Berlin: The Downfall 19145 is Antony Beevor's brilliant account of the fall of
the Third Reich. The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the
frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the
message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying
example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under
their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women
and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs,
refusing to face defeat, had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven
million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army. Antony Beevor
reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the
Third Reich's final collapse, telling a terrible story of pride, stupidity,
fanatacism, revenge and savagery, but also one of astonishing endurance,
self-sacrifice and survival against all odds. 'Fascinating, extraordinary,
gripping' Jeremy Paxman 'This brilliant storyteller makes us feel the chaos and
the fear as if every drop of blood was our own. It is much more than just a
humane account; it is compellingly readable, deeply researched, and beautifully
written' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Spectator Antony Beevor began his career as a
professional officer in the 11th Hussars. He is the author of several books,
including The Spanish Civil War, Crete and The Mystery of Olga Chekhova. With
his wife, Artemis Cooper, he wrote Paris After the Liberation, but he is best
known for his books D-Day, Berlin and Stalingrad, the international No 1
bestseller, and winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, Wolfson Price and
Hawthornden Prize. He lives in London and Kent.