Books, Documentaries and Films
Want to find out more about the Battle of Berlin? Looking to prepare for the tour? Want to ask me a devilishly hard question? These books and films are for you. The majority of them were used in researching the tour and are ideal for anyone wanting to find out even more. Some are more in-depth and detailed historical pieces, while others are created for a more general audience.
Books
Berlin: The Downfall 1945
- Anthony Beevor
Probably the best known book on the Battle of Berlin. Beevor is a prolific author of military history, including lengthy tomes on D-Day and Stalingrad. Some academic historians tend to turn their nose up to Beevor, primarily because of his somewhat ‘dramatic’ style of writing. Indeed, he did start out his career as a novelist and that is sometimes clear to see.
However, it is also a grand and largely unbiased history, with his accounts of Russian atrocities earning him the ire of the Russian government and academia.
Overall, his work is probably simultaneously the most extensive and readable mainstream book on the Battle of Berlin out there. It formed a significant part of the background to my research and helped create the initial framework of the tour.
The Berlin Operation 1945
- Soviet General Staff - Edited and translated by Richard W. Harrison
Practically the direct opposite of Beevor’s book, The Berlin Operation is a compilation of actual reports made by Stavka - The Soviet General Staff. Due to its nature, its not exactly beach reading material, but it does provide infinitely interesting official accounts of the fighting.
As well discussing the minute details of military organisation in Berlin, it often reveals the subtle psychology of the commanders who were eager to please their commanders with ever greater victories.
In regards to the tour, this book helped flesh out some of the tactics the Soviets used in the street fighting, and the obstacles they had to overcome.
The Unwomanly Face of War
- Svetlana Alexievich
In their total war mobilisation, all the combatants of the Second World War brought women in the military, but only in the Soviet Union did they fight on the frontline in large numbers. Eventually, around 800,000 women were mobilised often as nurses, aviators and partisans.
The Unwomanly Face of War consists of interviews with female veterans of the Red Army, many of which underwent terrible trials. A large number had also remained silent until interviewed by Alexievich.
I personally love primary sources such as these, especially interviews. They provide a great opportunity to gain an understanding of war on a personal, human scale. This is something often missed from the more general histories.
For her work on documentary literature, Alexievich was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature in 2015.
Panzers in Berlin 1945
- Lee Archer - Robert Kraska - Mario Lippert
If you’re interested in tanks, this is the book for you. Panzers in Berlin (as the name suggests) is an exhaustive list of Panzers operating within Berlin during the battle. Including hundreds of high quality photos and illustrations, the book catalogs the journeys and eventual fate of individual German armored vehicles to minute detail.
It is clear this book was a labor of love and although it might be unwieldy and impenetrable to some, to tank enthusiasts its a treasure trove.
This is especially true for visitors to Berlin. Via this book I learned a flakpanzer was knocked out on my doorstep and the post office round the corner had featured a heavily dug in Panther tank. This isn’t vital information in the grand scheme of things, but certainly made me see familiar streets in a new perspective.
In The Garden of Beasts
- Erik Larson
Although not specifically about the Battle of Berlin, In the Garden of Beasts tells the story of William E. Dodd, the US Ambassador to Germany in the early 1930s. Dodd, perhaps unprepared and unsuited for the task, must navigate the complexities of pre-war Germany, including his relationships with high ranking Nazi party officials.
Like Beevor’s book, In the Garden of Beasts can sometimes be mistaken as a piece of historical fiction and is written in a similar manner. However, all of the many conversations it retells are based on primary documentary evidence.
Larson’s book provides a vivid portrait of Berlin, especially the Tiergarten through which our tour passes. It also explores the vagaries of Wilhelmstrasse politics - another location on the tour.
Perhaps most revealing of all - at least to me - was the fact antisemitism in the early 1930s was not a wholly German phenomenon. Many American diplomats held similar beliefs, if somewhat more subtly.
Berlin Diary
- William L. Shirer
Another book not ostensibly about the battle, Berlin Diary is the diary of William Shirer, a US journalist working in Berlin throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. Like In the Garden of Beasts, Berlin Diary reveals the strange world of Nazi Germany, with all of its paranoia, fanaticism and - according to Shirer - dullness.
Berlin Diary reveals how a once vibrant, diverse and cosmopolitan Berlin was transformed into the capital of the Third Reich. Gone was the cabaret, the lively dance halls and the theater. Instead, dreary Wagner operas dominated.
Shirer would go on to write The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, an extensive, if occasionally flawed, history of the period.
A Woman in Berlin
- Anonymous
One of the most controversial elements of the Battle of Berlin - and indeed the war in the east in general - was the widespread rape and sexual assault of women. Only recently has Western historians began tackling this issue, while the topic still engenders huge debate in Russia today.
Following its original publication in Germany in 1959, A Woman in Berlin received a similar response - even among Germans. The frank and honest discussion of sexual assault and survival, especially concerning the author’s pragmatic approach to both, was deemed to besmirch the reputation of German women. More recently, its authenticity has also been called into question.
Despite that, it became an international best seller and its credibility has since been stoutly defended. Today, it stands as one of the most powerful first-hand accounts of a civilian navigating the horror of the Second World War.
Movies & Documentaries
Der Untergang (Downfall)
Likely the most famous movie about the Battle of Berlin, if for slightly comical reasons. A scene from the film, in which Hitler flies into a tearful rage, has become a meme of sorts, spawning countless parodies. In its original form, the scene acts as a startling, and mostly accurate, portrayal of a pivotal moment in the war: the moment Hitler realized he had lost.
Beyond that, Downfall does an incredible job of creating a truly human Hitler. Indeed, the film was criticized by some for creating an almost sympathetic portrayal of the Führer. He is shown as an ill, paranoid and depressed old man who could, on occasion, be compassionate to those around him.
However, ultimately Downfall shows him for that he was. As he sat sulking in the safety of his bunker, men, women and children died overhead. Instead of using his last moments of power to save them by surrendering, he ranted and raved and blamed everyone but himself for his defeat.
16 Days in Berlin
So, first a disclaimer. I was extremely marginally involved with this project and more recently have worked with the team on their Great War project. So, I’m not exactly unbiased. Regardless, 16 Days in Berlin is definitely the most comprehensive documentary series produced on the Battle of Berlin.
Covering each day in chronological detail, it follows the ebbs and flows of the battle, as well as the trials and tribulations of the commanders, soldiers and civilians caught in the maelstrom.
The crowdfunded project was filmed all across Berlin and is based on reams of diverse research, including many direct quotes, in-depth maps and interviews with notable history content makers.