On January 31, 1945, the Red Army stood on a line along the Oder River, about thirty-five miles east of Berlin. The fall of the Third Reich seemed imminent, especially with Marshal Georgi Zhukov leading the offensive, but the Soviets would not reach the German capital for more than two months, after a bloody campaign to establish bridgeheads across the Oder, seize the fortress of Kustrin, and take the Seelow Heights. While many historians have tended to focus on the final battle in Berlin, Tony Le Tissier provides a detailed account of how the Soviets fought their way to the city.