With Our Backs to Berlin [Hardcover]

Tony Le Tissier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Based upon interviews with a wide-range of former German Army and SS soldiers, these unique personal episodes vividly depict the extraordinary circumstances of the Third Reich's final days as armies closed in from all sides. LeTissier's interviews link the brutality of combat with the humanity of the desperate battles.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lt-Col Tony Le Tissier MBE served with the British Army's Royal Corps of Military Police intil 1977. He was British governor of the infamous Spandau Prison in Berlin from 1981-87. He lives in Frome. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing; 1st edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750926112
• ISBN-13: 978-0750926119
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,134,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Histories from survivors, August 1, 2001

By 

Eclectic Reader (Central Coast California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Our Backs to Berlin (Hardcover)

In this excellent work Tony Le Tissier compiles narratives from German and one Russian survivors of the close, vicious combat in and around Berlin in 1945 and adds some of his own writing based on radio logs and other reports now available. The most compelling pieces in the book are the longer narratives of combat in Berlin and attempts to break out to the Western Allies prior to capture by the Soviets. Much of the writing is simple and frank; describing brutal conditions and chaotic combat in deceptively plain language. The writers are squad leaders or soldiers, so command insight is rare, but the things that matter to soldiers (hot food, competent leaders, working weapons,...) are mentioned frequently. If you want a higher-scale reference on the struggle for Berlin, this is not the book you want. If you want to know what it was like to be fighting in and near Berlin as the Soviet armies entered the city and closed in on the Reichstag, from the soldiers' point of view, this is a book you want.

I gave the book only four stars because an overview chapter on events leading up to the fall of Berlin and the combat formations involved, as well as a couple of larger-scale maps, would have made the book much more complete and provided a backdrop for the stories within. But the material is unique and fascinating and for the reader with the background knowledge already, this is probably a five-star work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, Harrowing Stories of an Incredible Time, May 13, 2007

By 

Mr. Truthteller (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Our Backs to Berlin (Paperback)

This is an outstanding compilation of experiences of front line soldiers relating what it was like to be in the front lines in and around Berlin at the end of World War II.

The book is not an orderly history of the Fall of Berlin. Instead, the book enriches one's general knowledge about that time period by recounting tales of derring-do, primarily from the German side. An exception is a very short account about a Russian corporal at Halbe, on the outskirts of Berlin. (Also, all but one story deal with the Eastern Front, i.e., the Russians.)

Altogther, these tales provide a powerful insight into the average German soldier's mindset as the defenders fought with limited resources against overwhelming odds.

In this book, you learn what it was like to be in the first line of defense when the Russians unleashed the largest military barrage in history to begin their final onslaught against Berlin.

You learn what it was like to discover that literally thousands of Russian tanks were coming straight at you.

You learn what it was like to be under siege by the Russians, including bombardments and repeated assaults directly on a position ordered to be held to the last man.

You learn what it was like to try to evade Russian patrols, and armies.

You learn the importance of the "Flak Towers" to the defense of the City.

You also learn what it was like for both soldiers and cvilians to try to escape the City in the last days in order to come under the auspices of anyone but the Russians.

One or more maps are provided for each story to make it easier to understand the action. A section of photos, including of many of the survivors whose tales are told, is included. There is even included in the Appendix the text of the award for the German Cross in Gold received by an NCO in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, whose exploits take up about a third of the book and in many ways are the most memorable.

(The German Cross in Gold was one of the higher awards for German military valor and had to be approved by at least an Army Group Commander. In this instance, however, it does not appear to have been given for any single action but for the award of the Close Combat Clasp in Gold, which, beginning in August 1944, automatically qualifed the holder for the German Cross in Gold. The Close Combat Clasp was given in recognition of hand-to-hand combat. The Close Combat Clasp in Gold meant the recipient had survived 50 days of hand-to-hand combat, or its equivalent.)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seldom read History, February 15, 2003

By 

Christopher (ALVIN, TEXAS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Our Backs to Berlin (Hardcover)

This books explores the last and bitter days of fighting from the perspective of German soldiers. The book brings new insight into the last days of the once formidible German Army. It is good story given by the common soldiers who simply fight on for undisputed loyalty or simply because they are trapped an have no other choice but to fight or die.