The End

The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945

By: Ian Kershaw

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Corp

Critic reviews

"Kershaw's comprehensive research, measured prose, and commonsense insight combine in a mesmerizing explanation of how and why Nazi Germany chose self-annihilation." ( Publishers Weekly)

"[A]superb examination of the final defeat of Hitler's tyranny...an excellent portrait of the regime's death throes." ( Booklist)

"This is an astonishing story well told by the reigning English-speaking master of Third Reich history.... A carefully considered and powerfully told saga." ( Kirkus)

Narration

the book is fascinating and full of information for those of us interested in WWII history.

My only struggle was with the narrator. As others have noted, the reader pauses in odd places, reminding me of William Shatner's Captain Kirk. I was able to adjust my expectations and I was able to finish the book without struggle.

inside the most dysfunctional org ever!

This book describes that within a week of the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on hitler, the Nazis shifted more power to those who were all in on Hitler, suspicion and latent hatred of traitors, shirkers, and deserters went through the roof, and it became nigh on impossible to even ask about surrender without risking your life.

the book has lots of constructions from historical records of what its was like, say, as a common worker from prussia or silesia trying to trek down snow drifted paths to flee the oncoming Red Army, or what it was like to try to put out a white flag so the allies won’t flatten your village but to not let the roaming nazi zealots see it as they will hang you from the nearest tree.
this was a much more deadly environment than normal wartime conditions, all the hard cores in nazi germany had been let off the leash so threats or accusations could come from anywhere or anyone. a lot of score settling. by late ‘44 the Nazi party was like a wounded tiger roaming in the bushes that’s also taken a bunch of Adolf’s Pervatin.

i’ve listened to other books by Ian, hes good but this one was a bit repetitious.
only other thing- i heard when American troops marched past a house in Germany they looked for a white sheet/flag, if it was there they’d cautiously hold fire and pass but if any shot was heard they’d open up on any buildings in the direction of the shot. i didn’t hear ian mention that and it would fit perfectly with this content. it surprised me, but maybe i missed it or maybe there aren’t records that actually verify that.

finally- the management structure of the third reich was the most dysfunctional and absurd of all time! this book has entertaining, scary, pathetic examples of the screw ups that ultimately all flow from Hitlers extreme insecurity and fragile ego.

my humorous takeaway about Nazi Germany- its a brutal, violent, Darwinian, manly culture, right? please excuse me im not sexist and no offense intended with this joke, but the analogy that hit me is Hitler is the needy prom queen, her competing suitors are Goebbels, Bormann, Speer, etc.
These men prance about herr Hitler trying to compliment, impress, and get the favor of the prom queen!
Their world was the most anti-rational and anti-scientific, they were destined to make inferior decisions relative to the allies, although Stalin was about ego too.
at the nazi prom, the winning suitor is the one who helps hitler pretend he’s still the smartest man in the room and that he’s still admired for his brilliance!

All-encompassing detail about the end

Typical Kershaw product - - thoroughly researched, meticulous detail, incontrovertible conclusions. Though much has been written about the Third Reich period and its doomsday ending, this tome leaves no stone unturned. Not a biography of Hitler's last days - - there are other, narrower books for that. This is a sweeping, in-depth survey of the entire Reich - - east, west, and internal - - as it collapsed upon itself and its occupants tried to save themselves, looked for scapegoats to blame, threw themselves into the forlorn hope of holding off relentless enemies bent on their destruction, or sought cover up, denial, and retribution.

Possibly a bit of a drier read than some of Kershaw's other works on the war - - reads a bit like a doctoral dissertation - - but no less packed with information not found elsewhere.

Well read through the entire book.

Recommended for those who might find this an interesting topic.

Extremely Informative and Well Written

This book was fantastic. As an avid reader and studier of history, especially WW2, this was a fascinating book. It was extremely well written and organized. The narrator was equally good. I would highly recommend to anyone interested in history as a whole, but certainly anyone interested in WW2 history specifically.

Interesting information on the end of the war

The End is a study of how Germany kept their civilian and military committed to World War II to the end in spite of it being clear that the war was lost, especially after the successful Allied landings in Normandy. While I think there is nothing very surprising in this book (German fear of the Russian Army during the war is well known as is the power of the Nazi government to enforce its edicts), the book held together for me reasonably well in spite of my having read a good amount about this war. There was nothing very new, but neither did the book ever get boring.

Mr Kershaw is a known expert on Adolph Hitler and on Germany during the Nazi period and, although his views may diverge from the commonly held belief that Hitler was Nazi Germany, his knowledge about how Germany perservered until the end of the war as a single state without anyone signing a separate treaty with the Western Powers is of considerable interest. The ability of the Wehrmacht to successfully resist the British, Canadian and US Armies in France, Belgium and Western Germany was always been a puzzle to me considering that it was also fighting the Russians in the East and that the populations and economies of the countries it was fighting were much larger than that of Germany.

While not breaking any new ground (for me, at least), it did successfully piece together all of the separate threads which held Germany together and proved helpful and informative. This is, of course, not a replacement for a study of the war as a whole, but a successful adjunct to that part of a general study that covers the closing period of that war. I recommend it on that basis.

Fantastic work despite a slightly annoying flaw.

The book does a marvellous job with diving into the "why" and "how" the catastrophic end to the war in the European Theater came about. How despite the ever increasing lunacy of Hitler's war strategy and growing desperation at the front, that so many brilliant and accomplished generals remained staunchly loyal to the Fuhrer, willing to carry out his orders against their better judgement. And why the crippled nation was able to maintain its defenses against near infinitely superior opposition, and even more miraculously how the regime was able to function until the very end. This book delves into the unimaginable horror of the war's most destructive phase as the Third Reich crumbled around a leader determined to totally destroy the very nation he claimed to have loved once defeat became imminent.

No work will ever be able to fully do justice to what transpired in those final months, but The End comes about as close as one could get. The only flaw that keeps this book from getting a perfect five stars in my opinion, is the repeating of phrases like, "Very few letters written by German soldiers were openly critical of Hitler and the regime because if something was found by the censors then it would have dire consequences for their families." The listener will hear sentences such as that repeated several times throughout the book, to the point of minor annoyance. Aside from the small blemish the book is stellar and a must read/listen for all who have an interest in World War II and the fall of the Third Reich.

Great overview of the last months

Kershaw has written extensively about Hitler and the Third Reich. This excellent book breaks down the final months as the situation became more dire for the Germans as the Russians press from the East and the Allies from the West. Kershaw gives us a wide variety of villains, liars, syncopates, cowards who surrounded Hitler and his minions. Great amounts of detail and anecdotes to illustrate the fall. Highly recommended!

Details you won’t get elsewhere

A little repetitious but full of why no one had the ability to stop Hitler. Full of details I hadn’t heard before. Even after the total surrender Germans were still killing Germans for treason?

Recommend

I am fascinated by the Nazi's, almost to the point of obsession. The nature of this malady surrounds the question "how did this happen??"

Kershaw's account adds detail and context. I learned a bit more about the effect of Goebbel's propaganda, as well as the extent to which Nazism was interwoven into the culture. I found it horrifying, but illuminating, to learn how local peoples court's pronounced, and carried out, death sentences on their fellow citizens, right up to the end; even after the war was clearly lost. I was also amazed to learn the degree to which the German's continued their allegiance to administrative bureaucracy, again, right up until the end.These stories were repetitive, but they really demonstrate the mania of the German populace at the time.

I also gained a better appreciation for the horror of Bolshevik conquest, and occupation. I kinda figured that was bad, but Kershaw makes clear how bad. Its funny (not haha) how I was able to feel sympathy for Germany.

Bottom line - this is a good book if you are also fascinated by the Nazi's, or WWII history. If not, it will probably just depress you and cause you to lose more faith in humanity. Narration is not an issue for this audio.

Riveting - hated when my commute ended each day!

Would you listen to The End again? Why?

Possibly. The performance and delivery was perfect. The information and history is intriguing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Speer was interesting. While he was guilty of serving a hated regime, his organizational skill at doing the nearly impossible was commendable. The effect of prolonging the war was awful, but his management skill must have been amazing.

Have you listened to any of Sean Pratt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm not sure. He may be the best narrator I've ever heard though.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The story drew me in and fascinated me. Those final 9 months of the regime were fascinating. The fact that this is very rare for any country losing a war made it even more intriguing. I hadn't thought about that before, and the book brilliantly fleshed out how and why it ended up happening that way.

Any additional comments?

This book did not have a single "boring" chapter. An amazing period in world history.