
Eight Days in May
The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
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Narrated by:
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John McLain
About this listen
The best-selling author of Hitler: Ascent and Hitler: Downfall reconstructs the chaotic, otherworldly last days of Nazi Germany.
On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
In a taut, propulsive narrative, eminent historian Volker Ullrich depicts the final days of the Nazi empire through the eyes of Germans, both famous and ordinary, who experienced them. He takes us inside the phantomlike regime of Hitler's chosen successor, Admiral Karl Dönitz, while capturing the drama of a society in its death throes - from mass suicides to fanatics calling for one last stand. Integrating an astonishing variety of new primary sources, Ullrich offers an indispensable account of the costs of mass delusion.
©2020 Verlag C. H. Beck oHG, München (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Superb and important history
- By Tad Davis on 10-18-20
By: Thomas Childers
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The "Hitler Myth"
- Image and Reality in the Third Reich
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: George Cunningham
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Few, if any, 20th-century political leaders have enjoyed greater popularity among their own people than Hitler did in the decade or so following his rise to power in 1933. The personality of Hitler himself, however, can scarcely explain this immense popularity or his political effectiveness in the 1930s and '40s. His hold over the German people lay rather in the hopes and perceptions of the millions who adored him. Based largely on the reports of government officials, party agencies, and political opponents, Kershaw's study charts the creation, growth, and decline of the Hitler myth.
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Not a study of Hitler Charismatic Authority
- By Raminak on 03-05-23
By: Ian Kershaw
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Russia's War
- A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945
- By: Richard Overy PhD
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The Russian war effort to defeat invading Axis powers, an effort that assembled the largest military force in recorded history and that cost the lives of more than twenty-five million Soviet soldiers and civilians, was the decisive factor for securing an Allied victory. Now with access to the wealth of film archives and interview material from Russia used to produce the ten-hour television documentary Russia's War, Richard Overy tackles the many persuasive questions surrounding this conflict.
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A gripping tale of incredible, consuming tragedy
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 06-09-24
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Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 28 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as the most compelling biography of the German dictator yet written, Ian Kershaw's Hitler brings us closer than ever before to the heart of its subject's immense darkness. Ian Kershaw's Hitler brings us closer than ever before to the character of the bizarre misfit in his thirty-year ascent from a Viennese shelter for the indigent to uncontested rule over the German nation that had tried and rejected democracy in the crippling aftermath of World War I.
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The heart of evil
- By Mike From Mesa on 01-20-14
By: Ian Kershaw
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The Wehrmacht's Last Stand: The German Campaigns of 1944-1945
- Modern War Studies
- By: Robert M. Citino
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 25 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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By 1943, the war was lost, and most German officers knew it. What kept the German army going in an increasingly hopeless situation? Where some historians have found explanations in the power of Hitler or the role of ideology, Robert M. Citino, the world's leading scholar on the subject, posits a more straightforward solution: Bewegungskrieg, the way of war cultivated by the Germans over the course of history. In this book, Citino charts the path by which Bewegungskrieg, or a "war of movement," inexorably led to Nazi Germany's defeat.
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The fake English with a pseudo German accent,
- By Neil on 11-29-24
By: Robert M. Citino
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Fire and Steel
- The End of World War Two in the West
- By: Peter Caddick-Adams
- Narrated by: Mike Cooper
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is Peter Caddick-Adams's third volume in his trilogy about the final year of the Western front in World War Two. Fire & Steel covers the war's final 100 days—beginning in late January 1945 and continuing until May 8, 1945, when the German high command surrendered unconditionally to all Allied forces. Caddick-Adams's previous two volumes in the acclaimed series—Sand & Steel, which covers the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, and Snow & Steel, the definitive study of the Battle of the Bulge—have set the stage for this concluding volume.
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Comprehensive account of Allied Army operations at the end of World War III
- By Stephen Veal on 06-29-24
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Aftermath
- Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955
- By: Harald Jähner, Shaun Whiteside - translator
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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How does a nation recover from fascism and turn toward a free society once more? This internationally acclaimed revelatory history of the transformational decade that followed World War II illustrates how Germany raised itself out of the ashes of defeat and reckoned with the corruption of its soul and the horrors of the Holocaust - and features over 40 eye-opening black-and-white photographs and posters from the period.
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Where are the photos?
- By Cassandra on 01-17-22
By: Harald Jähner, and others
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Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
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A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.
- By Anonymous User on 05-01-24
By: Prit Buttar
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Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
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Awesome
- By Will Georgiadis on 04-11-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
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The Coming of the Third Reich
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time.
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Compelling and depressing
- By Tad Davis on 06-30-10
By: Richard J. Evans
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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SPQR
- A History of Ancient Rome
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.
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Shallow and unsatisfying
- By Joe on 02-19-17
By: Mary Beard
What listeners say about Eight Days in May
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Multi
- 01-28-22
narrator’s pronunciation of German words is AWFUL!
How can somebody who is being paid to read a book about WWII history mispronounce Fuehrer (constantly pronouncing it as “fir-er”)? After about the hundredth time I was starting to go crazy The content of the book is very good
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3 people found this helpful
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- iago18335
- 10-24-24
Not with a bang but an 8 day whimper
Amazing examination of the eight final days of the Nazi regime in Germany. I always thought of WWII going from war to peace like flipping a light switch but this describes a much more unevenly paced event with varying degrees of desperation and denial by Germans at all levels and places as defeat closed in.
Other reviewers found the narrator distracting because of his German pronunciation but I didn’t find it a big deal.
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- Brian
- 12-05-23
An important history
Packed with personal details about the individuals involved in the final days of Nazi Germany from Hitler’s suicide to the final unconditional surrender to the Allies eight days later.
Often overlooked, it’s important to understand the timeline from the perspective of displaced persons and high ranking military leadership alike.
The narrative is excellent as well.
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- John
- 01-27-22
Not Really Eight Days--And the Narration ...
This book is kind of about the last eight days of the Third Reich. It does cover those days, but also engages in numerous digressions backward and forward in time. Maybe that is unavoidable to some extent, but at times it gets a little irritating. Still, I learned some new things.
Speaking of irritating, there is the narration. The author (or translator) repeatedly uses the word "Führer" to refer to Hitler. Not surprising. But McLain simply cannot pronounce it correctly. He basically says "Foo-rer." As one who has taken German language classes, I understand German pronunciations can be challenging. But to mispronounce a word that appears over and over again almost made me quit the book. He is better with other German words, but mangles a few others.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Adam J. Cogley
- 09-04-22
Good story, well written and researched. Needs a different narrator
The narrator’s pronunciation of Germans words got to be really annoying. Not sure how he past an audition without any lessons or feedback
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lou
- 02-03-22
Gripping. Just Don't Listen To It
This is an important and "page-turning" account of these final days of the Reich. The experience, however, of the audiobook, makes it more of a "hurry up and get it over with." The narration misses on many levels. It is almost unlistenable. Buyer beware.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Chris Corsini
- 09-14-24
Very Good
Yes, the narrator’s German pronunciation is pretty terrible. But this is a great book and well worth your time. I did not find it very hard to suffer through the narrator to enjoy the narrative.
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- Tom
- 09-30-21
Terrible audio
The story and contents are very interesting, but the audio recording is choppy and skips too often. Additionally it does not seem like the narrator knows how to pronounce German words.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Derek
- 09-09-21
Masterful Account of the Last Month of Nazi Government
Masterful account of the last month of the war written by a modern German historian who is completely frank about sentiments and atrocities. What I liked about this book compared to most others that focus on the bunker story is that the reader gets a behind-the-scenes view of what the leaders were talking about and what regular Germans were saying and doing.
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3 people found this helpful
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- SM Kaplan
- 03-05-22
Interesting but superficial
The epilogue is the best part of the book. There are some annoying translation errors.
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1 person found this helpful