Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
by Antony Beevor

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
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Book Summary Information

Author: Antony Beevor
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-05-01
ISBN: 0140284583
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780140284584
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Book Reviews of Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

Book Review: The Gettysburg of WWII
Summary: 5 Stars

You can argue about whether Gettysburg was the turning point or high water mark of the American Civil War, but I don't think you can argue about whether Stalingrad was the turning point of WWII. D-Day was a huge logistical achievement, but as a battle it pales next to the magnitude of Stalingrad. I read Beevor's book on D-Day, and despite it being a well-trodden trail, I found it outstanding. I got Stalingrad mainly because it was written by Beevor, and it did not disappoint. Beevor does a great job of relating the movements of the armies and divisions, but also brings into the picture the individual sacrifices. He summarizes the German invasion, Operation Barbarossa, which sets the stage by describing the barbarity of the Germans towards both the Soviet armies and the Ukranian populace. The sacrifices of the German soldiers juxtapose the fact that many of them were conscripts versus their callous behavior in most cases. I am going to read Beevor's book on the Battle of Berlin, but first I decided to go back and read his book about the Spanish Civil War. I like the author.

Summary of Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

This gripping history is the definitive account of the battle that shifted the tide of World War II.

Historians and reviewers worldwide have hailed Antony Beevor's magisterial Stalingrad as the definitive account of World War II's most harrowing battle. In August 1942, Hitler's huge Sixth Army reached the city that bore Stalin's name. In the five month siege that followed, the Russians fought to hold Stalingrad at any cost, then caught their Nazi enemy in an astonishing reversal.

As never before, Stalingrad conveys the experience of soldiers on both sides as they fought in inhuman conditions, and of civilians trapped on an urban battlefield. Antony Beevor has interviewed survivors and discovered completely new material in a wide range of German and Soviet archives, including reports of prisoner interrogations, desertions, and executions. The battle of Stalingrad was the psychological turning point of World War II; as Beevor makes clear, it also changed the face of modern warfare. As a story of cruelty, courage, and human suffering, Stalingrad is unprecedented and unforgettable.
"A fantastic and sobering story . . . fully and authoritatively told." -Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
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 defenses 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

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