Five Days that Shocked the World

A fascinating read. It was interesting to see how the end of WW2 unfolded on continental Europe and the different reactions to Hitler's death. This book would make an excellent start to read about this period as it is easy to read plus it has an extensive bibliography at the back in which to further your knowledge.

Five Days That Shocked The World covers the events that took place during the last five days of WWII. Nicholas Best's writing is exceptional, he chronologically describes each day with eyewitnesses statements in each chapter. Many well-known people and their recollections of those specific days are included in the book. In my opinion, this book is very distressing, as so was WWII.

The story begins with Mussolini's capture and execution. The author does not sugarcoat anything in the book. Eyewitness's statements bring us back to those tragic days when the whole world was waiting for Germany to surrender and for Hitler to be captured.

I've read many books about WWII, nonetheless, when I opened this book I was not prepared for the horror and barbarity that took place during WWII. The book is dark and distressing, I was shocked by how much cruelty and inhumanity people had in themselves during those devastating days.

I think it takes a strong character to write a book like this. Yes, the stories inside the book are heartbreaking and wicked, but it has to be told. The world needs to know and remembers those dreadful events. This is my first book by Nicholas Best, and I am very impressed by his work. I already added few of his previous books to my TBR list.

I obtained a free copy via Netgalley for a honest and true review.

Five Days that Shocked the World: Eyewitness Accounts from Europe at the end of World War II by Nicholas Best is a fantastic read and perfect for all the history buffs out there!

In the book we follow a young Walter Cronkite as he parachutes into Holland with a Canadian troop; photographer Lee Miller capturing the evidence of Nazi atrocities; the future Pope Benedict returning home and hoping not to be caught and shot after deserting his unit; Audrey Hepburn no longer having to fear conscription into a Wehrmacht brothel; and even an SS doctor's descriptions of a decadent sex orgy in Hitler's bunker.

A good history book is all about the writing of the author and Nicholas Best does not disappoint. There are hundreds and hundreds of books on WWII but this isn't a book that will fall lost in the scholarship of WWII.

Anyone who loves history but specifically World War II I would definitely recommend this book!

The last few days of World War II are some of the more dramatic in history. Regimes were falling, old scores were being settled, and horrific chapters of history were being closed. Nicholas Best attempts to capture some of this chaos, and includes the personal tales of some well-known people.


=== The Good Stuff ===

* Best writes in an informal and easy-to-read style. The book is relatively short, but the pages flew by and I found myself reading the book in just a few sittings. The book is organized chronologically, and includes events throughout Europe during the few days before Germany’s surrender.

* There seems to be little new information in the book. Rather, it is mostly a synthesis of information that had been previously published. That said, however, the book is a nice summary of events relating to the surrender of Germany, the attempted breakouts from the heart of Berlin, and the last actions of man of the Nazi and Fascist leaders from Germany and Italy.

* The book includes personal histories of a number of characters. Some of these are more relevant to the topic of the end of the war, but all are somewhat entertaining and interesting. The characters who share their war-end memories include show-business personalities, religious leaders and future political figures from a number of countries.


=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* Toward the end, the book drags a bit. Once Hitler is dead, and the various Nazi leaders are fighting among themselves over succession, the actions become repetitive and somewhat uninteresting. I had read this material in other sources, so perhaps I would have found it more interesting if I hadn’t been exposed to it.

* There are not a lot of footnotes or references. The material certainly seems reasonably researched and in-line with what I have read previously, but it is not possible to follow the author’s trail of evidence. This is probably a minor point, since the book is more a “summary” than any attempt to shed new light on any events.


=== Summary===

The book is a nice summary of the events of the last few days of World War II in Europe. In includes the personal stories of a number of future “celebrities”, which mostly serve to make the story a bit more interesting. The book can be a bit gory and brutal, especially describing some of the violence that occurred during the last few days of the war. If you are reasonably well-read on this period history, there is not a lot of new information, but it is an reasonable and quick read.


=== Disclaimer ===

I was able to read an advance copy through the courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.

3.5 Stars

I thought this was an incredibly fascinating book. It really made me research more based on what I read. I believe it is well-researched and this is exactly the sort of history non-fiction book I was after.

World War II is one of the areas of modern history that fascinates me the most. I thought this book was unique in that it focused on the last five days of the war and was focused on the eyewitness accounts. I liked the parallels about where famous, or soon to be famous, individuals were when all of these events were occurring. It does not shy away from the horrific accounts of the war.

Probably the chapter on Hitler's death and the aftermath of it for his supporters, was the most compelling part of the book, due to how it was well-written. You do not usually get the German perspective of the end of the war, so that made this book unique in its take.

For history buffs, I highly recommend!

Honestly, I've probably read way too much about this period of history now. It's rare that I now find anything worth reading from this period that offers anything different to what I have already read. It was, therefore, a nice surprise to find that 'Five Days that Shocked the World' managed to offer something unique in style and content about this already very well covered period of history.

There are some fascinating anecdotal stories in here that make up a little patchwork of this brief period. In particular I enjoyed reading about some characters who were not central to the conflict but who had their lives impacted by it. The section on Audrey Hepburn was something of a surprise and was the sort of thing I could have happily read more about. Overall, this is an interesting read for anyone familiar with this period of history who may wish to read something a little different to the usual historical accounts.

History is always captivating to me, but this book made me speechless. All I could say was WOW. So much packed into so few days, but this book captures it well.

This summary of the end of WWII weaves together many different story lines and perspectives to give an interesting account of the war's last days and aftermath. Some of these stories I already knew (at least in part), but others were completely unknown to me previously.

What an amazing book. It really got into the nitty gritty of what happened. I learned more than I ever thought possible. This was such a unique time in our history and to have someone focus on just these days was brilliant. This book won't be for everyone, but if you're a lover of history or WWII you'll find it absolutely riveting. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This book is a must read for anyone who is at all interested in WW2!
It gives eye witness accounts which I think are amazing, even with some of the rose coloured specs worn by some of the witnesses.

Thank you NetGalley, and Nicholas Best, for allowing me to read and review Five Days That Shocked The World.

Nicholas Best did an outstanding job at piecing together the harrowing details hiring the last five days of WW2.

With much of the details coming from public record, and eyewitness accounts of those who lived through the time, either as someone in the fight or affected by it, it was heart wrenching to read.

It will be a while before I get some of those detailed descriptions out of my mind, of the atrocious that so many of the Jewish faith suffered. I several countries across Europe.

If you are a history buff, you may wish to read this book.

This books needs to be read.

We should never forget the atrocities committed during the years of Hitler and Nazism.

“Five Days That Shocked the World” by Nicholas Best is a great starting point for readers interested in the Second World War. In this book the author describes the last five days of the war from many different perspectives. The war is shown from various points of view of people that were famous during the war or became well-known later. The book is not perfect just as human memory is far from perfect. There are many aspects of the events described in the book that were neglected and left out by the author, but of course it was impossible to put every piece of information in one volume.

It was an easy read. There were so many lives at stake, so many people fighting for survival, that it was easy to get engaged in reading about their fates. The events at the end of the Second World War were very dramatic, there was do much confusion! At times the book read like an action-packed thriller.

When I read the last sentence in this book I laughed out loud. It offered a much needed comic relief after reading so many pages about human misery, death, terrible suffering and destruction. But it left me surprised as well. It wasn’t an average way to end a book about such important and tragic historical events. The author at times seems to sacrifice historical accuracy for a dramatic effect.

To sum it up, it is a very interesting and informative book, that will without doubt inspire many readers to read more about the Second World War and to seek more information about fates of different people and nations.

I received “Five Days That Shocked the World” from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.