Customer Reviews

199 Days: The Battle for Stalingrad

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have changed my mind about this book...from bad to mediocre. The problem is that this book is marketed from the publisher as a scholarly study of the battle, drawn from the newly opened Russian archives, as well as the older German archives. This is not the case, & Mr. Hoyt never claims this in his book. Mr. Hoyt simply got a bunch of older Stalingrad books, and rewrote the words into his book. I respect Mr. Hoyt for actually admitting this in his appendix, which he does in great detail, to my amusement. Mr. Hoyt's choice of books to use as the basis for his are generally good secondary sources, but unfortunately are only English titles. Therefore, the well read Stalingrad student will just see a rehash of material he/she has already read. I would recommend this book for the person who just wants to read ONE Stalingrad book in his life. If you read Hoyt, you have essentially read Erickson, Chuikov, Ziemke, & a host of others.

This book is typical of Hoyt; very well written and nicely presented, but also unoriginal and non-innovative. Readers wanting to learn new things about Stalingrad, or even to get a detailed analysis as opposed to a mere chronicle, will find this book disappointing. So buy this book if you want a good yarn, but buy Joel Hayward's STOPPED AT STALINGRAD, Antony Beevor's STALINGRAD: FATEFUL SIEGE, John Erickson's THE ROAD TO STALINGRAD if you want substance, new findings and real analysis. Stalingrad enthusiasts are unanimous that these are the three "standard works" on Stalingrad. Although I give Hoyt's book three stars, I give all the other three five stars.

Reading The Triumph and the Glory heightened my interest in WWII, particularly in the savage fighting on the Russian Front. Wishing to delve into the subject further, I bought a copy of Hoyt's book from Amazon and have to say it was very well done. Hoyt has written quite a number of books about WWII, all of them good. He doesn't quite go into great depth with any of his topics so his books are more for the general public than for more serious students of the war. "199 Days: The Battle for Stalingrad" is well worth reading, but not as definitive as Beevor's "Stalingrad", nor the classic "Enemy at the Gates".

If you have not read much about the eastern front, this book may be a good one to start with. If you have read several books on the subject, this book may be disappointing to you. I, being a casual reader, enjoyed it very much. It gave me a good general understanding of the war in the eastern front and more specifically, around Stalingrad. The author does not give first hand accounts of battles like Stephen Ambrose would. If you want a first hand account, read Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier." But Sajer's auto-biography starts with Sajer trying to get to Stalingrad. Stalingrad falls before he gets there. So if you want to read about Stalingrad, "The Forgotten Soldier" isn't the one for you, although it is a must read. In conclusion, if you are a casual reader, and want to know about Stalingrad, I recommend "199 days the Battle for Stalingrad." If you are more than a casual reader on this subject, this book will not give you anything you don't already know.

Forget this book if you are a serious researcher or student of the Battle of Stalingrad. Get Joel Hayward's acclaimed "Stopped at Stalingrad" and Antony Beevor's great "Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege" instead. Also check out anything by David Glantz and John Erickson. Get THIS book maybe if you've never read anything on Stalingrad and want a clear and basically accurate introduction.

This is a concise account of the first two years of the war in Russia. The Author relies heavily on sources, which themselves are secondary sources. Besides the Author gives large chunks of text from Sajer's Forgotten Soldier, a book Authenticity of which is still doubted by many. The book suffers from a very poor editing. It is crawling with misprints and factual errors. Besides the divisional and corps numbers etc. are being constantly mixed up. Anyway this is not a serious study of this campaign and may be suitable for casual readers on this subject only. It does not give anything new you can't find in Carell, Clark etc. Not a book for serious students of this theater of war.

Granted, Edwin P. Hoyt does give a rather simplified account of the battle entire (a lot of time is spent on explaining the opening of the war), but this was the first book I read on Stalingrad. I think that's what this book basically is: an introduction.

Some people might not like the fluff added in (although I must admit reading about the Russian girl beating up the German soldier made my day), but I think for those not yet ready for the cold, hard facts it pretty much entices your interest to learn more. I have to also add it was great to read about the true story of what was later made into the film "Enemy at the Gates." When I saw the trailer for the movie this book was the first thing to pop in my mind. To me, Edwin P. Hoyt is like the H.P. Lovecraft of history. He may not talk about any thing new and he may not be the best of the best, but man can this guy write!

I wouldn't call it the definitive book on Stalingrad, but if you'd like a nice read from all the hardcore factual history books out there, or you've gotten interested in this field of history, then it's a good book to get.

In August 1942, all that remained between the advancing Wehrmacht and Stalingrad were open Steppe. That soon changed, as one sees in 199 Days by Hoyt. He is clever enough to give a good background of the war in the east from June 41, through the winter and on. This helps to explain to the reader why the Germans made some decisions, and why the Soviets made some of theirs. The only problem with this book is the slightly "pro Soviet" stance. While I won't argue for the merits of Naziism (for there are none), I also will not argue for the merits of Stalinism. These were two armies, essentially the tools of two despots, a point which Hoyt does indeed make. Having said that, he seems to put a human face onto the Soviet soldier more so than the German soldier. The end is good, however, the follow up winter offensive by the Soviets could have been at least alluded to in the form of an epilogue (The Soviet offensive was pressed on, well beyond its supplies, and hundreds of thousands of Soviets were captured after the fall of Stalingrad, in the area of Kharkhov). Overall, not a bad book. If you know nothing of the east front, buy it. If you already consider yourself somewhat in the know concerning the eastern front, then save your money.

This book synthesizes all of the environmental factors of war: ruthless, motivated, and well-armed enemies bent on destroying one another; the physical environment, such as the bitter freezing cold, followed by the spring mud, the fear, the hunger, and the pain.

This book absolutely de-glorifies war, although it leaves you with respect for the incredible sacrifices and pain the induvidual soldiers had to endure. This book provides lucid, understandable operational and tactical details of Hitler's Barbarossa campaign and the Battle for Stalingrad. It also provides a pretty good leadership study of the German and Russian Generals.

I salute the brave Russian soldiers who defended their homeland! I also offer my respects to the teenage German soldiers who were swept into the jaws of Hell and didn't know any better.

This is a solid account of the hellish battle for Stalingrad. Hoyt is at his best when he has ample detail to illustrate just how horrible this battle was--the tales of Germans cracking horse bones for food, stories about men's feet freezing in their boots and the insanity of fighting floor to floor in a building. It's muddled in parts, but I generally enjoyed the book and would look for more books from Hoyt on World War II.