“The Fall of Berlin”, by Anthony Read and David Fisher

540 pages, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN-13: 978-0393332414

The Fall of Berlin by Anthony Read and David Fisher is a magnificent account of the last days of the Second World War and the German surrender to the Soviet Union (let’s be real; it was the Soviets who smashed Berlin flat and took control of it, even if technically they surrendered to all of the Allies). I actually read this book years ago, way before Faust’s Metropolis: A History of Berlin by Alexandra Richie (reviewed par moi December 5^th, 2017…but then you knew that), and found that this much more concise history of the city was able to focus on a relatively brief era and thus bring more depth and knowledge to the same. Starting with the Olympic Games of 1936, authors Read and Fisher chronicle the history of Berlin during the years prior to World War II and ending with the Battle of Berlin. Focusing not only on the known historical players such as Hitler and Goebbels, but including excerpts from diaries of every day Berliners, the book reads almost like a novel with a cast of thousands. At first, Berliners are stunned that Hitler is able to conquer most of continental Europe through sheer bravado alone, the general consensus being that eventually the world would see Hitler and the Nazis for what they really were and sanity would once again prevail. But of course, we can now look back in hindsight and realize that the complacency of the general population and the other world leaders is precisely what led to Hitler wreaking havoc on the world.

Most of the chapters are very short – no more than 3 to 4 pages – which helps to keep the pace of the book from bogging down into too much detail. Much information is given on the daily life of Berliners – how ration cards worked, what they did during air raids, etc. – especially different groups of Berliners: Jews (yes, Jews, at least for a time), immigrants, forced laborers, Hitler Youth, and so on, and how they reacted to the changing world as, eventually, Berlin spiraled into chaos. The innumerable bombings, which nightly rocked the city, are described in detail and how the city reacted, as first stunned and then eventually immune to the terror. The first 200 pages of the book cover the years from 1936 until March 1945, while the remaining 250 pages detail the Battle of Berlin. Through complicated political considerations, the Soviets are allowed to conquer the city while the British and American troops held back. Because the Soviet Union suffered so much during the war, especially the siege of Stalingrad, it was deemed only fitting that they make the first attempt on the city. The first wave of soldiers were professionals while the second wave of soldiers-former prisoners of the Germans, took out their hatred in raping, looting and pillaging. In the first 8 weeks after the fall of Berlin, over 90,000 German women had seen doctors due being raped by the Soviet soldiers. How many never reported this crime cannot even be estimated.

The Fall of Berlin is not a comprehensive tale of the Russian 1945 spring campaign, but it certainly provides readers with a dense, richly textured portrait of one of the world’s most famous cities and its obliteration from bombing and invasion. What I think what I appreciate most about this book was that it didn’t focus only on the battles of World War II or the major personalities, but on the lives of everyday Berliners and those who lived through the city’s triumphs and tragedies, who experienced it first hand, but whose voices have been muted in the presence of the big names in history. This certainly isn’t an earth shattering revelation, but the book is a nice addition to anyone’s historical knowledge of the 20^th Century’s most important city.