In Hitler’s Last Days, Bill O’Reilly revamps his Killing Patton for a younger audience. This is a quicker read with more photographs.
The beginning portion of the book focuses on the end of World War II. O’Reilly tells about the Battle of the Bulge and crossing the Rhine RIver. The book closes with thirteen mini-topics about World War II in general. O’Reilly covers Hitler’s mustache and diet, Nazi art looting, the Nuremberg Trials, the Red-Ball Express, and more. If you are looking for a overall view of World War II, this book’s focus is too narrow for you. Neither is this book a biography of Hitler; however, it still is a very interesting read, juxtaposing all of the beach fiction this summer.
At the start of World War II, the Nazis seemed poised to win. By 1945, however, the fate of the Third Reich seems uncertain. As Hitler starts to hole himself up in private bunkers, the German Nazi State faces near certain destruction. General Dwight D. Eisenhower leads Allied forces across Europe, slowly regaining territory.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery and General George Smith Patton, Jr. are portrayed as rivals with different tactical viewpoints, even though they both command Allied troops. General Patton constantly comes up with audacious plans and favors all-out attacks. Field Marshal Montgomery uses cautious tactics, which nearly caused Allied forces to lose the Battle of the Bulge. Patton is furious when Montgomery is told to cross the Rhine River first, while Patton waits. Patton goes rogue and crosses the Rhine River one day before Montgomery, contrary to orders.
While this is going on, we see Hitler slowly lose his sanity while deep in his bunker. Personal staff, Eva Braun (Hitler’s wife), and Blondi (Hitler’s dog) accompany Hitler deep in his bunker. As the Russians come closer and closer to taking the city of Berlin, Hitler and Eva Braun take their own lives; being a Russian prisoner of war would guarantee a life of torture and suffering.
In the end, most of the villains behind the Nazi regime are brought to justice at the Nuremberg Trials.