Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Last Days of Hitler. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Reviewed by Frank Tommasini Shortly after the end of WWII, British Intelligence officer Hugh Trevor-Roper was given the task to establish the facts of Hitler's end, and thereby to prevent the growth of a myth. His report, later published as “The Last Days of Hitler”, draws on Allied intelligence's interrogations of survivors who spent time in the bunker during the last ten days of Hitler's life. Trevor-Roper organizes his book chronologically, but it's more a series of character sketches than a strict time line of events. We see a raving, physically broken, nearly insane Hitler contemplating both his heroic death and the complete and
The interrogation of doctors that treated Hitler help put together his health and physical condition in the final days in the bunker. The use of personal sources like former guards provided the key element into proving that Adolf Hitler did kill himself inside the bunker and finally stopped the myth that he was still alive. All the sources Trevor-Roper used help him write one of the most fascinating history books ever written.
The main point was to establish once and for all that Hitler was dead because his remains had not been found. Although Trevor-Roper was certain that Hitler had committed suicide, he concluded that Hitler's remains were unlikely to be found. “The Last Days of Hitler” takes you into the Berlin Bunker and gives a feel how it must have been living in the bunker when fighting and bombing was going on above. It is well-written, compelling, interesting, and emotionally gripping. It tells with much detail and drama, one of the most dramatic events of WWII, the life of Hitler and his followers in the doomed bunker in Berlin. The book does an excellent job in the research of how Hitler spent his last ten days in the bunker having last meetings with his staff; label his successors, and how he prepares to leave earth. “The Last Days of Hitler” provides a great introductory in the subject of Hitler’s last day