The End of War

Rating:
Summary: The Best War Novel In A Long Time
Review: "The End of War" is a cliched, tedious piece of historical fiction set in the last days of the Third Reich. The scope is vast, as the author indicated in his preface likening it to a Greek tragedy, but herein lies the novel's downfall. The point-of-views shift so much between the omni-potent "gods" (i.e., FDR, Churchill, Stalin & Eisenhower) and the lesser "players" (Lottie, Ilya et al.) that it is virtually impossible for us to identify with any of the characters. Aside from this, even the action scenes are forced and farfetched. For instance, the Russian protagonist Ilya, in spite of being at the forefront of every major offensive action, seems to have more lives than 9 cats! Not a very realistic portrayal of close combat at all.

There is not yet a historical novel on WW2 worthy of comparison to Michael and Jeff Shaara's Civil War trilogy and Steven Pressfield's masterpieces on the ancient Greeks. Alas, there may never be.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just For War Buffs
Review: David Robbins has done the cause of WW II history a great favor; he's summed up the political complexity (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin), the horribble degradation (the vengeful execution of prisoners, the subjection by rape), the reach for some redemption (through the attempt to save just one person), the cruelty of indiscriminate bombing (more vividly described here than I've ever read) all converging in the symbolic nexus of the horror - Berlin - in a fast reading 390 page book.

The imagery here is well crafted. This angle on history, in an novel based on fact, feels more real than any purely factual account I've read. The unexpected thing: a German girl and her mom present tragic yet admirable heroes, and I am disturbed to think that these fictional characters represent thousands of real, brutalized people, who have mostly been ignored by history.

Hollywood would likely trample the impactfulness of this novel, yet I can viualize several scenes of unequaled power. I think the movie, like the book, could be done on the level of a Schindlers List - eg. become the definative statement on how it ended - not as gloriously as we like to think.

I recommend the book, then, not just to war buffs, but to all who want to better understand this tragic event. You will finish it with a feeling of sadness, and maybe anger, and you'll likely admire David Robbin's ability to have conjured up these feelings. Isn't that exceptional for an historical novel? I think 5 stars is thus, very appropriate.

Rating:
Summary: "War may be interested in you."
Review: I think I used that title once before in a review of an Alan Furst novel but it matters not, it fits here as well. When Trotsky wrote that he spoke of the whirlpool attraction of war that sucked people in, and he referred to the fact that 'you may not be interested in war but war may be interested in you!'

And certainly in the case of the three civilians in "The End of the War," Lottie the cellist, Charley Bandy the Life photographer and Ilya the Russian decommisioned officer-now foot soldier, all are caught in the whirlpool of this horrible chapter of our world history.

David Robbins' brilliant novel is the last of a trilogy beginning with Stalingrad ("War of the Rats"), followed by Kursk ("The Last Citadel") and ending here in Berlin. I say trilogy but there really is no connection except the chronology of historical events. The coherence of the three novels is in the relentless cause and effect of the World at War on millions of lives in the war as well as those bystanders and families.

Robbins has been criticized for the splintering effect of all of the individual stories, for included in "The End of the War" are representations of/from Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. I feel such criticisms are subjective at best because what we have here is an epic about something of epic proportions. When you have technology combined with will so advanced that 10,000 men can die in a single six-hour battle, perhaps what we need is to have multiple views to help us understand in the larger sense of the word, what happened.

For those of us reluctant to bick up a treatise by Barbara Tuchman, Cornelius Ryan, Doris Kearns or Max Hastings, David Robbins offers a compromise. Good stuff. Impossible to put down. Larry Scantlebury

Rating:
Summary: It Reads Like Lightning
Review: I'm a World War 11 buff, an avid reader of both fiction and non fiction about "The Good War."

I don't give five star ratings in this genre easily. They're almost always saved for James Jones, author of "From Here to Eternity," "The Thin Red Line" and "Whistle."

But Mr. Robbins' "The End of War" is a remarkable novel. It's not literary, it's just a helluva good story, very well told. It moves at a lightning pace. It beautifully intertwines history with the stories of three very different people, an American war photographer, a Russian soldier, and a teenage girl trapped in Berlin.

For historical perspective, Mr. Robbins uses the perspectives of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin to chronicle the rush to Berlin during the last five months of the war.

These World Leader chapters are informative and entertaining. But they serve to provide only a framework for the personal sagas of the photographer, the Russian and the girl.

Surprisingly, perhaps - because Mr. Robbins is an American and a scholar of history - the two stories that pack an unforgettable punch are of Ilya, the battered soldier and Lottie, the helpless German girl.

Particularly, the latter. The terror and hopelessness depicted in the Berlin narrative is some of the best writing of war ever penned. And the ending is perfect. That's all I can say - Absolutely and Artistically Perfect.

I hope Hollywood discovers this book. It's a classic mini-series waiting to happen.

Rating:
Summary: I've read this somewhere before
Review: I'm sorry, but do all the triller authors have to keep beating world war 2 to death? We have the same people dealing with the same issues as we do in every other WW 2 novel. I liked the book don't get me wrong but how often can we have

A reluctant solider
A German family trying to cope with the war
2 Russian soilders trying to redeme themselves

Don't forget Churchill

Overall-Good and fast paced, but nothing new read Hart's War instead

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant piece for any non history buff.
Review: The book was riveting from start to finish. Even though the outcomes were fairly predictable (as we are all well familiar with the tradgedy that it was), the information of the progress of the war, the comparisson of all of the 4 cultures through the personalities through the worst times of human nature, cannot be taught any easier.

I recommend this book to any parent that has a child like myself, who is not enthused about history. This is the way to teach it. Mine is now addicted. Next? Maybe "Berlin" by Antony Beevor, or "To Hell and Back" by the most decorated of all US soldiers: Audie Murphy. Inspirational!!

Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: A Serious Novel
Review: This is a serious novel with much historically accurate detail. It is a must for anyone interested in the history of the closing days of WWII in Europe. It is a book that leaves you thinking about most of the characters as if they were your friends.

It is not a lightweight book, but it is very difficult to put down when once one gets into it. The characters are real people caught in extraordinary circumstances, and the author has put great effort into describing their conflicts in authentic terms.

This book is a substantial and compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: This is a very exciting work of prose. What I like most about it was its unique perspective, much of the novel takes place on the Eastern front from the russian point of view. That was where the real war was fought. That was where it was won. I would very much like to see this made into a big hollywood movie one day. Its nice to show the Russian soldier as brave and heroic man that has to fight both the Nazis and the brutal Stalinist regime in order to stay alive. Communism was evil but the soldiers of the front were true heros then and forever. Its nice to know that at least someone in the West accepts that fact.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading, but not earth shattering
Review: This is an interesting, well-written, compelling, and intruiging story set in WW II (actually three separate stories). It is both entertaining and thought-provoking, but I want to be careful not to give it more credit that is due. In the annals of war stories this will go down as a good one, but not a great one. While it had the potential to be very thought-provoking and profound, it falls more on the side of action novel instaed. That's not to say that it's a mindless blood-and-guts story, but don't expect to come away from this feeling that you just read a work of literature. Anyone who likes WW II stories should enjoy this book as long as they don't expect too much from it.

Rating:
Summary: "End of War" is a modern "Red Badge of Courage"
Review: While shocking in it's depiction of the horrors of war, David L. Robbins' "The End of War" is both sad and triumphant in it's portrayal of the people and events that shaped our world's history. Seamlessly weaving fact and fiction together, Robbins brings the spirits of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin to life and teams them with an unforgetable cast of characters, whose lives will forever be affected by World War II. Although written as an ensemble piece, few of the characters can match the heartbreaking intensity of Lottie, a German musician, who hides behind her music in order to survive While another character, Charles Bandy, an American Photographer on the front lines of battle, risks his marriage and his life to record the horrors of war on film. The outcome of the war is well known to all of us, but the surprising twists and turns that confront the characters, as well as the behind the scenes dealings involving real-life players, make this book a glorious achievement for Robbins and a must read for everyone else.