Customer Reviews

The Forsaken Army: The Great Novel of Stalingrad (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

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Initially, I wasn't sure about this book; I seldom read fiction, albeit that this book is based on fact, with the minor characters being fictional. I have to report that my apprehensions were missed place. The book is excellent and adheres to the historical fact. In the preface, the author states that all the experiences are factual, although played out by the fictional characters. Also, the author manages to convey to the reader the very severe conditions the 6th army operated in within Stalingrad, whilst maintaining some form of army protocol. Obviously, the story is told from a german point of view, so don't expext to read to much about the german atrocities. All in all an excellent read!

When I read the cover of this book and I saw that it might be a work of Fiction, I was a little skeptical because I bought this book in order to further my view of the battle of Stalingrad. After reading the whole thing, even though some of things stated were true some were not. I get that view after reading three other books on Stanlingrad, specially Anthony Beevor's book. Therefore, I think this book has to be categorized as Fiction, as more of a novel than an actual written account.

The book, as a novel, is not bad. It gives you a view into the lives of some officers of the encircled German Army after Operation Uranus by the Russians. The officers, although enporvished by the conditions, still seem to live a better life than the average German Soldier. They find food, sleep well and live in confortable bunkers. Of course things turn for the worst and everyone is sent into concentration camps in the end. It is a very interesting view, although some may be fiction, into the officer Coprs of the Army.

This book gives great examples that not every one was with the Nazis. It gives you compassion for some of the soldiers. There are a couple of instances where the writer actually makes you want to say to just leave them alone and let them go home! It is pretty well written and I think it should be made into a movie. It does not glorify the German thinking of that time but gives you a side in which tells you: Not all these German guys were evil!

The most remarkable aspect of this excellent story is not so much the ferocious combat or unspeakable human suffering, although there is plenty of both, but how subtle the transition 6th Army makes from conquering army to condemned mob. The failure of Germany's allies to hold the flanks of the 6th Army is glaringly illustrated. One cannot help but feel sympathy for the surrounded German soldiers, not so much for the beating they take from the Red Army but for the criminal manner in which they are so uselessly sacrificed by Hitler. To sacrifice a company, battalion, or even a division to advance a nation's strategic plan is one thing, but to throw away an entire army of 250,000 of your best men is quite another. We Americans like to believe D-Day was the turning point of the war, but, the truth is, without the German defeat at Stalingrad, there might never have been a D-Day. 'Forsaken Army' is hands down the best book ever written about the Battle of Stalingrad.

I red this book years ago. I consider it to be the best testimonial of the ordeal of the men trapped in Stalingrad. However, I was dissapointed by a poor translation which many times fails to give the idea behind the words or describes incorrectly the action. Also, the maps that are an important component of the novel are not included in this edition.

I read almost half this book and couldn't force myself to finish it. In the end I can't say I enjoyed it that much. I've read plenty on Stalingrad from both sides, I'm even helping an author with his forthcoming book on Stalingrad and have been reading Soviet battle journals, etc so I can safely say that I'm very familiar with this battle. The book is mainly a rehashing of the battle of Stalingrad, not the entire battle, but the encirclement starting on November 19th until the surrender of the 6th Army. You will be presented with some of the different thoughts and attitudes that various Wehrmacht soldiers had towards their leaders, generals, and comrade soldiers but in my opinion there is simply too much talking and not enough 'action.' I would guess the reason for this is because it was written decades ago during the cold war when the Germans were trying to make amends for what they did and the US got on the band wagon by trying to make the USSR out to be the big bad beast and Germany an innocent victim of the cold war (being split in half, etc). I'd say there are many better books on Stalingrad if you want to know what really happened, which is all this book does.