The Day the War Ended May 8, 1945 - Victory in Europe

by Gilbert, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780805075274
• ISBN10: 0805075275
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-01
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Summary

One of Britain's most acclaimed historians presents the experiences and ramifications of the last day of World War II in Europe May 8, 1945, 23:30 hours: With war still raging in the Pacific, peace comes at last to Europe as the German High Command in Berlin signs the final instrument of surrender. After five years and eight months, the war in Europe is officially over. This is the story of that single day and of the days leading up to it. Hour by hour, place by place, this masterly history recounts the final spasms of a continent in turmoil. Here are the stories of combat soldiers and ordinary civilians, collaborators and resistance fighters, statesmen and war criminals, all recounted in vivid, dramatic detail. But this is more than a moment-by-moment account, for Sir Martin Gilbert uses every event as a point of departure, linking each to its long-term consequences over the following half century. In our attempts to understand the world we inherited in 1945, there is no better starting point thanThe Day the War Ended. Martin Gilbertis the author of eight books on Holocaust themes, a subject on which he has been writing for forty years. His research forThe Righteoustook him to many countries and numerous archives, and included considerable correspondence with both those who were rescued and those who rescued them. He is an Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, where he taught and did research for many years. In 1995 he was knighted "for services to British history and international relations" and in 1999 he was awarded a Doctorate of Literature by the University of Oxford for the totality of his published work. He has recently held the Herman Wouk Visiting Professorship in Jewish History at the University of California, San Diego, and is a Distinguished Fellow of Hillsdale College, Michigan, where he teaches every year. Among his many books areThe Holocaust,The First World War,The Second World War,Churchill: A Life, andThe Boys. May 8, 1945, 23:30 hours: With war still raging in the Pacific, peace comes at last to Europe as the German High Command in Berlin signs the final instrument of surrender. After five years and eight months, the war in Europe is officially over. This is the story of that single day and of the days leading up to it. Hour by hour, place by place, Sir Martin Gilbert recounts the final spasms of a continent in turmoil. Here are the stories of combat soldiers and ordinary civilians, collaborators and resistance fighters, statesmen and war criminals, all recounted in vivid, dramatic detail. But this is more than a moment-by-moment account, for Gilbert uses every event as a point of departure, linking each to its long-term consequences over the following half century. In our attempts to understand the world we inherited in 1945, there is no better starting point thanThe Day the War Ended. "The war did not end in a day, and this book stretches far beyond May 8. But Martin Gilbert . . . fills it with people who have a gift for expressing the weariness, apprehension, and thrill of the moment."The New York Times Book Review "The reader is not likely to find a better snapshot of the people and the major events than that inThe Day the War Ended."The Washington Post Book World "The noted British historian has assembled a mosaic of reminiscences that make this volume both heartrending and informative."The New Yorker

Author Biography

Martin Gilbert is a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. vii
List of maps	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction	p. xix
Anticipations, 1940-1944	p. 1
The Beginning of the End, 1-24 April 1945	p. 7
The Last Week of April	p. 28
The First Four Days of May	p. 43
Further Surrenders, 5-6 May 1945	p. 68
False Dawn, 7 May 1945	p. 87
Learning the News, 7 May 1945	p. 99
War Recedes, 7 May 1945	p. 113
VE-Day Dawns, 8 May 1945	p. 142
'The German War is at an End'	p. 173
Britain Rejoices	p. 185
Liberated Lands	p. 215
Poland	p. 238
Germany Prostrated	p. 243
Austria in Turmoil	p. 268
Germany's Vassals Lose Their Chains	p. 276
The New World	p. 291
Fighting Against Japan as Europe Celebrates	p. 305
VE-Day in Russia, 9 May 1945	p. 319
VE-Day Plus One	p. 335
Trouble Brewing	p. 349
Terrible Times: The Aftermath of VE-Day	p. 355
From VE- to VJ-Day	p. 379
Epilogue	p. 405
Maps	p. 417
Bibliography	p. 431
Index	p. 435
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.