As the final month of fighting in Europe in 1945 dawned, the Allies embarked upon a series of mopping-up operations, destroying the last centers of German resistance as the essentially defeated Wehrmacht fought on in increasingly desperate conditions, driven by the explicit no-surrender order issued by Hitler.

Yet at the same time, the Allies were already on shaky ground--as German resistance was crushed, the Allies began to eye one another nervously across a battle-torn Europe. These politically driven military decisions would have a huge impact on the future of the continent.

This book traces the final operations of the war, from the liberation of Denmark, the Allied drive toward the Baltic straits, incursions in Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and engagements in Eastern and Western Germany, while also analyzing how the Allied strategies in the final days of the war were a hint of the future difficulties that would drive the Cold War.

Steven J. Zalonga, an analyst in the aerospace industry--covering missile systems and the international arms trade--also served with the Institute for Defense Analyses. He has written many books on military history, with an emphasis on the U.S. Army in World War II and Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Steve Noon has provided award-winning illustrations for the publisher Dorling Kindersley, where his interest in historical illustration began, and has illustrated over thirty books for Osprey.