Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B000OYDNAG | Format: EPUB
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 Description
In August 1942, an overconfident Adolf Hitler would attempt to invade Stalin's namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler. Now Antony Beevor tells the story as it has never been told before, recounting the strategic brilliance and fatal flaws of the notorious generals, while telling the incredible tale from a soldier's-eye view. The author incorporates Russian reports on desertions and executions that have never been seen by Western scholars, German transcripts of prisoner interrogations, and private letters and diaries to re-create the human drama of the most terrible battle in modern warfare.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 6 hours
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Abridged
- Publisher: Penguin Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: December 16, 1999
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000OYDNAG
Several months ago, I reviewed (5 stars) a novel entitled WAR OF THE RATS, ostensibly based on the factual battlefield achievements of the real-life, Soviet Army master sniper, Vasily Zaitsev, during the German siege of Stalingrad during World War II. Wishing to learn more about this horrific struggle, I sought out this book, STALINGRAD, a narrative history of the fight authored by Antony Beevor.
STALINGRAD begins, as it must, on June 21, 1941 with the launching of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union by three Army Groups - North, Center and South. Beevor first summarizes from a wide perspective Army Group Center's attack on, and repulse from, Moscow, and Army Group South's surge towards the Volga River and the Caucasus Mountains. Then, the focus is narrowed onto the Sixth Army's and Fourth Panzer Army's drive to Stalingrad and the Volga in the summer of `42. The last three-quarters of the volume then limits itself to the Stalingrad siege, the Soviet counterattack on, and encirclement of, the Sixth and Fourth Panzer armies, their subsequent subjugation, and, finally, the fate of the 91,000 Germans taken prisoner. The main characters of the drama are all brought onto the stage: Hitler, Paulus, Schmidt, von Richthofen, Stalin, Zhukov, Yeremenko, Chuikov, and Rokossovsky.
This is a very reader-friendly account for the simple reason that the author supplies enough information, including maps, to keep the narrative moving along without getting bogged down in the minutiae of minor troop movements and a superabundance of unit designations. He's also included (in the paperback edition) two adequate sections of photographs - always a much appreciated touch. The volume met, if not exceeded, my expectations, and I learned a lot.
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