LES CENT DERNIERS JOURS D'HITLER

Seventy years after Hitler's suicide and the fall of the Reich in April 1945, this chronicle of the Fuehrer's final days is a text of rare intensity. More than 100 photos, mostly unpublished, illustrate the vertiginous destiny of one of the most astounding characters of the 20th century.

The Third Reich was a peculiar edifice, like no other before or after. Its chief architect, Adolf Hitler, constructed within a short time a sinister and imposing monument, inherently unstable because it was entirely dedicated to destruction, war and conquest. Obviously, describing and explaining the doom of the Third Reich is inconceivable without careful examination of the behavior of its key figure, Hitler. To understand this collapse, unique in history, Jean Lopez chronicles the last days of Hitler's life, from his return to Berlin in January 1945 to his suicide in April of the same year. Here are his movements, his proclamations, his acts of government and military command, his daily life and moods, narrated and explained through the testimony and actions of those who stayed with him to the end: Eva Braun, of course, but also Guderian, his driver, his bodyguard, and many more. The chronicle encompasses military events, a crucial dimension because it is the Wehrmacht's ability to withstand Allied offensives that directly determines how much longer the regime and its master will survive. The political reality is also captured, enabling us to understand the actions of the four most powerful men of the regime after the Fuehrer: Himmler, Goebbels, Bormann and Speer. More than 100 photos, mostly unpublished, illustrate the account of how one of the most appalling characters of the 20th century met his doom. These images allow us to see the concrete impact of Hitler's decisions and the cataclysmic reality of his fall. Ultimately, the text and images answer the central question in this singular and innovative book: what designs lay behind Hitler's will never to surrender, to resist until death, dragging his 80 million powerless subjects with him into unprecedented catastrophe? Jean Lopez, founder and managing editor of the magazine Guerres et Histoire, has written a series of critically acclaimed books revisiting the German- Soviet front: -Koursk, les quarante jours qui ont ruiné la Wehrmacht, Economica, 2011 (Kursk, 40 days that ruined the Wermacht) -Stalingrad, la bataille au bord du gouffre, Economica, 2008 (Stalingrad, the battle on the edge of the abyss) -Berlin, Economica, 2009 -With Lasha Otkhmezuri, Grandeur et misère de l'Armée Rouge, Seuil, 2011 (The Red Army's glory and failure) -Joukov, a biography, Perrin, 2013. He is recognized as a leading expert on the Eastern Front and the Second World War.