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Revealed for the first time: how the SS rounded up the Nazis´ most prominent prisoners to serve as human shields for Hitler in the last days of World War II

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In April 1945, as Germany faced defeat, Hitler planned to round up the Third Reich´s most valuable prisoners and send them to his "Alpine Fortress," where he and the SS would keep the hostages as they made a last stand against the Allies. The prisoners included European presidents, prime ministers, generals, British secret agents, and German anti-Nazi clerics, celebrities, and officers who had aided the July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler--and the prisoners´ families. Orders were given to the SS: if the German military situation deteriorated, the prisoners were to be executed--all 139 of them.

So began a tense, deadly drama. As some prisoners plotted escape, others prepared for the inevitable, and their SS guards grew increasingly volatile, drunk, and trigger-happy as defeat loomed. As a dramatic confrontation between the SS and the Wehrmacht threatened the hostages caught in the middle, the US Army launched a frantic rescue bid to save the hostages before the axe fell.

Drawing on previously unpublished and overlooked sources, Hitler´s Last Plot is the first full account of this astounding and shocking story, from the original round-up order to the prisoners´ terrifying ordeal and ultimate rescue. Told in a thrilling, page-turning narrative, this is one of World War II´s most fascinating episodes.

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"This gripping account of one of the important but lesser-known aspects of the last days of the Second World War is packed with brand new information. Ian Sayer is a fine World War Two historian and the owner of the greatest private archive on the subject in Britain and has a long and enviable track record of discovering great historical scoops. Written with pace and verve, yet always true to the facts, this extraordinary story would make an amazing feature film."-Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

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Jeremy Dronfield is a biographer, historian, novelist, and ghostwriter, well-known for writing fast-paced, thrilling narratives. His most recent book, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz, was a bestseller.

Ian Sayer is a military historian-detective whose investigation into "The World´s Greatest Robbery" led to the 1984 publication of his international bestseller Nazi Gold. An acknowledged expert on the Third Reich, he has made regular appearances on television and radio.

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