Stalingrad - Softcover

Beevor, Antony

4.32

37,107 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141001313 ISBN 13: 9780141001319

Publisher: Penguin, 2001

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'The Stalingrad story is biblical in its extremes of barbarism and heroism, and Antony Beevor has told it superbly' - Literary Review '[Stalingrad] illuminates so pitilessly, and yet with a reassuring glow of humanity, the bitterest and most cruel of all 20th-century battles' - Alan Clark 'Read Beevor first as a compelling tale of human tribulation' - Evening Standard

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Review:

Hitler made two fundamental and crippling mistakes during the Second World War. The first was his whimsical belief that the United Kingdom would eventually become his ally, which delayed his decision to launch a major invasion of Britain, whose army was unprepared for the force of blitzkrieg warfare. The second was the ill-conceived Operation Barbarossa--an invasion of Russia that was supposed to take the German army to the gates of Moscow. Antony Beevor's thoughtfully researched compendium recalls this epic struggle for Stalingrad. No-one, least of all the Germans, could foretell the deep well of Soviet resolve that would become the foundation of the Red Army; Russia, the Germans believed, would fall as swiftly as France and Poland. The ill-prepared Nazi forces were trapped in a bloody war of attrition against the Russian behemoth, which held them in the pit of Stalingrad for nearly two years. Beevor points out that the Russians were by no means ready for the war either, making their stand even more remarkable; Soviet intelligence spent as much time spying on its own forces--in fear of desertion, treachery and incompetence--as they did on the Nazis. Due attention is also given to the points of view of the soldiers and generals of both forces, from the sickening battles to life in the gulags.

Many believe Stalingrad to be the turning point of the war. The Nazi war machine proved to be fallible as it spread itself too thin for a cause that was born more from arrogance than practicality. The Germans never recovered, and its weakened defences were no match for the Allied invasion of 1944. We know little of what took place in Stalingrad or its overall significance, leading Beevor to humbly admit that "[t]he Battle of Stalingrad remains such an ideologically charged and symbolically important subject that the last word will not be heard for many years". This is true. But this gripping account should become the standard work against which all others should measure themselves. --Jeremy Storey

Review:

"A fantastic and sobering story...fully and authoritatively told."--The New York Times
"Stalingrad's heart-piercing tragedy needed a chronicler with acute insight into human nature as well as the forces of history. Antony Beevor is that historian."--The Wall Street Journal

"Easily the most complete and objective picture of the battle's scale and ferocity that American readers have ever read."--Dallas Morning News

"Magnificent...Certainly the best narrative of the battle yet to appear and...not likely to be surpassed in our time."--John Keegan

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