The Conquest of the Reich: D-Day to VE-Day, by Robin Neillands (Orion, £6.99 in UK)

This is a sequel to Neillands's account of the Normandy fighting in 1944, which apparently has become a bestseller. For the most part, he lets the combatants themselves, or those of them who survive, do the talking, which they do adequately and at times eloquently. Much of this end of war fighting was done in winter conditions, notably the Ardennes offensive, and when the Rhine was crossed in February 1945 victory was inevitable but still some months distant. The discovery of the concentration camps sent a shock of horror though the world, and meanwhile on the Danube and the Elbe and Oder the frontiers of the ensuing Cold War began to take shape.