Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
by Antony Beevor
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Book Reviews of Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
Book Review: Ideologies to the Death
Summary: 5 Stars
Any WWII history buff will love this book. As many reviews state, it is thoroughly researched, and yet it reads like an action-packed novel. 'Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege' has however affected me more deeply than have many other books on similar subjects. Having lived throughout Germany, Poland and (at the time of writing) Russia - and having loved the people in all these countries - I have never understood how the war on the Eastern Front could have deteriorated as it did into a merciless war of genocide and annihilation. Probably, I never will, but however close I come to gaining such an understanding will surely be largely thanks to Beevor. This book gives an incredible, if horrifying, account of the Nazis' virtual rape of the USSR, and of the Wehrmacht's amoral and cowardly toleration as such devastation went on in their wake. And reading this book gave me a new kind of perspective: People may judge the Red Army's apparently low respect for Soviet lives all they like, but when facing a frightfully powerful and indoctrinated enemy that was bent on nothing less than the complete obliteration of the Slavic peoples, perhaps the only thing for it was to retaliate with greater determination and fundamentalism. Also we may deplore the USSR's later acts of vengeance on the German peoples, but if it doesn't excuse or condone it, Beevor's book convinced me of just how certainly Germany could have expected this after their conduct. It is a tremendous lesson for all off us, not so much to avoid wars (as history almost points to their inevitability), but to avoid the kinds of mass-hatred and ideology that can lead to wars of the worst kind. Antony Beevor gives a highly sensitive account of this most horrible and desperate piece of history, both from a Soviet perspective, as well as from a German / German-Allied perspective. He reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to read about such horrors from the comforts of a warm bed.Book Review: A Fantastic Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is, quite simply, one of the finest accounts by a historian to convey the personal hell, the Dante's Inferno of Stalingrad, and is the most vivid and chilling I have ever read. The author describes the horiffic conditions faced by both the Russians and the 6th Army, and this book occupied my thoughts for weeks afterwards like no other book has ever done. Mr. Beevor is masterful in his description, weaving facts with personal accounts that puts the reader in the trenches. His access to previously closed Russian files on this brutal battle has allowed the author to write the finest story ever on Stalingrad. His story on Winrich Behr (who by the way is still alive today) I have found to be as unforgettable as the rest of the book. He vividly describes how the desperate situation has convinced the top leadership in encircled Stalingrad to fly out Capt. Behr, proud in his black SS Panzer uniform with Knights Cross. Behr is flown to see Hitler, to explain how a breakout from the Kessel must proceed immediately. Behr is warned on how Hitler tries to overwhelm his guests with the "overall" picture, and how his vast knowledge leaves little room for compromise. Behr is prepared when Hitler steps to the map, and shocked when Hitler quits talking and is attentive while Behr further protests the utter hopelessness of fighting on. Field Marshall Keitel, Hitlers sycophantic lackey, angrily shakes his fist at Behr when Hitler looks away, and then Hitler returns to the map, and produces phantom divisions to rescue the trapped 6th Army. It is then when Behr realizes the war is over. The only other book that compares to this in the horrors of battle is "The Forgotten Soldier" the story on a soldier in the Das Reich SS division who sees destrucion and death on the Eastern front, but this autobiography is not nearly as well written. I have read this book twice, and will enjoy it many more times. Superb.Book Review: About as good as the popular history of conflict can get.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, taking advantage of unrestricted access to Soviet archives, re-tells the story of the events that led up to the siege of the German 6th army, describes the siege itself, and its tragic aftermath. There are three main reasons why this book is such a triumph of history for a wide audience. The first is that the author, Antony Beevor, has the gift of the best historians, which is to make the reader want to know more about the people and events within his work. He neatly balances the details of camp life with the nature of the combat as seen by all those involved, and the personalities of the officers with the fears and hopes of the rank and file, expressed through song, cartoon, and letter.
The second reason is that this book suffers from no preconceptions or illusions about the events within, and it avoids that worst peril of military histories, the will to argue with other military histories, and to portion out blame and praise. Beevor tries, and at least partially succeeds, at showing the confused and imprecise nature of the conflict, the multiple perspectives of its many participants. One of the worse traps of history is to establish the false causality of hindsight, to forget that the peoples of the past had no greater ability to see into the future than we do, and that their capacity to learn is often outpaced by events.
The third and best reason for reading this book is for its subtle reminders of the actuality of these events. Beevor does his best to dissolve the seemingly mechanical nature of conflict and to place you in the battle bodily, smelling nitrite, being bitten by lice, and hunted by snipers. Those who would have us believe that battle is made by leaders with maps, and that it all comes down to mathematics of guns and coats and oil, will receive a powerfull rebuttal from this chronicle, and the rest of us will receive a salutary reminder of the whirlwind that is war.
Book Review: "Stalingrad Gefallen?", the answer is "Nyet!"
Summary: 4 Stars
There are some interesting details about this mammoth battle revealed in this journalistic re-telling by Antony Beevor. STALINGRAD was such a huge battle in terms of men committed, casualties, length of engagement, and most significantly - impact. It is generally regarded as the turning point of the war for Germany - psychologically - if not materially. After the encirclement and capture of the German Sixth Army, there was a growing belief that the war could not be won, but also the beginning of disillusionment with Hitler. Some of the more interesting details that color this narrative are the emphasis on Stalingrad as a "rassenkampf" or race war, the Russian obsession with snipers, the many "Hilfswillige" or Russian volunteers that fought for Germany, and the behavior of the soldiers of both sides. Drawing on official reports and personal letters this account is more about the experiences of the soldiers and focuses on elements such as: Commanders and officers, the battleground, the conditions, morale, supplies, German and Russian culture, and of course Hitler and Stalin.
While the strategic significance of the battle is highlighted, military history buffs may be a little disappointed with the actual description of the battles, as it is a bit muddled. Perhaps it's the scope of the fighting and the length of the campaign that causes this, but you have to occasionally re-read some sections that refer to units, and refer to the maps to keep a track of the unfolding battle.
A German and Soviet Order of Battle at the back helps a little by listing the major units that comprised the Sixth Army and those of the Red Army on the Stalingrad Front.
The photographs, although few in number certainly give a good feel for the difficulties of fighting in the bitter cold and the grimness of house to house warfare.
Book Review: Incredibly gripping stuff...
Summary: 5 Stars
The Battle of Stalingrad is certainly an interesting study. Everything about it is warfare taken to an extreme, from the will of the leaders, to the weather, to the methods of "motivation," make for gripping human drama. Beevor's account, in my opinion, strikes an excellent balance between all of these extremes of human suffering and the actual tactics and movements of the battle. I thought Beevor did a good job of recounting the suffering of the common soldier without allowing this book to turn into a series of sad stories. The appalling conditions at Stalingrad are certainly one factor which makes the battle such a fascinating subject, but Beevor does not forget that there was a battle fought around Stalingrad with tanks and guns, and that is what ultimately defeated the Germans, not rats and lice. The conditions are kept in context with the greater battle. The reasons for the attrition of the German sixth army and its subsequent encirclement are given at both the tactical and strategic levels, from the viewpoint of both the common soldier and the general staff.
For better or worse, there isn't a lot of mention of the fact that the starving and freezing German army was the same one which had murdered and raped its way through the steppe, nor that the Soviet army would do much the same to the German people when they crossed into Germany. This omission lends a little more human quality to the book, in that these factors aren't considered when the stories of suffering are recounted, and one finds him or herself pitying the combatants probably more than one would otherwise.
The battle for Stalingrad is one of the great stories of life-and-death struggles between nations, and Beevor does it tremendous justice, in my opinion, from the perspective of both the private and the general.