Rating: 
Summary: A gruesome reminder of the Past
Review: Although one might have wished even more information about certain aspects of the battle and its aftermath (in particular about the role of the Wehrmacht w.r.t. the war crimes - something which is still a hot subject in today's Germany) this book is definitely a must for anybody. It is a must for those Germans who claim that the Wehrmacht didn't have anything to do with atrocities in the East. It is also a must for everybody who these days is fooled into thinking that a war can be neat and clean. The times may have changed but the individual sufferings of the soldiers, be it German or Russian soldiers in 1942, be it Serb or KLA soldiers in 1999, are the same. If people don't learn from history it will repeat itself. What happened in Kosovo is just another gruesome reminder for anybody who thinks mankind has made any progress in becoming more civlized after what had happened nearly 60 years ago.
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Summary: Memorable story with historical significance
Review: The author skillfully tells a memorable story including the perspective of both sides of the conflict. I agree with the comment regarding over-emphasis on lice, although I would have liked more battle diagrams and maps. While the book has some post-battle analysis, I would have liked more, particularly in light of the historic developments such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and demise of the Soviet Union. The fate of the German generals was fascinating and tells alot about why this battle was waged in the first place.
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Summary: Best book on Stalingrad since "Enemy at the Gates"
Review: Very similar to "Enemy at the Gates" -- the book has many personal accounts from the campaign. While "Enemy of the Gates" seemed to lean towards a Russian perspective, "Stalingrad" gives a much better German perspective. And unlike "Enemy at the Gates," Stalingrad examines military strategy and German and Russian atrocities. Most interesting is the author's accustations German Wermacht participation the slaughter of Jews. Even Manstein is implicated.
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Summary: COULD HAVE USED ANOTHER 200 PAGES (REALLY):
Review: Beevor's book is a great overview of the Soviet victory at Stalingrad; however, it is woefully lacking in source material which would have made it much more compelling. Never do you get first hand accounts of what the fighting was like and what the soldiers were feeling. Also, I found his use of military terms at times confusing -- he would refer to a unit being down to only 45 men but would not tell you how many it SHOULD have. This is not the definitive work, although it is a great introduction to the subject.
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Summary: EXCELLENT, GRIPPING, BUY IT NOW !!!
Review: I read ALOT of military history and this is indeed one of the very, very best. BUY IT. I read it, finished it, flipped round to the beginning and read it again. I lent it to my son who read it in a day; lent it to my daughter who also enjoyed it. Then the downside: This hardcover edition has a really rotten binding: the PAGES are falling out. BE WARNED.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent account, but wanted more on the ground detail
Review: This is an excellent historical account of the Staligrad battles, with very well explained overviews that make it easy to follow the action on the maps included in the book. Also very interesting accounts of the interplay between Stalin and Hitler and their commanders and the events at the top of the food chain. My only complaint is that the book is a bit too sterile in many places. This may have been about as close as mankind has gotten to hell on earth, and and I was looking for more of a soldier's view, such as the author does very well for the endgame after the German's have been surrounded. In other places he largely relies on letters, which, of course, had to be excessively positive since they were read by censors before being delivered. Overall, though a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Modestly detailed account, not a great book
Review: Some previous reviews of this book have noted that this book can be looked at from different perspectives, depending on whether or not you have read other accounts of the Battle of Stalingrad. If this is the first or second book that you have ever read about the battle, the sheer horrific nature of this epic struggle, the enormity of the human suffering, and the absolute evil willpower of the leaders (Hitler and Stalin) driving this struggle will be so overwhelming that the simple act of the telling of this tale will overcome most of the writing flaws in this book, and the book will probably be an interesting read for you. However, having read several other accounts of this battle already, I have to agree with the majority of other reviewers in this situation that the book comes across as vaguely unsatisfying, and not particularly well written. As with many of the other accounts of the battle, as the story progresses to the end stage battles, the viewpoints of the sources take on an increasingly Russian tone, probably because few survivors made it out of the German side. Details of the various end stage battles also become increasingly blurred and confused in this book and the focus of the book shifts mainly towards documenting the human suffering of both sides at the end of the battle, with the author putting a particularly strong emphasis on detailing the brutal efficiency of the NKVD punishment squads. One final point - the author has an annoying habit of rather casually dismissing as nonfactual certain legends or vignettes that have risen out of the Stalingrad conflict, without giving any supporting information or documentation of his research. For example, he disses the legend of the sniper duel between Zeitsev and his German counterpart, and he also dismisses as a complete fabrication the entire book "Last Letters from Stalingrad". He presents these scholarly opinions as virtual truths, and yet gives no supporting evidence.
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Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: This is an absolutely riveting account of one of the most important events of the 20th century. From the opening chapter--a taut, dramatic account of the launching of Operation Barbarossa--to the final unfolding of the battle itself, the story holds you in its grip. I read it in two nights, and am thinking about going back and reading it again. It's the small details that bring the story to life: for example, a wonderful account of a Soviet officer's crossing of the front line to seek an early surrender from the surrounded Germans; the story of the Communist printer who stole a copy of a Russian-German phrasebook and smuggled into to the Soviet embassy in Berlin, trying, in vain, to warn of the impending invasion. I recommend this book very highly.
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Summary: An excellent account of the Stalingrad campaign
Review: In Antony Beever's account, the Stalingrad campaign, undertaken with initial success by the German Sixth Army and the German Fourth Panzer Army (along with Axis units from Rumania, Hungary, Italy and Croatia), in August 1942, culminated in September and October 1942 in a series of savage small-unit battles and hand-to-hand fighting in the ruins of the city of Stalingrad on the west bank of the Volga River. It is a credit to the indomitable fighting abilities of the Soviet Red Army officers and enlisted men and to the leadership of General Vasily Chuikov - who commanded the beseiged Soviet 62nd Army - that Stalingrad was held against initially overwhelming odds. Beever points out a number of factors that aided the Soviets: (1) Chuikov's willingness to commit his Soviet soldiers to close quarters combat with German infantry negated the ability of the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) to provide tactical air support to German ground units when it was most needed; (2) German tanks were unable to maneuvre successfully amidst the ruins of Stalingrad - ruins produced by countless Luftwaffe bombing raids and German artillery bombardments; (3) the Germans failed to prepare reserve supplies of fuel, food and winter clothing when they held the upper hand in the initial stages of the fighting in Stalingrad; (4) the Germans failed to maintain a strong and mobile reserve force in the Don River bend west of Stalingrad to react to any flanking movements or encirclements attempted by the Soviets; (5) the Germans failed to learn anything from their experiences in dealing with the Russian winter while they fought the Soviet Red Army in front of Moscow in November-December 1941 and were thus ill-prepared to deal with another Russian winter in Stalingrad a year later. All of these factors combined to allow a replenished and strengthened Soviet Red Army to launch an offensive in December 1942 - planned by the Soviet Red Army's leading officer, General Georgi Zhukov - that successfully encircled the German forces, in effect turning the besieger into the besieged. By February 1943, the campaign was over and some 90,000 German and other Axis officers and enlisted men surrendered and were marched off into the Soviet Gulag. Many would never return home after the end of World War Two. I have read several other accounts of the Stalingrad campaign, most notably William Craig's work, "Enemy at the Gates - The Battle For Stalingrad," but Antony Beever reveals several new pieces of information about the campaign that I had not heretofore known. During the course of the Stalingrad campaign, more than 13,000 Soviet Red Army officers and enlisted men were summarily executed by the Soviet NKVD (Secret Police) and by Soviet Red Army military tribunals for desertion, dereliction of duty and treason. In addition, there were thousands of Russians - former Soviet Red Army prisoners of war, Ukrainians and Don Cossacks - who served in the German Sixth Army during the Stalingrad campaign. Their fate was sealed following the encirclement and surrender when NKVD teams scoured the battlefield and the ruins of Stalingrad. I disagree with Antony Beever's assertion that the Soviet victory in the Stalingrad campaign galvanized the world and marked the single turning point in the Second World War. During virtually the same time period - August 1942 to February 1943 - the U.S. launched and successfully waged its naval, air and land campaign on the island of Guadalcanal, thereby turning the tide in the Pacific theatre of operations. In North Africa the tide also turned in October 1942 with the defeat of the German Afrika Korps - under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - by the British Eighth Army at the Battle of El Alamein. In my view, the Soviet victory in the Stalingrad campaign marked the beginning of the rise of the Soviet Union as a military superpower in Europe and the world for the next 50 years.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling story, pedestrian writing, poor editing.
Review: Anthony Beevor's compelling narrative of the Battle of Stalingrad is the chronicle of a self-inflicted debacle of unsurpassed horror. Evidently meticulously researched, is suffers from a pedestrian writing style and often inexplicable editorial lapses (e.g., "Willis" throughout for "Willys", manufacturer of the celebrated Jeep vehicle, and flags flying at "half-mast" rather than at "half-staff"). These and similar irritations aside, the story is intrinsically so horrific and extraordinary that one cannot put it down, long after the awfulness has become almost intolerable. Its chronicle of blind stupidity, extraordinary heroism and appalling brutality surely encompasses the best and the worst of the human experience. Recommended, but not on a par with, for example, Bruce Catton's historical narrative.
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