Utilizing recently released Soviet archival materials, and quoting extensively from the memoirs of Soviet and German commanders and diaries of infantrymen, Duffy portrays the Russian military assault on Germany and the human drama behind the sieges of the fortress cities of Danzig, Kolberg, and Breslau. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Part I: Total war -- The evolution of total war -- The war until 1945 -- Instrument of vengeance -- The Reich before the storm -- Part II: From the Vistula to the Oder -- Breakthrough on the Vistula -- The first German response -- Konev's exploitation -- Zhukov's exploitation -- Stay of execution -- Part III: The southern flank: Konev and the continuing contest for Silesia -- The actions on the Oder -- Heinrici's command and the southern highlands -- Part IV: The Baltic flank -- The east Prussian setting -- The 3rd Belorussian front in northern east Prussia -- The 2nd Belorussian front in southern east Prussia -- The buildup of German army group Vistula -- The east Pomeranian operation -- Part V: The siege of the fortress cities -- East Prussia -- Danzig and Gotenhafen -- Kolberg -- The Altdamm bridgehead -- Küstrin -- Posen -- Breslau -- Part VI: 1945 and Germanic eastern Europe -- The catastrophe -- The end of the war and beyond -- Summary and conclusions -- Appendix: The conduct of war: Soviet science and German art.