Rating: 
Summary: Good historical account - but I was bored
Review: I admit this was the first historical account of any battle that I have ever read and I was encouraged by the many reviews stating that although it was an historical analysis it read like a novel. Well I didn't think it read like a novel at all. It never gripped me and I had to force myself to get through it. It's just a continuous list of logistics. X number of troop deployments here, Y number of artillery batteries there. One statement in the book that shocked me was that in the first 3 weeks of operation Barbarossa, 2 million Russians were killed. This is a phenomenal number of casualties in such a short space of time, but it was just reeled off as just another statistic. No further detail on how they were killed - though I would presume mostly by the machine-gun fire of the advancing Wehrmacht. I'm sure Mr Beevor is an excellent and celebrated historian, but personally I couldn't get into the book and I suppose I shouldn't have expected it to be otherwise.
Rating: 
Summary: Epic history comes to life
Review: After I had read this my wife read it, then it went to work and three female staff mates read it. Then it came home to roost amongst my bookshelves. It is a book for everyone, male or female whether they have an interest in the Second World War or not, it is an incredible book about people and their experiences in the most extreme conditions.I had never before read a book like this, a documented account of a series of battles with no particular heroes and characterisations. I bought the book because it was prominent on the table in the bookstore and the reviews on the back were promising of something special.
I never understood the maps reproduced at points throughout the book and forgot which general was which, a common problem I have with names. None of the other people who read it could really get there heads around these finer points, but the overall picture slammed into me like a tsunami whilst at the same time gently touched me on the shoulder. Beevor has the ability to bring small delicate touches of humanity to the massive scale of inhuman horrors that he describes.
At the end of this book you are incredibly glad that you weren't there and in awe of the fact that people were there, stayed there and survived there. And of course died there in numbers which are hard to comprehend. I feel that I better understand the situation of the combatants and protagonists in the Second World War for having read this book. Quoting Beevor when describing the Russians, "along with the desire for revenge, a pitiless determination not to be beaten", can best sum up the book. The German army was initially better equipped, trained and led. The Russian resistance survived because they died by the million. When the Russians regrouped and became better equipped and led the German 6th army displayed equal levels of courage and sacrifice that the Russians had previously done. This is a colossal book that will have you reading nearly 500 pages in a couple of days. It proves history can be alive and vital in the hands of an excellent author. It is also a book that serves to illuminate the events of Stalingrad and to bring to life the events of normal human beings who endured it and died at it.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable read, well thought out, great balance
Review: This is an excellent read, written in such a way that either the lay-person or historian can benefit from the interesting, detailed information presented. Beevor provides a comprehensive picture of the siege of Stalingrad, where so many others have provided specific, flawed or incomplete images. The author has maintained a readability that is often missed with this type of historical work. The balance between facts and antidotes is very good, and the images of the war are quite vivid. I can't think of another recent WWII historical work that I've read that is as well written as Stalingrad : The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor .
Rating:
Summary: The Horrors of War
Review: This was one of the most moving books I have ever read. The overwhelming sense that is conveyed is of the horror of war for both sides in this dreadful conflict. On a secondary level the book was also helpful in promoting an understanding as to how the suffering of the Soviet Union during this conflict contributed to their foreign policy attitudes in later years. The book is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "THE BATTLE" REVISITED FROM THE FRONT
Review: When we thougth that everything had already been said and written about Stalingrad's Krieg, here cames Beevor with an outstanding description of the battle that caused the German defeat on the eastern front. This book is very well written and reads like a novel, but contains a truthful and accurate account of the man to man, wall to wall combat, in the besieged Stalingrad. Drawing on material not available before to other historians Beevor's tale is new in many aspects and reveals some accurate information based on the records of the Soviet Army. The russians serving in the Wehrmacht outnumbered the italian and rumanian allies involved in the battle. More than 13,000 russians soldiers were executed by their own people on grounds of desertion. Russian snipers in Stalingrad greatly contributed to the demoralization of the enemy and their deeds were fully exploited by the soviets propaganda machine (This is why the movie Enemy at the Gate is an interesting rendition of this aspect of the battle). The sheer numbers of the dead and dispersed has to qualify this event as an enormous military tragedy and a confirmation of Hitler's stubborness and lack of contact with the reality of the Eastern Front. If war must be fougth, soldiers and not politicians are the ones best suited to do it. To anyone seriously interested in history and WWII I would strongly recommend this book, because is a real depiction, day by day, of the incredible hardships that common soldiers had to endure during this battle and a poem about the utter stupidity and futility of man's war effort....MUST BUY
Rating:
Summary: Readable, precise, and informative
Review: An event as pinnacle as the battle of Stalingrad deserves a book like this. This prose is easy to read and contains the relevant facts to introduce and to grasp the immensity of this event on the Volga! Beevor's text is not as comprehensive of a review as the work by Erickson but it is also much easier to read because of that fact. A comprehensive understanding of the Ost Front is not necessary to understand this text. It does contain a rich amount of military fact (units, dates, casualty estimates, etc) without burying the reader in lists of division, regiment, and company types of designations. Beevor also helps to illuminate the many personalities that are inexorably linked to the event from Hitler, Paulus, Manstein, to Zhukov, Krushchev and Stalin. In spite of this, the telling of the story of the common soldier (from both sides) and the immense suffering of all those involved is not shirked. Beevor doesn't delve into too many "what ifs" except for a brief discussion regarding the potential fates of 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army if they had been allowed to retire much earlier in the battle.
The best part of this text is the understanding of the effect on the Wehrmacht and on the Red Army during and after this battle. This showed the Soviets that the Germans could be dealt a tremendous blow and it showed the Germans (except for Hitler) the tenacity and dedication that the Red Army could force from its soldiers. This (in my opinion) was the first time the Germans suffered a major defeat due to the loss of control from the Prussian officers to an Austrian Corporal, it would not be the last.
Some of the amazing facts are included in this text - more Russian "Hiwis" were with 6th army than Italians and Romanians combined. The German bread ration was reduced to 100 grams a day near the end. Etc. If you saw "Enemy at the Gates", read this book for the real story of the battle. The spirit of this battle is summarized well in the "remains of a Russian and German soldier discovered buried together after they had bayoneted one another to death". Remains are still found with each excavation project in this city.
Rating:
Summary: I burned through this book quick
Review: This is a very engaging book, full of behind-the-scenes fighting and political bickering, while helping the reader wholly appreciate the immensity of the overall battle taking place. I do believe that after Stalingrad there was no way for the Germans to win. I have felt this ever since reading William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" years ago. This book only further convinced me of this. A great book.
Rating:
Summary: I've now read it three times!
Review: "Russia cannot be understood by the mind" the book starts and this is also true for the scope, horror and scale of the conflict on the Eastern front. Antony Beevor does a brilliant job of capturing the events of 1941-43, using material from a wide variety of sources. His own thoughts and comments are insightful and it's a truly chilling read. A must for anyone interested in WWII and military strategy (or lack thereof).
Rating:
Summary: Worth Your Money, But...
Review: I enjoyed this book a lot...it offered a readable overview of the Battle for Stalingrad, the political forces behind it, and the effect on the rest of the war. My only issues were the one-sidedeness of the account. The author mainly discusses the Germans, and their struggles, without really going into the Russians, and what they faced while defending their city. Another point--a large portion of the book deals with the 6th Army, and what happened to them during their encirclement. This is, of course, interesting, but I was expecting a bit more about Stalingrad, and the battle within. But, despite the neglect of the Soviet point of view, the book still gives a great impression of how horrible the war on the Eastern Front was, and how Stalingrad changed the tide of the conflict. All in all, a good book.
Rating:
Summary: The Towering Inferno
Review: If one has to understand the cruety of War, he should read the history of the Battle for Stalingrad in 1942/43. The horror of war is explicitly told in this book by Beevor, who is also a British Soldier himself so that he understand very well the war in Stalingrad.One could read the sufferings of the German Soldiers as well as the bravery of the Russian Soldiers ( Anyone of them could not survive more than 24 hours in the stalingrad Kessel ).I highly recommend this book to anyone who takes a serious attitude toward WWII.
|
