Swansong 1945: A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich - Hardcover

“An emotionally immediate and multi-faceted perspective of the last days of the Third Reich... No mere anthology but an artful collage... Difficult to put down.”
- Gerald Steinacher, Wall Street Journal

“A disturbing but compulsively readable slice of history.”
- Christian Science Monitor

“From the absurd to the sublime, and everywhere heartbreaking: a collage of voices from the tail end of the world's conflagration.... Raw [and] tremendously moving... Riveting.”
- Kirkus (starred review)

“This is a book that can be read comfortably only page by page. Otherwise it will break your heart.”
- Bill Marvel, Dallas Morning News

“Riveting... Kempowski's careful selection and sequencing convey the horror, misery, irony, and intensity of living through the last month of war in Germany. The work is noteworthy not just for its unique first-person perspective, but also for its breadth and depth... Essential.”
- Publishers Weekly

“A treasure... [Swansong 1945] offer[s] powerful glimpses into otherwise lost history... The collection is a kaleidoscope of voices, revealing struggle of all kinds.”
- Sarah Grant, Booklist (starred review)

“The power of [Swansong 1945] comes from the great variety and volume of the personal accounts, many of them eloquent and moving... This important book takes us beyond geography, statistics and battles and reveals the cost of war in very human terms.”
- Roger Bishop, BookPage

“A unique and haunting insight into what it was like to live through the violent twilight of the Third Reich. Indispensable and, above all, unforgettable.”
- Frederick Taylor, author of Dresden

“A remarkable collage of experiences and impressions of the catastrophic last days of the Second World War, which provides a unique panorama of the war and a very powerful impression of its impact on and the responses of those involved.”
- Jeremy Noakes, author of Nazism 1919-1945

“A bewitching, dramatic, utterly extraordinary range of voices and eyewitness testimony as Europe entered its year-zero moment.”
- David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain