Synopses & Reviews
1945 is a monumental, multi-dimensional history of the end of World War II. Dallas narrates in meticulous detail the conflicts, contradictions, motives, and counter-motives that marked the end of the greatest military conflict in modern history and established lasting patterns of deceit, uncertainty, and distrust out of which the Cold War was born.
Beginning with the siege of Berlin, Dallas describes in simple human terms the interactions of Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, Zhukov, Truman, de Gaulle, Macmillan, along with others relatively unknown, vividly portraying the interpenetration of the daily with the epochal, the obscure with the great political events taking place on the world stage. A grand narrative of diplomatic mistakes, military accidents, and the chaos inherent in human affairs,1945 draws the reader into a profound reflection on the basic shaping forces of history, the arbitrary ways we objectify its conflicts, and the subtle, almost invisible filaments that enmesh public events with private passions.
Review
"[This book] reads like a conversation with a sympathetic guide who has a sure eye for paradox, the unexpected detail and the almost forgotten . . . . Dallas convincingly demonstrates that where we are can be understood only by reference to where we were."-Daily Telegraph
(Alan Judd, Daily Telegraph)
Synopsis
In this monumental history of the end of World War II, Dallas describes the conflicts, contradictions, motives, and counter-motives that marked the end of the greatest military conflict in modern history and established lasting patterns of deceit, uncertainty, and distrust out of which the Cold War was born.
Synopsis
This is a masterpiece of historical writing, a book that compels its readers to reflect anew on the shaping forces of history. Beginning with the siege of Berlin,
1945 provides rich insight into the conflicts, motives, and counter-motives that marked the end of World War II and established the lasting patterns of deceit, uncertainty, and distrust that defined the Cold War.
and#147;Superbly sensitive to the ground-level tragedy and the high-level politics of 1944and#150;45, the readably fluent Dallas proves integral to understanding both what is known and unknown about the cataclysmic conclusion of the Second World War.and#8221;and#151;Booklist (starred review)
"One comes away from reading Gregor Dallasand#8217;s eloquent book with a profound sense of the warand#8217;s futility, wastefulness, and unintended consequences."and#151;James J. Sheehan, Commonweal
About the Author
Gregor Dallas is the author of 1918: War and Peace, 1815: The Roads to Waterloo, and other major histories.