Few battles in history have been waged with greater ferocity, desperation, bravery, and atrocity than the battle for Berlin at the end of the Second World War. No one can tell a story better than Ryan, and he is at his very best here. In this book Cornelius Ryan brings his masterful powers of description and discerning eye for extraordinary detail to bear with force and elegance. This is a wonderful book, immensely informative, densely packed with facts and figures, and told in a compelling way by a best-selling author who can vividly recount seemingly countless tales of the most ordinary of individuals caught in the unforgiving and often deadly embrace of total war.

I had a copy of Cornelius Ryan’s The Last Battle picked off a street side vendor. That copy was precious since the author had autographed it and presented it to some dear friend. A classmate of mine had nicked it from my shelf (and even went to the extent of keeping it hidden when I was in their house). I found a copy of the book (not my copy) at a bookshop again. Riveting read more from an understanding of the characters involved rather than the historical sweep of events.