The Last Battle: The Fall of Berlin, 1945 by Cornelius Ryan
At 0400 on 16th April 1945, the Soviet Army launched its attack on Berlin, the last stronghold of Hitler's Germany. The Berliners waited in the bombed rubble of their city, caring only to survive in the nightmare world around them. Although the Western Allies had declared that Berlin was no longer a military objective and halted 45 miles from the city, the Russian veterans of Stalingrad swept on. This text presents an account of the three weeks of the death throes of the Third Reich. It follows the fortunes of ordinary men and women, soldiers and civilians, victors and the vanquished as Berlin was gutted, its women raped and its people terrorized by an invader driven by a ruthless vengeance.