Rating: 
Summary: This History Isn't A Mystery
Review: Antony Beevor has managed, with this book, to describe one of the most horrific battles the world has ever seen and make it read like a gripping drama novel.Beevor has painstakingly researched this topic, from both the Soviet and German perspectives, and has constructed a narrative of unparalleled depth and accuracy; yet it does not read like a boring historical tome. With such detail, Beevor illustrates the characters, the scenarios, the angst, the letters home and the feeling of total hopelessness on the steppe. This is one of the best books you are likely to ever read; truly an amazing journey into the depths of behaviour, that like all profound portraits of war, begs the question: WHY?
Rating: 
Summary: A Biased View
Review: Although the Russo-German war was a battle between two totalitarian leaders (Hitler and Stalin), Beevor's writing style is biased in favour of the Soviets. Instead of relating the excesses of both sides, and placing the blame on both sides, Beevor is consistently trying to convince the reader that the Soviets are worthy of our sympathy. There are better descriptions of the battle at Stalingrad. Too bad this isnt one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Best account of Stalingrad since "Enemy at the Gates"
Review: Beevor takes both historical and personal approaches in his account of the Battle of Stalingrad. Throughout his historical analysis, he continually adds stories from soldiers, from both the Russian and the German sides, to augment the utter brutality of the battle. Beevor begins the book with an analytical analysis of both the Nazi and Soviet military power, the politics existing between the two nations, and the reasoning behind Hitler's decision to execute Operation: Barbarossa. He then launches into a detailed account of the actual battle and the German surrender in early 1943. A couple of small points weigh down the book, however:
1.) Beevor needed to include greater analysis of the personalities of both General Paulus and Yeremenko.
2.) Needs an expanded conclusion. Still, one of the better Stalingrad accounts.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This is as good as Joel Hayward ''Stopped at Stalingrad''. Beevor has assembled rich and useful material, assembled it to form solid arguments, and written it in a lively style. It's great.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid account of a horrific battle
Review: Stalingrad by Antony Beevor is a hands-on account of the epic struggle that centred on this Russian City, between Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia during World War II. For me, this book was engrossing from start to end. I found it hard to put down. The depiction of suffering inflicted on humanity by itself, at times made for harrowing reading, but was necessary in the context of the retelling of this story. This is a book that will appeal to those with a genuine interest in military history. The book focuses much attention on the details of the battle both at tactical and strategic level. It is this ability of Beevor to shift from a strategic perspective to rendering accounts of the battle at tactical level that provide much of the interest. The book is full of description of the decision-making processes of the leaders and Generals from both sides. Complimenting this are stories and anecdotes of individual front line soldiers that anchor this story. Here he has struck a wonderful balance that maintains interest throughout. I'm not sure if this book will appeal to non-military enthusiasts, as there is a significant amount of detail about military units and their disposition, movements and performance in the battle. As an account of the suffering that occurred on both sides the book pulls no punches and allocates blame for atrocities to both the Germans and Russians. Overall this was an excellent read, which I highly recommend. I'm primed now to read Beevors work on the closing battle of World War II, "Berlin".
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Gripping Piece of work.
Review: This has to be one of the best pieces of military history I have had the joy to read, for that I sincerely thank you Mr. Beevor. It is simply superbly written, reading more like an epic fictional saga that a historic account, yet still keeps to the fine details, it is this which makes it such a fine and accessible book for anyone to read. There's no question about it people, read this book, read about the turning point of WW2!
Rating:
Summary: Horrific Look at the battle
Review: This was perhaps the most horrific battle in the history of mankind. Never before or since has the civilized world seen such a thing. Beevor goes in depth and doesn't omit any of the gory details of this greatest-of battles where the outcome of the Second World War was in the ballance. Beginning with a short history of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Beevor explains how the events of 1941 and 42 led to the German and Soviet armies meeting at Stalingrad, the city that bore the name of the Soviet dictator. So began the epic struggle that was Stalingrad. It was as much a strategic decision as a personal one between Hitler and Stalin to fight it out here. The book details the months of bloody figting in the rubble of the city, culminating with the launch of Operation Uranus and the Soviet encirclement of the entire German Sixth Army, leading to its eventual surrender. Truly an epic and historic struggle of the greatest proportions.Highly recomended.
Rating:
Summary: Superb account
Review: This is an outstanding, careful and, as a far as I can tell, impartial account of Stalingrad. Like others have mentioned the author (as an ex-military man) rather assumes the reader will be able to distinguish between a Corps, a Division, the OBW from GHQ and so on. I found that at first it worried me, but ultimately I decided that as a whole the style works very well. With this kind of book you can either explain every little detail, resulting in a the text robbed of its vitality and probably immensely long, or you can take the Beevor approach in which some things will require looking up elsewhere. Not knowing exactly what he is talking about on every occasion I found in the end it did not interfere with my enjoyment (if this is the right word) of the book. The story is overwhelming in intensity and Beevor is always there with a sure command of his material and his analysis. I found, for example, the description of the first air-raids on Stalingrad poetic in their description of the appalling, brutal result. In the end one can also appreciate the appalling suffering of the German invaders and feel some sympathy with them - despite the fact that logic tells us they deserved none (and received none). This is a terrible story told concisely and well. I can imagine a more readable account so I only give it four stars, but there is no denying the good choices that Beevor made in telling this awesome tale of war and evil.
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Summary: The human side of history
Review: Beevor's book is an excellent account of the human aspect of the battle of Stalingrad as well as the political hubris swirling around this historic battle. I have read many books about World War II and few provide the scope and immediacy this one does. Beevor fleshes out the the epic story of Stalingrad with the letters home from the 6th Army German soldiers cut off by the Red Army in the final weeks of the battle. Many of these letters made it out of the Russian encirclement(although their authors did not)before the the German 6th Army lost contact with the rest of the Wermacht. Through the last words penned to loved ones we have a window on the final hours and thoughts of the German soldiers of the 6th Army who realized too late that they had been abandoned by their Fuhrer to die in this frozen graveyard of a city on the Volga.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping read, but some gaps
Review: This is certainly a fantastic book, but it is only one of three books you need if you want to understand the Battle of Stalingrad. You must also buy these two exceptional books: A) Joel S. A. Hayward, "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitlers Defeat in the East 1942-1943". This acclaimed book explains with an insightful and thorough way all of the German strategic decisions for the whole Stalingrad campaign, which went from June 1942 to March 1943. Serious scholars of Stalingrad MUST have Hayward's masterpice. B) John Erickson, "The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin's War with Germany, Vol. 1". This equally acclaimed analysis explains the Soviet military and political decisions as well as all Soviet military operations, during the same period. It is also indispensible. Now for what Beevor sets out to do (to portray the experiences and suffering of the sad conscripts on both sides who had to perform all the strategic moves that Hayward and Erickson explain) Beevor's book is a success. You may well feel as horrified as I did that the Soviet commanders were as ruthless with their own soldiers as the Nazis were with theirs. And the civilians caught in the middle suffered just as bad. Some journalists and politicians have been recently saying that America 's war on Iraq or Afganistan could become another Stalingrad. What ignorant fools they are. If they only read Beevor's book they would know that no western nation, let alone the moderate America and United Kingdom, would maltreat their armed forces and force them to accept such high casualty rates. No way, Jose! Get Beevor's book and the other two I mentioned and you have all bases covered in terms of understanding Stalingrad. These three are all great books.
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