A gripping and deeply researched account of the last days of the Nazi Dictatorship – the fateful weeks following Hitler's suicide and capitulation and the emergence of a new world order
In April 1945, after Hitler's death, the German government under Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz relocated to Flensburg, a small town in Northern Germany. There, spies, survivors and old elites gathered in the twilight of the Nazi regime. Amidst crumbling power and tentative new beginnings, tense negotiations were held, deceptions were spun, and secrets were buried – as the foundations for a new world order emerged. This is the fascinating story of the final days of the Third Reich, in which the contours of today's world began taking shape.
Following the unconditional German surrender, the last Nazi government convened in Flensburg, where Dönitz positioned himself as the legitimate transitional authority. The Allies tolerated this charade – for the time being. For a few weeks, an interlude of surprising new beginnings emerged: Albert Speer began crafting the myth of himself as an apolitical expert; Pilot Beate Uhse laid the groundwork for what would become the world's largest erotic business empire; British intelligence officer Ian Fleming gathered impressions, characters, and motifs – material that would later become the basis for James Bond. Perpetrators, concentration camp prisoners, and fellow travellers all crossed paths in this town at the end of the Reich.