Plunder

The last weeks of World War II on the Western Front in Europe witnessed extraordinary scenes of heroism, horror, melodrama and pathos.

In Plunder, Max Hastings presents a cast of fascinating people British, American and German, in a series of great events in which some distinguished themselves through wonderful deeds, others through the basest crimes.

The book takes its title from Montgomeryâs âOperation Plunderâ, the 23 March 1945 crossing of the Rhine, witnessed by Winston Churchill and embracing huge amphibious and airborne landings. The author describes the American coup in capturing Remagen bridge and the âbattles of the breakoutâ which followed. Thereafter he recounts stories of Nazi Werewolves; of US General George Pattonâs reckless and doomed dispatch of an armoured column fifty miles behind German lines to liberate his son-in-law from a prison camp; the heartbreaking liberation of Belsen concentration camp; the wonderful achievement of Ian Liddell of the Coldstream Guards, among the last VC winners of the war and surely one of the most deserving; the last big SAS operation of the war. Finally come accounts of the tortuous succession of German surrenders, and the weeks of Admiral Karl Donitzâs posturing as the Third Reichâs last Fuhrer.

Plunder is the latest history from Max Hastings, and offers his signature narrative of conflict, blending personal experiences into the âbig pictureâ, highlighting deeds and personalities that will be unfamiliar to many readers. He mingles accounts of the battles with stories of people â" warlords, soldiers, slave labourers, prisoners, fugitives, victims â" who played many and various roles in the last European act of historyâs most terrible war.