The Final Days of the Reich is the latest in the popular Images of War
series by Ian Baxter. Drawing on rare and previously unpublished
photographs accompanied by in-depth captions and text, this book is a
compelling account of the final weeks of the Nazis' struggle for
survival against overwhelming odds. Each photograph fully captures the
tension, turmoil and tragedy of those last, terrible days of war as
Wehmacht, Waffen SS, Luftwaffe, Hitlerjungend, Volkssturm and other
units, some of which where comprised of barely trained conscripts,
fought out their last battles.
Exhausted and demoralized skeletal units must have been aware of the
impending defeat. Yet the German General Staff was still resolved to
fight at all costs. By late March 1945, less than 100 miles east of
Berlin, some 250,000 German troops had slowly withdrawn to the Oder, and
what followed was a series of fierce and determined defensive actions
that would finally see the Germans encircled and fighting the last
desperate battle within Berlin itself against overwhelming odds.