The Day the War Ended - Softcover

Gilbert, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006863442 ISBN 13: 9780006863441

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

From the pen of ‘our giving living factual historian’ (Paul Johnson) comes this remarkable history which recreates the events and emotions of the final days of the Second World War and Victory-in-Europe Day 1945.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Anyone who wants to savour the exact mood across the world of that magical day of May 8, 1945 should read 'The Day the War Ended' by Martin Gilbert. Somehow the amazingly prolific Gilbert has managed to find time to compile an extraordinarily readable account of what everybody, literally everybody, was doing and thinking on VE-Day. It will be an essential companion for historians."
ALISTAIR HORNE, 'The Times'

"Martin Gilbert's magnificent book is a tremendous portrait of Europe in the weeks and months around VE-Day, supplemented by glimpses of what was happening elsewhere – notably in the Far East... We have a breath-taking panorama of the whole European continent at one of the most fateful moments of its history... I cannot begin to reflect the richness, the sadness and the complexity of such a terrific 'mise-en-scène'. Out of the nightmare, out of the endless tattered processions of refugees, the divisions victorious and defeated milling this way and that, the vile prisons festering with disease, a thousand pungent details and incongruous names leap out of the pages... Fifty years on, as Europe celebrates that famous victory, can we be sure that we shall never hear such a heart-rending 'cri de coeur' again?"
JAN MORRIS, 'Independent'

"An indispensable chronicle of events and memories, placed in the setting of a global conflict on a day by day basis."
DONALD CAMERON WATT, 'Financial Times'

"This is a story of beginnings and endings, and their various strands have been woven into a richly detailed book which brilliantly evokes the mood of the time. It is also a timely reminder of the values we were fighting to uphold and a moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit."
LAWRENCE JAMES, 'Evening Standard'

Synopsis:

Written by the author of "The Holocaust", this is a history of the events of 8 May 1945 and its repercussions, published to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations of VE Day in May 1995. It focuses not only on the events of that day, but also looks forward from that day to the years ahead. The theme of the book is the way in which the world today has been moulded by the events of 8 May 1945. Gilbert traces, in narrative form, the events and personalities of that day, from the early hours of the morning until midnight, looking at the topics and the people first in the context of that day, and then in the wider sweep of the events to which they led across the years. This story of one day's impact and its aftermath combines global perspectives with the stories of individuals.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0006863442
• ISBN 13: 9780006863441
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496