<li>First detailed account of the Soviet advance on Berlin in the closing months of World War II <li>The battles that made Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov famous <li>Numerous maps illustrating how operations unfolded <p>On January 31, 1945, the Red Army stood on a line along the Oder River, about thirty-five miles east of Berlin. They would not reach Berlin for another two months, after battles to cross the river, seize the fortress of Küstrin, and take the Seelow Heights.