Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw by Norman Davies (Macmillan, £25)

IN August 1944, Warsaw appeared to be the last major obstacle to the Soviet Army's triumphant march from Moscow to Berlin.

When the Wehrmacht had been pushed back to the Vistula, the people of the Polish capital believed that liberation was at hand. So, too, did the Western leaders.

The Resistance poured 40,000 armed fighters into the streets to drive the hated Germans out, but Stalin condemned the rising as a criminal adventure and refused to co-operate. The Wehrmacht was given time to regroup - and Hitler ordered the city and its inhabitants to be destroyed...

For 63 days, the Resistance fought the enemy in the cellars and the sewers. Thousands died and, one-by-one, the city's districts were reduced to rubble as Soviet troops stood by and watched.

This is a story of unspeakable treachery and also desperate heroism displayed in the face of great odds. Without doubt, Davies has done a sterling job in explaining how the Warsaw Rising was a pivotal moment that deeply affected the outcome of the Second World War.

John Phillpott