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125 of 138 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Could be one of the most important WWII histories to-date., November 14, 2007
This is as close to a perfect book as I have recently read on WWII history, particularly on the infrequently covered closing days of the European war. Seldom do historians write about the immediate repercussions and events that ran concurrent with the disintegration of the Third Reich. In Endgame, 1945: The Missing Final Chapter of World War II, author David Stafford carefully chronicles these events through the eyes of various personalities involved. Their anecdotes complete an image of Europe in such disarray that paint a picture of near hopelessness. Stafford captures the emotion of the allied race to Berlin, the ominous possibility of a Nazi Alpine Redoubt and the anticlimactic sigh the war weary world breathed before the loose ends were truly tied off. Reading this book, one realizes how unfortunate it is that those lessons and tales of World War II so often go forgotten. Everyone has heard, read, or seen in movies the horrors that concentration camps wrought, few writers though re-capture the horror in mental Technicolor like Stafford. Reading this book validates the cause of freedom worldwide, the sacrifice of so many and appropriately was released on the American observance of Veteran's Day. Everyone should read this book, but more importantly, everyone should take their time and understand the horrors we both faced and have since overcome. But a great solid read about the cataclysmic last days of war and hesitant first days peace in Europe.
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34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Agree With the Positive Reviews... Very Moving, March 17, 2008
Excellent historical study of the closing days of WWII in Europe that superbly interweaves the personal experiences of people involved in the chaos. Few Second World War histories have moved me so deeply and made the horror felt by the combatants and civilians who encountered the Holocaust so real. Highly recommended to those with a general interest in the subject and to the scholar also. The author is a fine writer and brings sensitivity and insight to his work.
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45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweeping Chronicle of the End of WW II in Europe!, March 2, 2008
ENDGAME 1945 is a wide-ranging history of the final days of WW II in that part of Europe liberated by the Western allies along with the immediate post-VE Day period. Populated by a myriad of individuals of various nationalities and depicting events in a variety of locales, David Stafford's impressive chronicle illuminates a period of history poorly served by previous historians. Much more than a simple battle-by-battle history, Stafford's book interweaves the stories of civilians and servicemen struggling to survive in the chaotic last days of the Third Reich with the larger political developments transpiring in Europe and America along with military developments in the Pacific. The cast of characters in this 581-page book includes well known historical figures (Hitler, Churchill, Mussolini, Himmler), lesser political and military luminaries along with U. S., Canadian and New Zealand soldiers as well as Third Reich prisoners, refugee workers, etc. The picture created by these interwoven narratives is not one of glorious triumph but of chaos, muddied victories, pointless death and destruction, endless political maneuvering, senseless brutality and suffering on a mammoth scale. By VE Day, a needed victory had been won but the resulting peace was problematic with millions of people facing an uncertain future. Though ENDGAME 1945 jumps back and forth betwen various individuals, the narrative moves along at a fairly steady pace. Stafford's depth of research is reflected in the detailed descriptions of various people, places and events that abound in the book. ENDGAME 1945 is not pleasant reading at times. Up until the final surrender, various German units, mostly SS, continued to murder and brutalize concentration camp inmates. Reading of the slaughter of so many helpless men, women and children is both sickening and heartbreaking. It makes one hope there is a Heaven and a Hell...and that all such Nazi monsters are residents of the latter! Given the depth of Stafford's research and the skillful job he does in presenting such a large historical canvas, ENDGAME 1945 may be THE definitive book on the subject! Highly recommended.
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