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Rating: 
Summary: Journalist's take on the crucial year in WWII
Review: I love personal, down-to-earth style of Alexaner Werth writing. He is a true, honest journalist who doesn't want to raise himself over his heroes like some other "military historians". Rather, he is an objective observer who lets you feel what is it like to be in that other guy's shoes.Not only this book serves as an excellent historical account of the Stalingrad battle and events preceding and following it, but it's also a human account. Because Werth spends a lot of time explaining the atmosphere and people of 1942, it is so much easier to understand those people, their decisions and actions. I'm also grateful to Alexander Werth for sharing his knowledge and admiration for the Russian culture and people with the English-speaking world. Having read several modern books that deal with numbers, dry facts only and try to view those different times with today's people's mentality and context, Werth's book is a pleasant contrast that comes from the first source. History is not a technical discipline or definite science, and Alexander Werth sets an example on how it should be taught.
Rating:
Summary: Journalist's take on the crucial year in WWII
Review: I love personal, down-to-earth style of Alexaner Werth writing. He is a true, honest journalist who doesn't want to raise himself over his heroes like some other "military historians". Rather, he is an objective observer who lets you feel what is it like to be in that other guy's shoes. Not only this book serves as an excellent historical account of the Stalingrad battle and events preceding and following it, but it's also a human account. Because Werth spends a lot of time explaining the atmosphere and people of 1942, it is so much easier to understand those people, their decisions and actions. I'm also grateful to Alexander Werth for sharing his knowledge and admiration for the Russian culture and people with the English-speaking world. Having read several modern books that deal with numbers, dry facts only and try to view those different times with today's people's mentality and context, Werth's book is a pleasant contrast that comes from the first source. History is not a technical discipline or definite science, and Alexander Werth sets an example on how it should be taught.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: This is a fascinating account of a british journalist in Russia, in 1942-43. Werth's depiction of what was happening in the Soviet Union during the war is detailled, coherent and thrilling. The book consists of few commentaries, backed by Werth's diary and extracts from newspapers of the time. The book was first published in 1947, making it a precious document to compare with modern knowledge of what was happening back then. A must.
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