Eight Days in May

"A fast-paced, brilliant recounting of the turbulent last days of the Third Reich. With all the energy and chaos of a Jackson Pollock canvas, Eight Days in May evokes the complete and utter chaos of a collapsing society. We see victor and vanquished, persecutor and victim, and witness an empire as it falls from its savage heights to the depths of a despised and defeated nation."-Helmut Walser Smith, author of Germany: A Nation in Its Time"The last days of the Third Reich have often been told, but seldom with the verve, perception and elegance of Volker Ullrich's rich narrative. For Western states that have never faced comprehensive and destructive defeat, this is an instructive lesson in how societies cope with the devastating reality of a surrender that they grimly await."-Richard Overy, author of RAF: The Birth of the World's First Air Force"The last chapter of the Nazi regime, just before its fall, is perhaps the most interesting. And Volker Ullrich manages to cover the days after Hitler's suicide with brilliant prose, and excellent original research."-Norman Ohler, New York Times best-selling author of Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich "Volker Ullrich's compact, gripping narration brings to life the death throes of the Nazi regime as individual acts of delusion, desperation and resignation. This vivid mosaic of German reactions to defeat is a suspenseful account and original depiction of the ambivalence and disbelief of those who had been spell-bound by Hitler."-Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and Hitler's Furies