Because of the Cold War, the extremely crucial role played by the Soviets in the defeat of Hitler has never been fully acknowledged, far less documented in detail by Western scholarship and this book is a much needed step in that direction. Beevor's account begins with the launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, a date etched forever on the world's memory, heralding the beginning of a battle that would set new benchmarks for scale, savagery and decisiveness. 'An eminently accessible account of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the turning points of WW2, and as crucial to the eventual Allied victory as any other. The author incorporates Russian reports on desertions and executions that have never been seen by Western scholars, German transcripts of prisoner interrogations, and private letters and diaries to re-create the human drama of the most terrible battle in modern warfare. Now Antony Beevor tells the story as it has never been told before, recounting the strategic brilliance and fatal flaws of the notorious generals, while telling the incredible tale from a soldier's-eye view. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler. In August 1942, an overconfident Adolf Hitler would attempt to invade Stalin's namesake city on the Volga.

Stalingrad by Antony Beevor