western Front or the Eastern Front, this is one of the few books that examines battles on both sides of Germany and tells them in context of one another. It is a feat that Hastings pulls off brilliantly.

Throughout the text, Hastings his not shy to voice his opinion on generals, leaders, or the course of the war. Some readers would likely be turned away by his bleak assessment of the combat effectiveness of the infantry of the Western Allies, but Hastings is always careful to provide examples to support his viewpoint. While he abhors their sluggish progress in the last nine months, Hastings does applaud the humanitarian efforts of the Western Allies, while denouncing those of the many German and Russian units.

Many personal accounts of relative "unknowns" 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 elation of the liberated concentration camp prisoners to the disillusionment experienced by the peoples of Eastern Europe when they realize that they had traded one tyranny for another; Hastings has left nothing out.

While the text is very good, the paperback version of the book is rather poor quality, as another reviewer noted. The binding quickly split and although it is readable, it is nonetheless frustrating.

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