The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe

From Military History magazine's editor-in-chief, Stephen Harding, The Last Battle tells the unlikely but true story of the last World War II battle fought by American troops in Europe, when U.S. Army regulars and Wehrmacht soldiers fought side by side to protect a castle full of French VIP prisoners from an attack by desperate and fanatical SS units bent on killing them in the war's waning days.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREMay, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold's VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.