Rating: 
Summary: Great Book! Better than the movie or War of the Rats!
Review: This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is very well written and reading it moves at a fast pace with the feeling that you are there in Stalingrad (at times with the Russians and at times with the Germans.) Any potential reader should be warned that this book has very
little to do with the recent movie of the same name. The sniper
duel that is the plot of the movie is briefly covered in the book. The movie is more closely based on the fictional novel "The War of the Rats" (which in turn uses this book for a lot of its information). I have read this book twice, the War of the Rats once and have seen the movie once. This book is far superior to the other two. The book is mostly personal recollections of various Germans, Russians and Italians and there experiences in the battle for Stalingrad from August 1942 to January 1943. When the Germans first arrive in Stalingrad you feel the horror of the Russians through their eyewitness accounts of the German occupation and the destruction that the Germans wrought on them. Alternately when the German High Command sells out the German Sixth Army trapped in Stalingrad you feel the horror that the Germans have to endure as the Russians slowly overun them. The narratives of starvation and eating dogs, horses, and later in captivity with russians of even Cannibalism are horrific. The freezing cold, the lice, the rats, the constant threat of being shot by a sniper are quite horrifying! Most of the Germans who endured to surrender at Stalingrad perished enroute to POW camps or in the camps themselves. World War 2 was the most brutal war in human history, the Russian front was the most brutal theater in that war, and Stalingrad was the most brutal battle of the whole war. The Germans treated the Russians with incredible brutality when they invaded Russia, the Russians repaid them with incredible brutality all the way back to the fall of Berlin. A very good read of a very dark period in human history.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting book, despite...
Review: This is a book to read if you want to get a sense of the scope, intensity and human drama of the incredible battle between German and Russian armies on the banks of Volga. It was one of the most important battles of the WWII (if not the most important). It demonstrated the incredible heroism of both the Germans and the Russians. It also showed that Hitler made a mistake of underestimating ability of Stalin to regain control and learn from mistakes of disastrous summer of 1941 and determination of Russians to fight for each building in Stalingrad. Written by the American author, the book for the most part describes events from the German point of view. I am Russian and admittedly it is not easy to stay totally objective about an account with slight pro-Axis slant, but I am interested in Stalingrad battle and have read some other books on the subject. I also been to Stalingrad (now city of Volgograd) myself, and my main criticism is this: Mr. Craig, despite the fact that he spent five years researching for this book, unfortunately didn't quite familiarize himself with some aspects of Russian life and culture. I don't know, may be he didn't have an opportunity...But that would have made his book more balanced and more readable for the Russian audience. For example, "Kazakhs" on page 321 aren't "Kazakhs" but Cossacks. There were no "Kazakhs" living on river Don, only Cossacks. Kazakhs live in Kazakhstan. These are two different peoples. "Kaytusha" throughout the text of the book is misspelled; it is really "Katjusha" - a Russian rocket launcher. I was surprised that it was misspelled, since it was not only famous Russian weapon of war, but also a woman's name, derivative of Katja (Russian for Katie). It would be equivalent for a Russian author to call German tank "Mark" as "Mrak". Another example - on page 283 Mr. Craig assumes that December 24th was a Christmas Eve for both Germans and Russians. Close, but no cigar...The Christmas in Russia is celebrated due to Christian Orthodox tradition on January 7th, hence the Christmas Eve is January 6th. But during Communist times it was prohibited anyway. Perhaps as a result of the author's lack of firm grasp of Russia's cultural context, the Russians in a book depicted a little bit like caricatures (despite the author's effort to do otherwise). Germans are more believable, better developed and likeable. To summarize, despite the fact that I thought the book was good, I have encountered many errors about the Russians that it made the book less enjoyable to read and sometimes even a little annoying. Otherwise the book is well written. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history of WWII, military history, and German or Russian history.
Rating:
Summary: Easily the best ever
Review: This is easily the best WWII book Ive read. It explains the battle for stalingrad with great detail and it is non-bias.
Craig has the ability to 'write' which most historians in this genre dont. He keeps the story flowing and doesnt fill in gaps with gobblyguk. I enjoyed this book and I enjoyed the companion movie as well.
Rating:
Summary: Great Account of Stalingrad Though Schoolish in Places
Review: SHORT REVIEW BLURB: I enjoyed this great recounting of The Battle for Stalingrad, but in many places it reads like an elementary school history book rather than an entertaining novel. That being said, I enjoyed reading the novel and would recommend it to others. I gave it four stars rather than five because of the many places it dragged due to superfluous detail or rote recitation of detail. ABOUT THE CONTENT: I enjoy reading about W.W.II when I get the chance, but I mostly review books about the Arab-Israeli Wars. This book, however, has a very interesting tie-in: many of Israel's soldiers were SURVIVORS of Stalingrad (On the Soviet side, of course!). William Craig didn't ignore the Jewish tie-in to The Battle of Stalingrad. His research includes interviews of several Israelis who were soldiers, Russian or Polish nationals, and survivors of Stalingrad. Among them were: Ignacy Changar, Mikhail Goldstein, and Hersch Gurewicz. The book in most places flows very well. Craig accomplishes this by interspersing personal accounts from the war from the hundreds of interviews that he performed over five plus years in several countries including Russia, Germany, and Israel. Hearing the personal accounts of an Italian doctor on march as a prisoner of the Red Army really gives the book some human interest. Reading of how this same doctor would regale his fellow prisoners with stories about delicious meals in Italy, while the prisoners were surviving on a few frozen cabbages and hunks of bread (not enough to sustain human life and well below minimum caloric needs) was very colorful. Craig also didn't ignore some of the more gruesome aspects of captivity under the Red Army: cannibalism. Many of the Italians and other prisoners of the Red Army during W.W.II were treated so poorly and were so desperately hungry that they resorted to cannibalism. Pretty gruesome, but very entertaining. Very few soldiers left the Red Army camps. Of the estimated 90,000 Axis troops (Italian, Hungarian, German, etc.) who eventually surrendered and went into captivity less than 5,000 of them were able to return to see their countries and families again (and the great majority of them, only after twelve years in tortuous captivity as described above). In this respect, the novel reminded me of "One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch" or the "Archipelago Gulag" books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The military history was commendable and presented details such as the significance of the battle, the major personalities and the battlefield butchery that have made this battle a thing of legend. However, Orders of Battles (OOB) or TO&E (Tables of Organization and Equipment) are not included in the novel. While this may be a disappointment to many wargamers, the colorful accounts of many battles would be very inspirational to scenario writers. One of the most interesting tributes to this book is that it spawned an entire game that is well known to W.W.II gamers: ASL (Advanced Squad Leader). BEST THING ABOUT THE NOVEL: The author's many interviews with actual survivors and the use of those same survivor's personal diaries is without a doubt this book's greatest strength. The wide range of narratives from German, Italian, Hungarian, and Russian soldiers, support staff, commanders, and civilians gives this book its' considerable realism and entertaining strength. Even better, William Craig didn't leave the story unfinished; he wrote a short epilogue that tells about many of the characters as they survived the war as of 1973 (when the book was first published). For the film's fans, it was interesting that Tanya Chernova (the femme fatale) didn't end up marrying Zaitsev (the protagonist) after the war. She thought that Zaitsev had died and didn't learn until 1969 that he had both survived the war and married someone else. It's really hard not to like a novel that has such facts! ABOUT THE TIE-IN TO THE MOVIE: My edition of the book was the movie tie-in version and I view those words with dubiousness since the film's main characters occupy about 6 pages of this 455-page book. The movie focused on the micro drama of two snipers battling, but the book focuses on the ENTIRE conflict from the moment German troops entered Soviet soil until the defeat of German General Paulus at Stalingrad. Many believe that "Enemy at the Gates," the movie, is more closely based on the fictional novel "The War of the Rats" (which in turn uses this book for a lot of its information). I agree with this conclusion. Another reviewer wrote: "If you want to be educated, read Craig's book. If you want to be educated AND enthralled, read David Robbins' WAR OF THE RATS instead." I like the spirit of his words, but disagree with the idea that "War of the Rats" by David Robbins is educational and entertaining. While very entertaining and educational in that it uses William Craig's book as a source, the book would include a caption "based on fact" if it were made into a movie today (curiously enough like the film "Enemy at the Gates"). Robbins is a better writer in that his prose is much more entertaining, but his research wouldn't light a candle to that of William Craig. I would recommend reading both novels: "Enemy at the Gates" by William Craig for the facts and "War of the Rats" by David Robbins for entertainment.
SUGGESTIONS: I would also suggest seeing the movie "Stalingrad" directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. This German-produced film follows the story of "Enemy at the Gates: Movie Tie-In" much better. The film does a better job of showing the horrific face of the battle than "Enemy at the Gates." I also recommend the film "Europa Europa" for an account of Solomon Perel, a Jewish-German boy who manages to conceal his identity from the Nazis and ends up a member of their Youth Party as well as a soldier in the W.W.II German army. The movie is based on Solomon Perel's autobiography, also a good read. REVIEW BY: Maximillian Ben Hanan
Rating:
Summary: Good, classic book of the Stalingrad battle, NOT the film!
Review: I loved the 2001 movie, "Enemy at the Gates" so much that I wanted to learn more about the true life characters in the book. This 1973 book of the same name DOES have more details, (and surprising details), of the film's main characters, but the film's main characters only take up about 6 pages, sprinkled throughout this 400+ page book. Actually, the film's female lead character, Tania Chernova, was interviewed in person by the author, William Craig, some 30 years ago. I was quite surprised that the true life Tania was actually MORE action-oriented than the film version! So the film made her into a more passive, conventional movie heroine, rather than the sniper killer that she actually was. Aside from movie comparisons, this was a gripping book that I couldn't stop reading. The first half focuses on the actual battle in the city of Stalingrad, which captures the feel of the movie. The second half of the book focuses on how the German army got defeated, when the battle shifted outside of the actual city, in the snow covered, open fields and plains, focusing on the German inner politics that would eventually lead to the defeat of the German army. Most of the second half of this book is not shown in the movie at all. Overall, I was surprised that some of the more unbelievable, yet dramatic moments from the film were actually true, while even more "extreme" details of the real life people were not used at all. I am glad that I read this book, which is definitely one of the most famous accounts of the battle for Stalingrad, but the book is definitely NOT for folks who are mainly interested about what happens in the movie version only.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book on the Decisive Battle in WW2
Review: Enemy at the Gates is a classic military book written about the epic World War II Battle of Stalingrad, fought in 1942-1943 between the superpowers of the time - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's U.S.S.R. The author interviewed a lot of survivors from both sides, including soldiers, doctors and civilians and obtain invaluable insight into the battle which significantly influenced the outcome of the war. For the first time, Nazi Germany had been crushed in a battle. The book describes how in 1942, the German Sixth Army, fresh from crushing victories inflicted on the Allies across Europe, advanced deep into U.S.S.R. in an attempt to capture Stalingrad. Though out-numbered, the Russian army heroically fought back and held Stalingrad against a much more powerful enemy. Eye-witness accounts of the horrors of the initial bombings, the brutality of the fighting were described. The Russians were slowly pushed back and victory for the Germans seemed just a matter of time before the Russian reinforcements came in and encircled the Germans in Stalingrad, cutting supply lines for an army with almost 300,000 men. The Germans quickly ran out of food and ammunition as the Russians encirclement grew tighter and tighter. The book detailed how the German High Command was bullish about delivering enough supplies to the troops inside the encirclement (even predicting a victory) and the politics and individual misjudgements which lead to the diaster that followed. At this point, no matter what your opinions on the Germans are, you will feel sorry for the German troops trapped in the encirclement, slowly weakening and dying due to hunger, unable to launch counterattacks due to lack of supplies, waiting for the inevitable diaster to come. The final chapter also describes the surrender and the fate of hundreds of thousands of German, Romanian and Italian prisoners of war. Only a small percentage of these troops saw their home countries again as they were killed or starved to death. Survivors of the prison camps described in horror how some of their countrymen had to resort to cannibalism to survive. At the back of the book is a short chapter describing the fate of some of the survivors of the battle. I found this section to be quite interesting to see how the people involved in this battle ended up. The only thing I find lacking in this book is detailed maps showing how the battle evolved from the initial German advances to the final destruction of the Sixth Army. I strongly recommend this book to you.
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Summary: a real account of human survival
Review: i just finished this book today, as the "war" in iraq is ongoing. this is not my first book on stalingrad, i've read several others as well, and let me tell you, this has got to be the ultimate story of human struggle and survival. to lend some more credence to my review, i should add that i served several years in the canadian army, and i know what it's like to be cold, tired and hungry. this book is less about the war, and quite simply put, more about what men will do to survive as they are exposed to a horrific environment. during my military training, i was routinely subjected to periods of 3-7 days with little sleep, less than enough food, and extremely cold conditions. i may have felt badly about this, but i knew that at the end of it all, i would be going home. the germans (i use them, because that's what this book is really about) in stalingrad suffered a thousandfold more and were never certain that they would survive (at least after things started going badly for them). the stories of cannibalism, while only a small part of the book, are very gripping. the lengths men would go to, to get on a flight home are outlined here, even something so heart-wrenching as an italian soldier in captivity being beaten by the russians for speaking out about something, and for good measure, the russians killing the puppy that had accompanied him before and during his trek into captivity. the whole thing is so sad..... a really great book. makes you want to go out and find some of these men yourself and speak to them just to get a firsthand account. one last thing i wanted to say.... battles such as stalingrad will never happen again. this was a battle of attrition that took an awesome human and material toll. this was when war was war, man against man, man against nature, man against himself. These men deserve our respect for what they faced.
Rating:
Summary: intense enjoyable book
Review: it was a great read, it gave personal stories, and stories behind the battles, the things that happened besides the struggle, it is a very good book and i recommend it
Rating:
Summary: Cool book. Well worth reading.
Review: I never realised until I read Joel Hayward's definitive STOPPED AT STALINGRAD: THE LUFTWAFFE AND HITLER'S DEFEAT IN THE EAST how much this excellent movie was based on Hayward's depiction. The perilous Volga river crossings, the Stuka attacks on them, the Luftwaffe's devastation of Stalingrad suburbs -- its all in Hayward's book. You must read it. Craig's book is equally good, even though its not (as the movie of this name was) only about Stalingrad. Craig's account needs to bew read by more recent and definitive books like Hayward's, Beevor's and Erickson's. But it is still a HIGHLY recommended first start. It is a good, realistic overview. Excellent stuff on a dreadful and totally destructive, criminal battle. Damn the evil tyrants; pity their conscripts.
Rating:
Summary: The Turning Point of World War II
Review: This book is narrative history at its best. It brings to life the horror or war and, indeed, the horror of war at its worst. Ostensibly, the book is a tie in with the movie of the same name although it was written long before the movie was ever made. The so called movie tie in is little more than a piece of marketing hype. As it was with Napoleon, so it was with Hitler. Russia proved to be the downfall of both. William Craig illustrates the pig headedness of Hitler and how this pig headedness contributed to his demise. Read this book not as story of the deeds of Vassily Zaitzev, the Russian sniper around whom the movie is made but, rather, as a history of an epic battle that was the beginning of the end of the Thousand Year Reich.
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