COUNTDOWN TO VICTORY: THE FINAL EUROPEAN CAMPAIGNS OF WORLD WAR II

In standard histories of World War II, the last six months of fighting in Europe are tucked into an epilogue. After the Battle of the Bulge, the Nazis are assumed to be as good as defeated. In fact, they fought to their last breath. In the Hürtgen Forest, in the Po Valley of Italy, and in the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr, the Allies suffered horrific losses. The author offers a new look at the last battles of WWII, from the Ardennes offensive to the fall of Berlin. Drawing on a range of sources, including diaries and eyewitness accounts, he reconstructs what life was like for those who were part of the military and for civilians. He also looks at the political and diplomatic machinations that defined the war's military strategy on all sides of the conflict. (Adapted from Barnes and Noble.com website: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780641772344&z=y - accessed 29/03/2007).