Customer Reviews
Another excellent Hastings War book - By: Kentspur, 19 Nov 2008 
Max Hastings is not a character I instinctively take to. His bluff manner, pinstripe suits, right wing views & - most of all - strange hair leave me thinking 'okaayyy' every time he pops up as a talking head on the TV.
As a rule, I don't like 'celebrity' history books. It's easier to get published if you're a 'name' journalist, but that doesn't mean you're any good.
Hastings bucks the trend.
This book joins 'The Korean War,' Bomber Command' & 'Overlord' as top quality, popular military histories. He synthesises many sources to produce a highly readable narrative & does not shirk from ethical judgements. Why did the german army go on fightingin the West after the Bulge? The moral failure of the German generals. Were the Russians so differentin their failure to help Warsaw than the Western allies werein their failure to help starving Holland?
The scale of human suffering is amazing - shocking - as Hastings reports the sinking of liners trying to get civilians away from the Russian advance. However, he does not flinch from the unpopular view that these ships were legitimate military target as they were carrying troops. Throughout the work, Hastings draws a contrast with the 'civiliansin uniform' of the British & American forces & the armies of the dictatorships - German & Soviet, who fight with utter disregard for casualties.
By the end, the sheer scale of the catastrophe envelops you, but the little stories of kindness do offer a modicum of hope.
Great book.
A compelling and sometimes preachy overview - By: Geschichtsliebhaber, 01 Jul 2008 
An impressive panoramic narrative of the battle for Germany, "Armageddon" combines a wide range of sources (including many veterans) with Hastings's sharp, often iconoclastic judgement. His criticism of the military folly of Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes offensive, & Zhukov's Oder crossing is hard-hitting, but frequently deserved. Hastings is no apologist for military failings, although he frequently gets moralistic: discussions of the justice of the allied cause or the tyranny of Stalin, which is perceivedin downright Manichean terms, should not be part of a work of history. This is not to deny the reality of good & evil, or to say that tales of atrocity should not be included: of course they should, especiallyin a book that intends to provide a comprehensive narrative. It's just that anti-communist & anti-Nazi polemic should not be part of a work of history; it should be left to philosophers & politicians.
Apart from that criticism, Hastings provides a compellingly readable & frequently heart-wrenching account of the final months of the war, paying almost equal attention to the topics usually ignoredin the west, such as the sheer magnitude & ferocity of the war on the eastern front. In "Armageddon", the catastrophic climax of the Second World War comes to life, & although we probably can't imagine accurately that awful time, Hastings comes pretty close.
Two minor criticisms. The first is that Hastings argues that the allied carpet bombing of German civilian homes is justified on the grounds that the workers who got bombed were supporting the German war effort through their labour. This is of course correct, but it's a very slippery slope. Taken to an extreme, this argument completely removes the distinction between civilian & military targets: after all, enemy women are also working & supporting their working husbands, thus contributing to the war effort, & children will grow to become enemy soldiers.
Secondly, the maps Hastings includes (e.g. pp.4-5) are extremely strange, inasmuch as they show Europein the borders of 1937 (except for Luxemburg, which Hastings for some reason considers a part of Germany). As a consequence, Hastings's maps feature a number of countries which did notin fact existin 1944-5, such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, or Estonia, & simply do not show several countries which did exist, such as Slovakia & Croatia. Of course, the borders of 1937 are broadly those accepted by the Western allies, but they have nothing to do with the political realities of 1944-5; Austria, for instance, was not an independent country, as "Armageddon" suggests, but an integral part of Germany. The problem is sometimes compoundedin the text. What is the reader to imagine when told that a certain regiment was moved "to the Czech border"? What Czech border? The pre-1938 Czech border did not existin 1944-5 either politically or ethnographically. Thus Hastings causes considerable confusion, as there is no clear sense where exactly the "frontiers of Germany" are, or anything else for that matter.
Excellent Narrative - By: Phileas Fogg, 19 Jun 2008 
This is a superb book, & I can really appreciate the level of knowledge about the warin 1944-45, & the personal quotes & insights into the conflict at the time that he has brought into the book.
Highly recommended, especially the lesser parts of the campaign he covers, such as the annihilation of East Prussia, Pomerania & Silesia, & the moving of borders & people westwards.
I'd highly recommend anyone read this to gain insights into this tumultuous time & help them see how a modern, civilised, Western European civilisation can descend so quickly into chaos, brutality & destruction. One is left pandering for a visit to pre-war europe to see what Dresden & Warsaw used to look like.
Expected Better - By: Mr. Nicholas W. Le Huquet, 02 Jun 2008 The author has obviously put a great deal of time & effort into this book & dealt with many aspects of the latter part of WW2 that tends to be overlooked, such as the suffering of Soviet prisoners, even when repatriated. Although very patchy, my biggest gripe is with Max being a tad naughty when stating German & Russian armies were excellent just about all the time, & that the American & Commonwealth armies were useless most of the time. As with Overlord (a much better book) he is particularly unimpressed by the Canadian performance, while ignoring the actual opponents & terrain. Still definetely worth reading once, just get a copy from your local library.
Brilliant - By: R Howard, 31 May 2008 This is Hastings at his best. He tells the storyin typical gripping fashion, & his use of eyewitness accounts helps give the reader a true 'feel' for what it was like to be there. Even for someone who thinks they've read too much about WW2 (as I felt I did before I started this book), this book is recommended. Great stuff, & I really enjoyed reading it.
