This is a history of the events of 8 May 1945 and its repercussions, published to coincide with the 50th Anniversary celebrations of VE-Day in May 1995. It focuses not only on the events of that day, but also looks forward from that day to the years ahead. The theme of the book is the way in which the world today has been moulded by the events of 8 May 1945. Gilbert traces in narrative form the events and personalities of that day, from the early hours of the morning until midnight, looking at the topics and people first in their 8 May context and then in the wider sweep of the events to which they led across the years. The story of one day’s impact and its aftermath combines global perspectives with the stories of individuals.

Gilbert has done an excellent job putting together a running narrative based on interviews, correspondence and documents those chaotic weeks in Europe and the Baltic states as the Nazi war machine began to crumble. The reader gets a sense of how overwhelmed the Allied forces were, how thinly they were spread across continents, and were dealing with refugees clogging supply lines in the midst of battles, liberating slave labor and extermination and POW camps in the midst of battle.
It creates a fast read, with a relentless pace, ticking off day by day what was being experienced by soldiers, and civilians and survivors of the engineered Holocaust, the Allied High Command, the diplomats, and government leaders. It is quite an accomplishment in its documentation and organization, quite different from the typical history which concentrates on battles and logistics set within contexts…
Because of the format Martin Gilbert used it is possible to feel the total impact of what war does to everyone involved and it took a considerable distance to look at this period which he has shortened into the final weeks before V-E Day and V-J Day. This is a definite must have for any Historical library