{"product_id":"2940170347704","title":"The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945","description":"\u003cp\u003eCountless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II,  yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question  of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did. The Third Reich did  not surrender until Germany had been left in ruins and almost completely  occupied. Even in the near-apocalyptic final months, when the war was plainly  lost, the Nazis refused to sue for peace. Historically, this is extremely  rare.      \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on original testimony from ordinary Germans and arch-Nazis alike,  award-winning historian Ian Kershaw explores this fascinating question in a  gripping and focused narrative that begins with the failed bomb plot in July  1944 and ends with the German capitulation in May 1945.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHitler, desperate to  avoid a repeat of the \"disgraceful\" German surrender in 1918, was  of course critical to the Third Reich's fanatical determination, but his  power was sustained only because those below him were unable, or unwilling,  to challenge it. Even as the military situation grew increasingly hopeless,  Wehrmacht generals fought on, their orders largely obeyed, and the regime  continued its ruthless persecution of Jews, prisoners, and foreign workers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on prodigious new research, Kershaw's  \u003ci\u003eThe End\u003c\/i\u003e is a harrowing yet enthralling portrait of the Third Reich in its  last desperate gasps. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e©2011 Ian Kershaw (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Instructional Systems [Aubrey J. Kline (aka Jim Kline dba Instructional Systems)]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47100592750832,"sku":"2940170347704","price":37.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940170347704_p0.jpg?v=1763708305","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940170347704","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}