Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War? [Hardcover]

Viktor Suvorov (Author), Thomas B. Beattie (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1990

A historian, the Soviet defector Victor Suvorov tells the story of World War II as started not by Hitler, but by Stalin. He contends that Russia's part in starting the war was very much greater and much more sinister than has hitherto been assumed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 364 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241126223
• ISBN-13: 978-0241126226
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History Book of the 20th Century, November 19, 2005

By 

Arkadiy Dubovoy (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War? (Hardcover)

It is safe to assume that if you have not read Viktor Suvorov's Icebreaker (or, at least, are not familiar with his ideas), you don't understand the last 85 years of the world history.

Viktor Suvorov was trained as a military intelligence officer at the time when soviet military intelligence was the best in the world (probably still is). In the late seventies Suvorov defected to England, where he wrote several books about soviet army and intelligence. By all accounts (friends and enemies alike), Viktor Suvorov possesses encyclopedic knowledge about military theory and history, particularly the history of World War II. His knowledge and analytical ability are astounding.

Published first in the eighties, Icebreaker was the first in Suvorov's series of historical books. By the year 2000, it was translated into 27 languages and published more than 100 times. Icebreaker is a book about communist preparation and execution (however poorly, but not for the lack of trying) of the biggest crime in the history of mankind, World War II. Because of that, in addition to its historical value of showing communist conspiracy as a true cause of WWII, Icebreaker is probably the best, most convincing anti-communist book ever written. Suvorov neither uncovers any secrets, nor does he simply catalogue the crimes. He analyzes communists' own words and innumerable well-known facts to show communism as the darkest, most evil episode in the human history.

Before you start reading this book, however, keep in mind several important things.
First, this relatively small book is an overview of many very complex political, historical, and military events. The most important of the ideas had been expanded by the author in his later books (see below). The sheer number of dogmas and controversies Suvorov takes head on is mind-boggling, and this is why the author must occasionally abbreviate his arguments. As a result, the book may seem cursory to unprepared readers.
Second, Icebreaker was written in Russian and intended for Eastern European readership. In order to be immediately understood, the book does assume certain cultural background, i.e., familiarity with the history and cannibalistic rituals of communist regimes. I am not implying that western readers will not understand the book, to the contrary, I think that an interested western reader will benefit enormously from reading this book.
Third, Icebreaker, when it became available, was an instant tremendous success in the former USSR and all Eastern Block countries. In Eastern Europe Icebreaker became de facto 20th century European history textbook and the basis of common popular understanding of the events leading to WWII and its immediate aftermath. It would be foolish to disregard the opinion of people who actually lived through the events.

Some reviewers accuse Victor Suvorov of being a "Hitler apologist." This preposterous statement was fabricated by the soviet special services for western use. In Russia KGB mostly emphasized Suvorov's disloyalty to the regime and, therefore, his general untrustworthiness and never mentioned "his love of Nazis" as a critical argument. They knew it would never fly in Russia because Russian readers never sensed even a whiff of sympathy toward Nazis in the book. (Majority of people, by the way, doesn't realize how much perception of German fascists in the United States and England differs from that in Europe and Russia). I personally don't see how Suvorov's argument that Stalin killed more people than Hitler (and intended to kill a lot more) makes Hitler a hero. Generations of western intellectuals made careers out of spreading KGB lies, but, unless, of course, you hope to secure a tenured position, there is no need for you to repeat this nonsense. It is shameful. Please, don't do it.

Some reviewers seem to be hung up on BT controversy and such. Icebreaker is full of technical information, and some details may be proven inaccurate by further research. This "bait and switch" trick is used to make people judge the whole book by comparing width of tank treads. Please remember that this book is not about military technology, although it is described in great detail and used often to prove author's position.

There are at least five other successful history books written by Viktor Suvorov where he greatly expands and clarifies some of the main themes of Icebreaker:
1. Day "M": When did WWII begin? (a detailed account of Soviet preparations for the war),
2. The Cleansing (a very convincing explanation for the events known as "senseless decimation of Red Army officer corps before the war"),
3. The Suicide (an interesting exploration of Hitler as military leader and the myth of German readiness for the war in the East),
4. The Last Republic (in depth analysis of the geopolitical plans and intentions of the Soviets between the World Wars),
5. The Shadow of Victory (documents Marshall Zhukov as a monstrous war criminal that he really was).
As of now, I have not been able to find any indication of these books published in English.

Currently there is only one used copy of Icebreaker available for $450, and none of Suvorov's other history books are available in English translation. The content of Icebreaker alone is not sufficient to explain this virtual prohibition of the book, which is a very unusual and extraordinary measure for a modern western society. There is no question that Icebreaker is a controversial book: the whole libraries of western historical analysis of WWII are shown as garbage. Still, this is not enough. The explanation may be that the book gives detailed description of the process used by the professionals to analyze political and historical events using widely available, open-source information: Icebreaker is written as an intelligence report and presents a clear application of the intelligence analytical process. This book may teach you how to think. Now, that is dangerous. Combine it with the powerful anti-communist thrust of this book, and... Oh, well, some things cannot be permitted.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't beleive how brainwashed we all were..., April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War? (Hardcover)

It's a must read. After reading this book you will alwaysquestion official propaganda. I read it a year ago and still shake myhead in disbelief. 50 years from this will be the accepted history ofWWII. But it will take another 50 years to clear the lies we were all told for so long.END

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent debate-starter, January 23, 2002

By 

Ilya Dashevsky (Kaiserslautern, Germany (with US Army)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War? (Hardcover)

This book might appear rather sensationalistic and some facts might be somewhat "sanitized. Additionally I'm still not convinced that the USSR was preempted by Nazi Germany by only two weeks. Nevertheless, the book provides the only logical explanation to one question: "If USSR did nothing but prepared itself for war for and a half decades preceding 1941 then how come the war began with a series of such horrific disasters?
In my view, the main merit of this book is in its clear illustration of the linkage between the Soviet state ideology and National Military Strategy on one side and the Red Army's equipment choices and training priorities on the other.

It is a peaty that this book is out of print in the States. It is an eye-opener and what is even more important, inspite of its shortcomings it is a real catalist for generating a meaningful debate on true origins of WWII.