In this fascinating study of two monsters, Rees is extraordinarily perceptive and original

Coming from one of the world's experts on the Second World War, this is an important and original - and devastating - account of Hitler and Stalin as dictators. A must read

Laurence Rees brilliantly combines powerful eye-witness testimony, vivid narrative and compelling analysis in this superb account of how two terrible dictators led their countries in the most destructive and inhumane war in history

A brave and remarkable work. Revelatory, gripping and hugely relevant, it shows Hitler and Stalin as you've never known them. Truly a story of our time, with so many lessons for the troubled world we inhabit today, it will revolutionise your understanding of these two foremost tyrants

Laurence Rees's 'Hitler and Stalin' is an excellent addition to a subject that fascinates and horrifies in equal measure. Presenting this complex history with his usual clarity, his latest study is an enthralling read. By weaving many fresh eyewitness accounts into the narrative, offering new insights and commanding his reader's attention despite the huge scope of his task, Rees has written a book that will appeal to readers of biography and history alike

Laurence Rees has produced a vivid and terrifying portrait of the twentieth century's two most brutal tyrants. His mastery of the subject shines through on every page. Provocative, gripping and full of fresh insights, Hitler and Stalin is narrative history at its very best.

A fascinating history... always compelling

Impressive . . . well paced and well informed with an eye for telling anecdotes and colourful character sketches . . . Rees' decision to add personal stories to his narrative adds an important layer to our understanding of both the dictators themselves and their victims

[There are] many gems in this impressive book

The Broken House... stands out for Krüger's unsparing perceptions of the past and the sharpness and eloquence of his prose... It is Krüger's tone, stark and unforgiving, sometimes almost chillingly detached, that makes this memoir so interesting

Every page carries an entertaining story or a fascinating gobbet of artistic gossip.

A fluent writer with a gift for narrative and a sensitive ability to read the artist's work in relation to his life... The decade covered in this volume, which turns on Picasso's identification with the part-beast, part-man mythical Minotaur, is a tumultuous one, both in public and in private life... [it is] deftly presented as Richardson moves from the man to his circle to his art to larger historical events.

Personal and political collide in lively fourth volume of detailed biography... The Minotaur Years retells what might be considered a familiar story, but carries it off with a liveliness generated by short chapters, sharp judgements and occasionally waspish dismissals, all dispatched at pace. It is the fruit of 60 years of thinking, conversing and speculating about the artist, underpinned by detailed looking, research and investigation of his movements moment by moment.

[Richardson] set the standard for modern artists' biographies...The fourth and final volume...is a worthy follow-up to its predecessors... just as rich, just as astounding.

The final chapter of a magisterial biography... The author's unique, extensive knowledge and insider information about Picasso - both the man and artist - informs insightful explications of the nuances and symbolism in Picasso's works... A masterful accomplishment.

Monumental... Nobody has brought us closer [than Richardson] to understanding this extraordinary and complex artist.

[A] magisterial work... superbly illustrated.

[A] magisterial and superbly illustrated biography.

Monumental... This uncompleted project will surely be the Ozymandias of all biographies, since Richardson's talents were uniquely matched to his protean subject.

Wonderfully lively, greatly informative and memorably insightful... a great read.

Subtle, perceptive and beautifully written

Many consider the years before 1945 to be the most crucial in understanding Germany and the Germans. Wait until you have read this book.

Harald Jähner's deeply researched, panoramic account of how Germany rebuilt and discovered itself from 1945-1955 is an eye-opening, thrilling read

A magnificent overview of the astonishing decade in Germany that followed the defeat of Nazism

Eye-opening and often moving... a sobering look at how societies rebuild

Highly readable... Counter-intuitive but thoughtful

[A] thoughtful narrative... filling the yawning gap on bookshop shelves between a growing number of modern German history texts and the oversupply of Nazi studies that end in Hitler's bunker

Aftermath takes in the immediate postwar years where Germany was administered by the Allies... Jähner excels

Fascinating... Books about Word War II continue to spill out by the ton, but there has been less attention paid to how Germans coped with the country's shameful Nazi past after the conflict was over

Rarely has a non-fiction book so skilfully combined vividness, drama and eloquence.

Jähner's gripping 500-page X-ray-vision tale of an often overlooked and misperceived phase of German history reveals, like all great history books, as much about the first decade after the war as about today.

Clearly written, full of empathy for everyday life, which is far too seldom taken into consideration... You devour it like a novel.

A popular work of non-fiction in the best sense.