Endgame 1944

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Read and remember the history that led to this important moment. ' This book is his best yet . . . Dimbleby’s work is in a different league , told with such skill and judgment' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times A gripping and authoritative account of the year that sealed the fate of the Nazis, from the bestselling historian June 1944: In Operation Bagration, more than two million Red Army soldiers, facing 500,000 German soldiers, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy, but, despite the myths that remain, it was the events on the Eastern Front that sealed Hitler's fate and destroyed Nazism. In his new book, bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses this momentous year, covering the military, political and diplomatic story in his evocative style. Drawing on previously untranslated German, Russian and Polish sources, we see how sophisticated new forms of deception and ruthless Partisan warfare shifted the Soviets’ fortunes, how their triumphs effectively gave Stalin authority to occupy Eastern Europe and how it was the events of 1944 that enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War . . . 'Mr. Dimbleby is a sure-footed guide to the labyrinthine military operations along a front line that extended nearly 2,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Black Sea' Wall Street Journal 'Terrific . . . a tour de force' Sir Richard Evans 'Military history at its very best' Keith Lowe Sunday Time Bestseller, June 2024

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Read and remember the history that led to this important moment. ' This book is his best yet . . . Dimbleby’s work is in a different league , told with such skill and judgment' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times A gripping and authoritative account of the year that sealed the fate of the Nazis, from the bestselling historian June 1944: In Operation Bagration, more than two million Red Army soldiers, facing 500,000 German soldiers, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy, but, despite the myths that remain, it was the events on the Eastern Front that sealed Hitler's fate and destroyed Nazism. In his new book, bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses this momentous year, covering the military, political and diplomatic story in his evocative style. Drawing on previously untranslated German, Russian and Polish sources, we see how sophisticated new forms of deception and ruthless Partisan warfare shifted the Soviets’ fortunes, how their triumphs effectively gave Stalin authority to occupy Eastern Europe and how it was the events of 1944 that enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War . . . 'Mr. Dimbleby is a sure-footed guide to the labyrinthine military operations along a front line that extended nearly 2,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Black Sea' Wall Street Journal 'Terrific . . . a tour de force' Sir Richard Evans 'Military history at its very best' Keith Lowe Sunday Time Bestseller, June 2024

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'This book is his best yet . . . Dimbleby's work is in a different league, told with such skill and judgment' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times A gripping and authoritative account of the year that sealed the fate of the Nazis, from the bestselling historian June 1944: In Operation Bagration, more than two million Red Army soldiers, facing 500,000 German soldiers, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy, but, despite the myths that remain, it was the events on the Eastern Front that sealed Hitler's fate and destroyed Nazism. In his new book, bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses this momentous year, covering the military, political and diplomatic story in his evocative style. Drawing on previously untranslated German, Russian and Polish sources, we see how sophisticated new forms of deception and ruthless Partisan warfare shifted the Soviets' fortunes, how their triumphs effectively gave Stalin authority to occupy Eastern Europe and how it was the events of 1944 that enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War . . . 'Mr. Dimbleby is a sure-footed guide to the labyrinthine military operations along a front line that extended nearly 2,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Black Sea' Wall Street Journal 'Terrific . . . a tour de force' Sir Richard Evans 'Military history at its very best' Keith Lowe Sunday Time Bestseller, June 2024

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'This book is his best yet . . . Dimbleby's work is in a different league, told with such skill and judgment' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times A gripping and authoritative account of the year that sealed the fate of the Nazis, from the bestselling historian June 1944: In Operation Bagration, more than two million Red Army soldiers, facing 500,000 German soldiers, finally avenged their defeat in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The same month saw the Allies triumph on the beaches of Normandy, but, despite the myths that remain, it was the events on the Eastern Front that sealed Hitler's fate and destroyed Nazism. In his new book, bestselling historian Jonathan Dimbleby describes and analyses this momentous year, covering the military, political and diplomatic story in his evocative style. Drawing on previously untranslated German, Russian and Polish sources, we see how sophisticated new forms of deception and ruthless Partisan warfare shifted the Soviets' fortunes, how their triumphs effectively gave Stalin authority to occupy Eastern Europe and how it was the events of 1944 that enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War . . . 'Mr. Dimbleby is a sure-footed guide to the labyrinthine military operations along a front line that extended nearly 2,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Black Sea' Wall Street Journal 'Terrific . . . a tour de force' Sir Richard Evans 'Military history at its very best' Keith Lowe Sunday Time Bestseller, June 2024

A gripping account of the Soviet victories of 1944 The year 1944 was the turning point of World War Two, and nowhere was this more evident than on the Eastern Front. For three years, following the onslaught of the German Army during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Red Army had retreated and then eventually held, fighting to a stalemate while the Germans occupied and ravaged large parts of the Soviet Union and its republics. Finally, following the breaking of the German siege of Leningrad in January 1944, Stalin and his generals were able to consider striking back. In June, they launched Operation Bagration , during which more than two million Red Army soldiers began an offensive, pushing west. The results were almost immediate and devastating. Within three weeks, Army Group Centre, the core of the German Army, had lost 28 of its 32 divisions. The ending had begun. Drawing on new sources-some previously untranslated-including accounts from ordinary soldiers and witnesses, Jonathan Dimbleby chronicles this decisive year in what was arguably the most crucial front in the war against Nazi Germany, a front extending 1200 miles. He covers the military, political, and diplomatic aspects in his trademark accessible and evocative style, illuminating the major conflicts as well as the roles played by deception, Partisan fighting, and the war within a war in Ukraine. Endgame 1944 reveals how the Soviet victories enabled Stalin to dictate the terms of the post-war settlement, laying the foundations for the Cold War.