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Victory in the West 1945 cover art

Victory in the West 1945

By: Peter Caddick-Adams TD VR BA (Hons) PhD FRHistS FRGS KJ
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into Germany. Victory is finally within their grasp. But if they believe this victory can be easily won, they face swift disillusionment. The final 100 days of the Second World War will prove to be bitterly and bloodily fought, village by village, town by town.

In Victory in the West 1945, acclaimed military historian Peter Caddick-Adams brings this closing stage of the Allies' fight against Nazi Germany brilliantly to life. He explores the immense challenges they faced in crossing the Rhine on a 300-mile front. He tells stories of individual acts of resolve and heroism, of often exhausted troops pressing forward attacks in the face of ferocious resistance. He recounts their shocked first encounters with the barbarities of Hitler's regime as they reached the gates of Buchenwald, Belsen and Dachau. And he goes behind the front line to analyse the strategic decisions made at Allied headquarters and to offer pin-sharp portraits of the military leaders.

Throughout he draws on a vast range of memoirs and personal interviews with survivors to give a vivid sense of what it was like to encounter enemy combatants and civilians face to face. Thoroughly enjoyable, this will be the standard work on the closing days of the Second World War for a generation.

©2022 Peter Caddick-Adams (P)2022 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Victory in the West 1945

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    3 out of 5 stars

Anti British Bias

If you want to know about the American experience during the last months of the war in Europe then this is the book for you. The author describes in great detail the US battles, tactics and personal recollections supported by huge amounts of facts and figures and it's well written too. But, if you're interested in the British or Commonwealth experience, forget it. He skims over their experiences as if it's something he has to do to connect the US histories. Even the French armies under American command get more column inches. Given that the author is a former British army officer and a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, I expected equally thorough treatment of our contribution but alas not. There is insufficient detail, often glossed over, it's short and perfunctory. It's obviously been written with the American market in mind and it's plain to see that he holds the American commanders in very high esteem but has little time for the British and Canadians, especially Montgomery. At the end, for example, he provides a summary of virtually every US commanders career after the war but only briefly mentions 2 British commanders. Again, even the French featured more with 3 generals. If this book had been advertised as an American history I would have been happy with it but a comprehensive history of the whole allied effort it is not, and that's why it only has 3 stars.

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7 people found this helpful

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Magnificent

Peter manages to capture both the sweeping strategy of the campaign with the visceral personal testimonies in the same paragraph. Gripping stuff and I learned so much, even though I thought I knew a fair amount. The reader did very well too. Overall, one of the best audiobooks in a long while!

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4 people found this helpful

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Great listen!

A well written book, with fabulous detail, all performed by one of my favourite readers on audible; Peter Noble.

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3 people found this helpful

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A really worthwhile listen

Well informed, interesting, and a lot of information I'd never came across before. The narration was very good.

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Superb

Intensely moving. One could almost be present. The concentration/labour camp material brings tears. Brilliant narration.

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Fascinating book on an often over looked period of the Second World War

Fascinating book well read with difficult subjects excellently & sensitively handled. Well worth listening to as you will learn so much about the last 100 days of the war.

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Outstanding - History At Its Best

This is an excellent piece of work, superbly read. The author manages to cover momentous military history in all of its aspects: strategic, tactical, and personal.
The writing is engaging, the story one of unimaginable brutality, unexpected humanity and is exhaustive in detail but never slow and heavy.
I shall seek out and devour Carrick-Adams' other work.

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Flawless!

A highly gripping and definitive account of the final battles in the Second World War in the Western European theatre of the conflict. The author ensures that we get to know the major players and how they interacted - on both sides. Clearly Dr Peter Caddick-Adams is a master storyteller and historian. Bravo

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A phenomenal saga

I thoroughly enjoyed the comprehensive information written by Mr Caddick-Adams and the delivery by Mr Peter Noble was fantastic. The book is well worth listening to.

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Superb

Detailed well written and comprehensive this is the best history yhe last 3 months of we2

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