Customer Reviews

After Daybreak: The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen, 1945

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Mr Shepard did a superb job of illuminating the story of the liberation of Bergen Belsen by the British. The writing is very clear and compelling. It is definitely in my top collection of ""top 10 most clearly written books", making the reading of a very sad chapter of human history very rewarding indeed.

I purchased this book at the Bergen Belsen Memorial (sorry Amazon) at the end of my visit there between the USA's first two games at the 2006 World Cup.
My father (who is still living) was a US Army medic in World War II. A few days after the British Army liberated Bergen Belsen his company of medics (29th Div. 104th Med Bttn, Co. A) was assigned to Bergen Belsen and remained there for a day or so to provide assistance to the surviving Jews, Polish slave laborers and other internees.
Ben Sheperd's prose held my interest easily and I finished his book during my flight back to the states. Most accounts I have seen in print, film or other media cover little of what happended at concentration camps after they were liberated by Allied forces. This account is an objective look at both the successes and failures in the approach and actions of the British authorities who were in charge of the camp. One major area of criticism is that there had been clear pre-liberation indications and hard intelligence as to what was transpiring at the camps, yet the planning and approach was undertaken largely in ignorance of the conditions.
My only disappointment is that the book makes no mention of the (albeit brief) contributions of American military personnel like those in my father's unit. However as the book was written for a British audience by a BBC producer and the post-liberation operations were overwhelmingly performed by British civilian and military personnel, that is quite understandable. The book does mention the volunteer efforts of American Friends Service Committee personnel.

This is the finest book about the holocaust, and perhaps one of the finest books that I have ever read. It should be required reading at the high school or college level, as well as for heads of state.

Excellent Writing! I am back on Amazon now, to find more books written by him.