Eight Days in May, Volker Ullrich
Eight Days in May, Volker Ullrich
2 Rating(s)
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Eight Days in May
The Final Collapse of the Third Reich

Author: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase

Narrator: John McLain

Unabridged: 9 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/07/2021


Synopsis

The bestselling 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.

About Volker Ullrich

Volker Ullrich is a prize-winning historian and the author of Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939, Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945, and Eight Days in May: The Final Collapse of the Third Reich. He lives in Hamburg.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Liam on March 18, 2025

"Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it" (from Shakespeare's Macbeth) and nothing made more obvious the utter self centered, meretriciousness, vulgarity and worthlessness of all those who held power in the last eight horrifying days of the Third Reich's ridiculously drawn out and pointle......more

Goodreads review by ConalPriest on October 10, 2021

Eight Days in May illuminates a period, albeit short, that is so often darkened by Hitler’s long shadow; that between his death and the end of the war. The end of Germany’s war is often intimately tied to the life of the man who had taken it there. However, the Karl Dönitz government that succeeded......more

Goodreads review by Mosco on July 25, 2020

Libro molto denso: come si è arrivati a quegli 8 giorni, cosa è successo subito dopo, che ne è stato dei protagonisti, anche molti di quelli meno noti. Cosa è rimasto in piedi della Germania e dell'Europa, quanti morti e quante battaglie ancora dopo la capitolazione. Interessante, molto.......more

Goodreads review by Michael on June 21, 2024

Covers the events, power struggles, and such after Hitler and his wife committed suicide. Some good info, not really a great book. My recommendation for someone that wants to read about this subject the book - After Hitler - The Last Ten Days of the War in Europe by Michael Jones. A much better book......more

Goodreads review by Charles on February 14, 2022

Wars Never End Cleanly Author Volker Ullrich has written a compact book that focuses on the last eight days of the Third Reich following Hitler’s suicide. German military collapse was all but total but the final, unconditional surrender of Germany to the Allies was beset by disagreements among surviv......more