The Last Battle, Cornelius Ryan
The Last Battle, Cornelius Ryan
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The Last Battle

Author: Cornelius Ryan

Narrator: Simon Vance

Unabridged: 15 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/12/2012

Synopsis

The classic account of the final offensive against Hitlers Third Reich The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of World War II in the European theater. The last offensive against Hitlers Third Reich, it devastated one of Europes historic capitals and marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the wars bloodiest and most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come. The Last Battleis Cornelius Ryans compelling account of this final battle, a story of brutal extremes, of stunning military triumph alongside the stark conditions that the civilians of Berlin experienced in the face of the Allied assault. As always, Ryan delves beneath the military and political forces that were dictating events to explore the more immediate imperatives of survival, where, as the author describes it, to eat had become more important than to love, to burrow more dignified than to fight, to endure more militarily correct than to win. The Last Battleis the story of ordinary people, both soldiers and civilians, caught up in the despair, frustration, and terror of defeat. It is history at its best, a masterful illumination of the effects of war on the lives of individuals, and one of the enduring works on World War II.

About Cornelius Ryan

Cornelius Ryan (1920–1974) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He became one of the preeminent war correspondents of his time, flying fourteen bombing missions with the United States Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and covering the D-day landings and the advance of General Patton’s Third Army across France and Germany. After the end of hostilities in Europe, he covered the Pacific War. In addition to his classic works The Longest Day, The Last Battle, and A Bridge Too Far, he is the author of numerous other books, which have appeared throughout the world in nineteen languages. Awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1973, he was hailed at that time by Malcolm Muggeridge as “perhaps the most brilliant reporter now alive.”

Reviews

Goodreads review by fourtriplezed on December 18, 2020

This is historical narrative history at its finest and though first published in 1966 it has stood the test of time. Generally narrative history is not my style of presentation but it was very hard to fault the author’s ability to take this reader along the journey of all the participants. Be they t......more

Goodreads review by PowerAvocado on March 02, 2025

A woman was raped in front of her husband and her son. When Russians walked away her husband shot her, his son, and himself. A woman was drugged out of the building where she was with her three little children, her mother and her brother. She came back after being raped through the entire night. She......more

Goodreads review by Mara on May 28, 2018

There is no easy way to put to words something with such enormity as the last battle in the deadliest military conflict in history. And yet, Cornelius Ryan manages to do just that not with the use of staggering statistics, but with a series of stories that even my simple human mind could comprehend.......more

Goodreads review by Karl on August 13, 2021

Meticulously researched and detailed, using personal accounts of survivors and their letters and diaries to give the history a more narrative feel. Ryan is best know for his war-histories-made-into-movies 'A Bridge to Far' and 'The Longest Day.' Both are invaluable accounts of momentous western-fron......more

Goodreads review by Nooilforpacifists on March 11, 2017

Typical sprawling Ryan--not much new, but he sure brings back some great diary-captured dialogue. And who knew that around April 25th, 1945, Major Werner Pluskat slipped quietly away from Wenck's 12th Army, swam across the Elbe, and surrendered to the Americans (Bradley)? You may recall Pluskat from......more

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