Chronicling the history of Berlin, this book charts the Communist-Nazi struggle of the Weimar Republic; the "Thousand Year Reich" with its penchant for show and architectural grandeur which transformed the city; and its consequent battering by the Allies and the Soviets by air and land respectively. The city's position as the central point of the Cold War is examined, focusing on the partition, and eventual reunion, of East and West.

In his new book, Tony Le Tissier provides the first detailed account of the Soviet-German conflict east of Berlin, culminating in 1945 with the last major land battle in Europe that proved decisive for the fate of Berlin. When the first Red Army soldier reached the Oder on the 31st of January, everyone at the Soviet Headquarters expected Marshall ZhukoV's troops to bring a quick end to the war. However, despite desperate fighting by both sides, a stalemate persisted for two months, at the end of which the Soviet bridgeheads north and south of Kustrin were united and the fortress finally fell. By drawing not only on official sources, but also on the accounts of individuals involved, Le Tissier meticulously reconstructs the difficult breakthrough achieved on the Oder: the establishment of bridgeheads, the battle for the fortress of Kustrin, the bloody fight for Seelow Heights. Numerous maps and step by step illustrations show the operations of both contestants in detail and reveal a most interesting episode in the history of the Second World War in Europe.

In his new book, Tony Le Tissier provides the first detailed account of the Soviet-German conflict east of Berlin, culminating in 1945 with the last major land battle in Europe that proved decisive for the fate of Berlin. When the first Red Army soldier reached the Oder on the 31st of January, everyone at the Soviet Headquarters expected Marshall ZhukoV's troops to bring a quick end to the war. However, despite desperate fighting by both sides, a stalemate persisted for two months, at the end of which the Soviet bridgeheads north and south of Kustrin were united, and the fortress finally fell.

By drawing not only on official sources, but also on the accounts of individuals involved, Le Tissier meticulously reconstructs the difficult breakthrough achieved on the Oder: the establishment of bridgeheads, the battle for the fortress of Kustrin, and the bloody fight for Seelow Heights. Numerous maps and step by step illustrations show the operations of both contestants in detail and reveal a most interesting episode in the history of the Second World War in Europe.

In May 1945, as the triumphant Red Army crushed the last pockets of German resistance in central Berlin, French soldiers fought back. They were the last surviving members of SS Charlemagne, the Waffen SS division made up of French volunteers. They were among the final defenders of the city and of Hitler's bunker. Their extraordinary story gives a compelling insight into the dreadful climax of the Battle for Berlin and into the conflicts of loyalty faced by the French in the Second World War. Yet, whatever their motivation, the performance of these soldiers as they confronted the Soviet onslaught was unwavering, and their fate after the German defeat was grim. Once captured, they were shot out of hand by their French compatriots or imprisoned. SS Charlemagne is a gripping, fluently written study of one of the most revealing side stories of the war.

Sixty years have elapsed since the cataclysmic demise of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich. In this book Tony Le Tissier (author of Berlin Then and Now) traces the rise of Hitler, the Nazi Party and its ramifications, together with its deeds and accomplishments, during the twelve years that the Third Reich existed within today's boundaries of the Federal Republics of Germany and Austria. The homes - or sites of them - of the dramatis personnae; the Nazi legends of their martyrs; the sites of the former Third Reich shrines at the Obersalzberg; in Munich; Nuremberg; Bayreuth, and in Berlin; the Hitler Youth schools and the Party colleges; the 'euthanasia' killing centres; the concentration camps, and much much more. Tony then follows the progress of Hitler's war: from the attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 to defeat in Berlin and the final round-up at Flensburg in May 1945. A final chapter covers the de-Nazification of Germany, the whole volume being illustrated by 'then and now' comparison photographs which are the central theme of After the Battle.