Five Days that Shocked the World: Eyewitness Accounts from Europe at the end of World War II - Softcover

"A gripping account of the last days of World War II. Written from the perspective of individuals--some famous then, almost all famous thereafter--who experienced the dreadful days, the book provides a clear picture of the immensely varied events, most tragic and horrifying, some poignant and hopeful--that rolled out as that most awful of wars finally came to an end in Europe. It reads like a thriller, informs like a scholar, and is not to be missed." --Randall Hansen, author of "Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Britain"UK Praise for THE GREATEST DAY IN HISTORY: "Reading it is like looking into a photograph album full of vivid snaps of the world taken during a week of high tension, crisis, celebration, tragedy and illusion."--DAILY MAIL"Scintillating ... a miscellany of tragedy mixed with delight."--LITERARY REVIEW

On 28 April 1945 Benito Mussolini was dragged from his mistress's bed, taken outside and executed. Only two days later, surrounded by the Soviet Army, Adolf Hitler put a gun to his head and committed suicide as the Allies raced to secure the heart of the Reich - Berlin. This is the story of the final days of the war in Europe. Drawing on a wealth of unfamiliar material and first-hand accounts, Nicholas Best tells the compelling tale of the men and women who witnessed the final days of the war, from Jack Kennedy at the UN conference in San Fransico to Bob Dole, wounded and recuperating in an Italian hospital, and Private Henry Kissinger, back on German soil for the first time since his family fled before the war. While Audrey Hepburn was starving in Holland, Roman Polanski was playing with grenades in Krakow and a future Pope was on his way home, terrified of being shot for deserting the Wehrmacht. Blending historical discourse with the thoughts and reactions of these and many other famous and ordinary individuals, Five Days that Shocked the World is an insightful new look at the most dramatic 120 hours in our history.