Nuremberg, the Last Battle is unpublished diaries and papers of the principal actors – the judges, lawyers, and the war criminals themselves – David Irving takes a close-quarters look at the trial which finally ended World War Two: the Trial of the Century, held in Nuremberg from 1945 to 1946.
Where the city’s face bore the terrible scars of the mortal struggle between Germany and her enemies, which had ended in May 1945, the ghosts – those who survived Allied orders to shoot on site if captured – continued the struggle for sixteen more months. The armies were unequal; one side was unarmed and had few friends.
President Harry S. Truman had appointed Robert H. Jackson as Chief of Counsel for the United States, charged with mounting the prosecution of the major Axis war criminals. His task seemed clearly defined. By the time the trial began in November 1945, many of his ideals had already been betrayed.
There would be few crimes listed in the indictment at Nuremberg of which one or other of the four prosecuting powers was not guilty of itself.
In the cause of defeating Adolf Hitler, civilian populations had been burned and blasted, murdered, brutalised, intimidated, deported, and enslaved; aggressive wars had been launched, neutral countries occupied by pretext and deceit, and the unalterable paragraphs of international conventions flagrantly violated.
Bob Jackson knew this, and it hurt him. It damaged his name and career forever. The book includes hitherto unknown photographs, including many in full colour. 377 pages
Thomas Tidswell –
An expectedly-thorough analysis of an area of War history that benefits from repeating the premise that whatever the standpoint, "War Crimes" as such were "Victors' Justice" created and imposed after the event and, rather closer than bore scrutiny, all the Allied Nations were, themselves, equally guilty of the offences.
A worthy addition to the author's canon of work.
Williamhyland1984@gmail.com –
An extraordinary account of a trial I knew very little about. Davids beautiful writing brings alive & puts a voice to the prosecution & defence. I was filled with Adrenaline when it came to goring vs Jackson; Something I haven’t felt in a long time from a book. I highly recommend it. Absolutely brilliant.
jrmportelli88@gmail.com –
Awesome work
hj123wwoop@twc.com –
I thought this book would be boring so I put it off for a long time. That was a mistake. The injustice handed out to the Germans is a crime in itself.
ikesword3@gmail.com –
I bought this book a while back Mr.irving signed it I loved this book the robbery of justice in pure form and continues in American society today and the EU follows this was the starting point for unwarranted corruption in our justice system
marcoscu –
I already own the hardback version of this excellent book and so I was keen to buy the audiobook version when it was first announced. It took a while to be released but when it was I have to say I was not disappointed.
The audiobook is real read although there were a few pronunciation issues, but nothing important.
The book itself of course, is a object lesson ns tight, well researched historical writing. clear and easy to follow as well as being a page turner. Goring’s struggle against his tormentors will laid out in detail and it is impossible not to sympathise with him and revel in his eventual triumph over them when he cheated the hangman.
A great book, and an entertaining listen.
Stig-Ove Madetoja –
I have often returned to this book while discussing on social media about WW2. I have had the pleasure using this book prove holocaust mainstream narrative supporters how wrong they are at some views. Referring to Hitlers orders to his bureaucratic corps that Dr Eberhard Jäckel found.
But here is much more! Dont leave this one out of your personal library, get it and say wow!
Frank Kalesnik (verified owner) –
Interesting, behind the scenes look at the personalities involved in the postwar trial of Hitler’s henchmen. This was not only a showdown between the defendants and their accusers – the author shows the tensions and conflicts between the Allied nations, and among the judges and prosecutors themselves. Much politicking and skullduggery by all concerned.
Katy (verified owner) –
Absolutely amazing. This book should be required reading for students. After reading David Irving’s books and watching his videos I understand why my father who was a soldier in WW2 would never talk about it. The injustice that was done to the Germans needs to be taught instead of the propaganda forced on teenagers in schools.
Thank you Mr. Irving for true history.
David Cavanagh (verified owner) –
As with every other of David Irving’s histories which I have read, this was a compelling, thoroughly documented, balanced, and extremely well written piece. It reads like a novel. I knew only the standard narrative of the first Nuremburg trial before I read this book. Reading Irving’s account of the trial altered my perceptions considerably. Some “flawed heroes” in the standard narrative, e.g. Albert Speer, are revealed as among the most guilty and self-serving of the defendants. Others, like Hess and Rosenberg, are guilty of relatively minor crimes, certainly not deserving a life sentence or execution. I’d always known that many of these trials were nothing more than show trials, dispensing “victors’ justice”, but I’d never realized the degree to which this was true. Irving also covers the physical and mental mistreatment of the prisoners, amounting to deliberate degradation and sometimes outright torture, a practice run for Abu Ghraib (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse) and Guantanamo Bay ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp). Irving makes clear that that almost all the defendants were guilty of horrendous crimes and deserved severe punishment. But the trials themselves were a travesty and justice would better have been served by some other means. As US Senator Robert Taft noted, the Nuremburg show trials did not meet traditional English and Anglo-American standards of law and justice and, as a result, ultimately reduced the moral distance between the defendants and their judges and prosecutors.