The End
The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
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Narrated by:
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Sean Pratt
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By:
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Ian Kershaw
About this listen
From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II.
Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did. The Third Reich did not surrender until Germany had been left in ruins and was almost completely occupied. Even in the near-apocalyptic final months, when the war was plainly lost, the Nazis refused to sue for peace. Historically, this is extremely rare.
Drawing on original testimony from ordinary Germans and arch-Nazis alike, award-winning historian Ian Kershaw explores this fascinating question in a gripping and focused narrative that begins with the failed bomb plot in July 1944 and ends with the German capitulation in May 1945. Hitler, desperate to avoid a repeat of the "disgraceful" German surrender in 1918, was of course critical to the Third Reich's fanatical determination, but his power was sustained only because those below him were unable, or unwilling, to challenge it. Even as the military situation grew increasingly hopeless, Wehrmacht generals fought on, their orders largely obeyed, and the regime continued its ruthless persecution of Jews, prisoners, and foreign workers. Even beneath the hail of allied bombing, German society maintained some semblance of normalcy in the very last months of the war. The Berlin Philharmonic even performed on April 12, 1945, less than three weeks before Hitler's suicide.
As Kershaw shows, the structure of Hitler's "charismatic rule" created a powerful negative bond between him and the Nazi leadership - they had no future without him, and so their fates were inextricably tied. Terror also helped the Third Reich maintain its grip on power as the regime began to wage war not only on its ideologically defined enemies but also on the German people themselves. Yet even as each month brought fresh horrors for civilians, popular support for the regime remained linked to a patriotic support of Germany and a terrible fear of the enemy closing in.
Based on prodigious new research, Kershaw's The End is a harrowing yet enthralling portrait of the Third Reich in its last desperate gasps.
©2011 Ian Kershaw (P)2011 Gildan Media CorpListeners also enjoyed...
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An Excellent Read
- By Rodney on 09-19-13
By: Ian Kershaw
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A Savage War of Peace
- Algeria 1954-1962
- By: Alistair Horne
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 29 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It caused the fall of six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict, and as many European settlers were driven into exile. From the perspective of half a century, it looks less like the last colonial war than the first postmodern one.
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Excellent history of France's Viet Nam
- By David on 04-10-16
By: Alistair Horne
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1914
- The Year The World Ended
- By: Paul Ham
- Narrated by: Robert Meldrum
- Length: 22 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Few years can justly be said to have transformed the earth: 1914 did. In July that year, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain and France were poised to plunge the world into a war that would kill or wound 37 million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient political systems and set the course for the bloodiest century in human history.
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How the war started
- By Jean on 02-24-14
By: Paul Ham
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Kiev 1941
- Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In just four weeks in the summer of 1941 the German Wehrmacht wrought unprecedented destruction on four Soviet armies, conquering central Ukraine and killing or capturing three quarters of a million men. This was the Battle of Kiev - one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II and, for Hitler and Stalin, a battle of crucial importance. For the first time, David Stahel charts the battle's dramatic course and aftermath.
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The book you must read on Hitler's War with Russia
- By Kindle Customer on 05-28-19
By: David Stahel
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The Korean War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Max Hastings, preeminent military historian, takes us back to the bloody, bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950.
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Inspiring and Hard Hitting
- By David Ewing on 08-06-07
By: Max Hastings
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The Devils' Alliance
- Hitler's Pact With Stalin, 1939-1941
- By: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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History remembers the Soviets and the Nazis as bitter enemies and ideological rivals - the two opposing totalitarian regimes of World War II whose conflict would be the defining and deciding clash of the war. Yet for nearly a third of the conflict's entire timespan, Hitler and Stalin stood side by side as partners.
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Fascinating look at much neglected peiod
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-11-15
By: Roger Moorhouse
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The First World War
- By: Hew Strachan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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A century has passed since the outbreak of World War I, yet as military historian Hew Strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the "war to end all wars" is with us still. The First World War was a truly global conflict from the start, with many of the most decisive battles fought in or directly affecting the Balkans, Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. Even more than World War II, the First World War continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world.
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Outstanding narrative of the military action
- By Tad Davis on 04-30-17
By: Hew Strachan
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The Second World War
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of World War II. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, The Second World War. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on World War II.
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It Fills in Gaps I Didn't Know Existed
- By DJM on 07-31-12
By: Antony Beevor
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The Fall of the Ottomans
- The Great War in the Middle East
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Fall of the Ottomans, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region's crucial role in the conflict.
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Great Book About A Little Known Part of WWI
- By Nostromo on 06-08-15
By: Eugene Rogan
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After Hitler
- The Last Ten Days of World War II in Europe
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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With the world at war, 10 days can feel like a lifetime.... On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin. But victory over the Nazi regime was not celebrated in Western Europe until May 8 and in Russia a day later, on the ninth. Why did a peace agreement take so much time? How did this brutal, protracted conflict coalesce into its unlikely endgame? After Hitler shines a light on 10 fascinating days after that infamous suicide that changed the course of the 20th century.
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The slow end to World War II in Europe
- By Mike From Mesa on 04-10-16
By: Michael Jones
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Hitler's American Gamble
- Pearl Harbor and Germany's March to Global War
- By: Brendan Simms, Charlie Laderman
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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By early December 1941, war had changed much of the world beyond recognition. Nazi Germany occupied most of the European continent, while in Asia, the Second Sino-Japanese War had turned China into a battleground. But these conflicts were not yet inextricably linked - and the United States remained at peace. Hitler’s American Gamble recounts the five days that upended everything: December 7 to 11.
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A waste of time based on a flawed premise
- By Grant on 11-30-21
By: Brendan Simms, and others
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Hitler and Stalin
- The Tyrants and the Second World War
- By: Laurence Rees
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Two 20th century tyrants stand apart from all the rest in terms of their ruthlessness and the degree to which they changed the world around them. Briefly allies during World War II, Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin then tried to exterminate each other in sweeping campaigns unlike anything the modern world had ever seen, affecting soldiers and civilians alike. Millions of miles of Eastern Europe were ruined in their fight to the death, millions of lives sacrificed.
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Biased in favor of capitalism
- By Gerald Paduano on 04-10-21
By: Laurence Rees
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Fateful Choices
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Extraordinary
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Eight Days in May
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Well worn ground
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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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In the 70 years since the demise of the Third Reich, there has been a significant transformation in the ways in which the modern world understands Nazism. In this brilliant and eye-opening collection, Richard J. Evans offers a critical commentary on that transformation, exploring how major changes in perspective have informed research and writing on the Third Reich in recent years. Drawing on his most notable writings, Evans reveals the shifting perspectives on Nazism's rise to political power, its economic intricacies, and its subterranean extension into postwar Germany.
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Goering
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In Goering, Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel use firsthand testimonies and a variety of historical documents to tell the story of a monster lurking in Hitler's shadows. After rising through the ranks of the German army, Hermann Goering became Hitler's right hand man and was hand-picked to head the Luftwaffe, one of history's most feared fighting forces. As he rose in power, though, Goering became disillusioned and was eventually shunned from Hitler's inner circle.
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From Fighter Pilot Ace to Cartoon Villain
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Performance
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With the world at war, 10 days can feel like a lifetime.... On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin. But victory over the Nazi regime was not celebrated in Western Europe until May 8 and in Russia a day later, on the ninth. Why did a peace agreement take so much time? How did this brutal, protracted conflict coalesce into its unlikely endgame? After Hitler shines a light on 10 fascinating days after that infamous suicide that changed the course of the 20th century.
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The slow end to World War II in Europe
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Hitler
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Overall
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Performance
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For all the literature about Adolf Hitler, there have been just four seminal biographies; this is the fifth, a landmark work that sheds important new light on Hitler himself. Drawing on previously unseen papers and a wealth of recent scholarly research, Volker Ullrich reveals the man behind the public persona, from Hitler's childhood, to his failures as a young man in Vienna, to his experiences during the First World War, to his rise as a far-right party leader.
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Worthwhile if you haven't read a Hitler biography
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Goebbels: A Biography
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In life and in his grisly family suicide, Goebbels was one of Hitler's most loyal acolytes. Though powerful in the party and in wartime Germany, Longerich's Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and consumed by his fierce adherence to the Nazi cause. Longerich engages and challenges the careful self-portrait that Goebbels left behind in his diaries, and, as he delves deep into the mind of Hitler's master propagandist, Longerich discovers firsthand how the Nazi message was conceived. This complete portrait of the man behind the message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for years to come.
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Excellent Account of the Private Goebbels, But...
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By: Peter Longerich, and others
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Hitler
- A Biography
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 46 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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. From his illegitimate birth in a small Austrian village to his fiery death in a bunker under the Reich chancellery in Berlin, Adolf Hitler left a murky trail, strewn with contradictory tales and overgrown with self-created myths. One truth prevails: the sheer scale of the evils that he unleashed on the world has made him a demonic figure without equal in the 20th century.
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An Excellent Read
- By Rodney on 09-19-13
By: Ian Kershaw
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The Third Reich at War
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Evans interweaves a broad narrative of the war’s progress with viscerally affecting personal testimony from a wide range of people - from generals to front-line soldiers, from Hitler Youth activists to middle-class housewives. The Third Reich at War lays bare the dynamics of a nation more deeply immersed in war than any society before or since. Fresh insights into the conflict’s great events are here, from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Stalingrad to Hitler’s suicide in the bunker.
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Masterful
- By Karen on 09-03-10
By: Richard J. Evans
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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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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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
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What listeners say about The End
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Elaine
- 04-01-13
Hitler's Third War.
What made the experience of listening to The End the most enjoyable?
The facination of "The End" was Hitler's third war, the war against his own people
What was one of the most memorable moments of The End?
The failed plot to kill Hitler.
Have you listened to any of Sean Pratt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is the first time I've listened to Mr. Pratt's work.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
As an animal lover, I was angered by Hitler's order to euthenize all the pets.
Any additional comments?
"The End" gives the reader a "you are there" perspective more powerful than "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."
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10 people found this helpful
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- Jeno B
- 05-13-16
Important Work
This is an important work. I encourage anyone wanting to leave more about this time in WWII. Great narration as well! I highly recommend it!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Frances
- 12-16-16
The End by Ian Kershaw
A really good synopsis of the final days of WW ll, and how and why Hitler's followers behaved as they did.
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3 people found this helpful
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- AJC
- 06-19-20
LOYALTY UNTIL THE END, DENAIL AFTERWARDS
This audible selection, THE END, by historian Ian Kershaw is an overview of Nazi and German attitudes from 1944 to 1945 and concluding with the end of World War II. This study puts to rest that Hitler and the regime did not have the backing of most of the German people and Wehrmacht. The author lays out that indeed, despite myths propagated after WW II the great majority of Germans still had faith in Hitler until the end, and were loyal to the Nazi regime. It shines light on just how many of the high ranking military, not in the SS, were fanatical and loyal Nazis. And, shows Albert Speer for what he was, a Hitler sycophant and party loyalist. A great addition to any WW II library.
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- Dianne E. Johnston
- 05-04-22
Learned so much I didn't know! A must read!
I teach history and have several degrees and thought I knew it all about the end days of the Nazi regime! Boy, was I wrong! This was more about the end days of the German PEOPLE than Hitler and his regime! The stories of not only the prisoners on the march as the Russians advanced but the German people and how they went to great lengths to not only stay loyal and believe to the end but give up their lives and freedoms in a Germany that would never be the same. The stories of the families who tied themselves together in a rope and drowned to avoid occupation were heart wrenching. Sometimes you forget that there were more victims of the war than those Hitler took down. This is definitely a book you need to read. It is the 2nd by the author I have purchased on Audible and I will certainly purchase more!
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- Martin
- 02-09-19
Great book about the mentality of Germans
willing to support Hitler to the very end. Catchy story as one had a feeling like being present in Germany during those last days.
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- Mark Keough
- 04-16-24
The Inexplicable Explained
Detailed analysis if the fall of Germany after the July 1944 attempt to kill Hitler. Why did the nation continue to the bitter end when it was clear it was over? No stone is left unturned here. And it is horrible. Great reader too.
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- B Kevin
- 09-11-12
Narrater needs a german diction coach
What did you love best about The End?
Fascinating historical account, but the mispronunciations of German terms and names was at times distracting.
What other book might you compare The End to and why?
Richard J Evan's "The Third Reich at War"
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9 people found this helpful
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- Douglas
- 03-03-18
Enlightening.
It took me a while to get into this book, which is unusual for me when it's a WWII book. Eventually I got rolling and really enjoyed the book.
Ian Kershaw sets out the book's purpose in the introduction. This intro is thorough and terrific (although listeners may feel that it repeats much of what is in the preface). He wants to explain why Germany fought on to the end, bringing on total destruction rather than surrendering the way that almost all losing entities eventually do. The author makes clear that this is not a military history. He also explains that his book does not go further than capitulation. In addition, it is written from the viewpoint of the Germans only.
Kershaw actually does give plenty of necessary details about the military situation, and in the conclusion of the book he does make some comments about the post-war situation. But all of that is very welcome.
It will most likely take the listener a while to get used to the narrator. To be blunt, the narrator is boring. He also tends to trail off, which makes speed listening difficult at times. He is also prone to weird pauses (again, making it difficult to speed listen). The first quarter of the book is a bit dry, and the narrator certainly does not help.
Eventually though the pace of the book picks up and it really is quite enjoyable. This is a fascinating look at the psychology of the German population and the factors that led to Hitler leading the country into total war and finally to total annihilation, well after it was clear to most that the war was lost.
World War II and Third Reich scholars will definitely appreciate this book.
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- Dr. Schtick
- 09-13-21
For Schadenfreude Junkies (Like Me!)
I'm not sure just how much completely new information is in this book, though Kershaw seems to have combed through previously overlooked archives quite methodically. Still, the narrative flows nicely, give appropriate weight to the murder of European Jews and others and achieves, (IMHO) a good balance in assessing the extent to which Poles, Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans were victims and the extent to which they were also accomplices to genocide.
I've read and/or listened to at least a dozen respected books on the demise of the Nazis and this is among the best. For those who are less obsessed with this chapter of history (large branches of my family tree and even more so, that of my wife, were
machine gunned by Einsatzgruppen and the Polish, Belarusian or Ukrainian helpers, or gassed at various death camps) this book may be "TMI". But for me, I can't get enough Schadenfreude listening once again, in another retelling, of the grand Wagnerian opera that ends in The Bunker. I always look forward to the part when Mrs. Goebels poisons her seven children before she and Joe bite into their own cyanide capsules.
Excellent narrator. Pleasant voice and doesn't (like so many others) mangle the pronunciation of the many non-English words from so many languages. Like Anthony Bevor's massive "The Fall of Berlin", which I have listened through at least three or four times, "The End" will definitely be added to my playlist of Audio Books to return to when I am feeling nostalgic for an era of moral certainty, of Good v. Evil. The suffering of the Germans in the last 8 months of the war is so comforting.
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