Not for the fainthearted or for those interested in only the military history of the end of the Third Reich. This book poses the question as to why, once it was apparent that Germany was going to lose, did the generals not overthrow Hitler and end the war sooner? To answer this, Kershaw examines the political situation at the end of Nazi Germany and finds little will to do so. The main supporters of Hitler--Speer, Goebbels, Boorman, and Himler--had nothing to look forward to after the war and neither did the Gautliers. Surrender or defeat meant death for them so they kept going.

As for the generals, many did so out of honor or a need to protect Germans in the east from rampaging Russians. The general public was terrorized into submission. Even in the last weeks of the war, a casual remark criticizing the government could mean a death sentence carried out in less than 30 minutes. The terror inflicted on the rest of Europe's "inferiors" finally came home to roost. Hard to find sympathy for them.

This book was a bit repetitive. Yet overall it was fascinating and disturbing to read. I had never given much thought to the experience of the German home front during the final phase of the war, nor had I ever wondered why the war did not end sooner. Hence I learned a lot. For a while I actually began to feel sorry for the German population ravaged by relentless bombing, terrorized or neglected by their own local leaders, and abused by the Soviet Army. But the book emphasizes the awful fate of the concentration camp prisoners and others deemed enemies of the state and concludes by reminding the reader that while the Germans were in a sense victims in the final months, they had enthusiastically participated in the regime in better days.