Checkmate in Berlin

Milton, Giles

£10.99

Berlin was in ruins when Soviet forces fought their way towards the Reichstag in the spring of 1945. Streets were choked with rubble, power supplies severed and the population close to starvation. The arrival of the Soviet army heralded yet greater terrors: the city’s civilians were to suffer rape, looting and horrific violence. Worse still, they faced a future with neither certainty nor hope. Berlin’s fate had been sealed four months earlier at the Yalta Conference. The city, along with the rest of Germany, was to be carved up between the victorious powers – British, American, French and Soviet. On paper, it seemed a pragmatic solution; in reality, it fired the starting gun for the Cold War. As soon as the four powers were no longer united by the common purpose of defeating Germany, they reverted to their pre-war hostility and suspicion.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 14/04/2022

Description

‘Brilliantly written and completely absorbing, this is Milton’s masterpiece’ ANTHONY HOROWITZ

BERLIN’S FATE WAS SEALED AT THE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE.

The city was to be carved up between the victorious powers – British, American, French and Soviet – with four all-powerful commandants ruling over their sectors. On paper, it seemed a pragmatic solution; in reality, it marked the start of a ferocious battle of wits. As relations between east and west broke down, these rival commandants fought a desperate battle for control. In doing so, they fired the starting gun for the Cold War.

From America’s explosive Frank ‘Howlin’ Mad’ Howley, a sharp-tongued colonel with a loathing for Russians, to his nemesis, Russia’s charmingly deceptive General Alexander Kotikov, CHECKMATE IN BERLIN tells the exhilarating, high-stakes story of kidnap, skullduggery, sabotage, murder and the greatest aerial operation in history. This is the epic story of the first battle of the Cold War and how it shaped the modern world.

‘An excellent storyteller’ ANDREW ROBERTS

‘A book full of heroes’ THE TIMES

Additional information

Weight 314 g
Dimensions 196 × 128 × 34 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

416

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

943.15087 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K