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

A gripping account of the last days of World War II... 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 come to an end in Europe. It reads like a thriller, informs like a scholar, and is not be missed. -- Randall Hansen, author of Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Britain Scintillating... A miscellany of tragedy mixed with delight. -- Literary Review, 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, praise for The Greatest Day in History

April 1945. The mutilated bodies of Mussolini and his mistress hang by their heels in Milan while a hostile crowd whistles and jeers. Desperate to avoid the same fate, Adolf Hitler leaves orders for his own body to be burned after his death. With the Russian Army closing in on Berlin and his world crashing in to flames, Germany's doomed leader would never allow his enemies the satisfaction of desecrating his corpse. This is the story of an immensely exciting few days, but it is also a snapshot of the whole world at the end of an extraordinary week. Nicholas Best tells a compelling tale of the men and women from all around the world who experienced the final chaotic days of World War II. Fast-paced, at times brutal and at others poignant, this page-turner of a book recreates the dying days of the Axis powers as the Allied armies closed in on Berlin.