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Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943

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This book by noted writer Antony Beevor joins three others that are essential English language "classics" on Stalingrad. These important books are John Erickson's "The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin's War with Germany" and Joel Hayward's "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East 1942-1943" and Earl Ziemke and Magna Bauer's "Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East".

Beevor has used all three and produced a work that is the least academic but arguably most exciting of all. He has also used Manfred Kehrig's "Stalingrad: Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht"which is not available in English --- sadly.

Beevor also uses the latest research on the Soviets, including the books by David Glantz. He paid researchers to translate unpublished Soviet documents, which also enrich his text.

The book is clearly an excellent overview of the efforts put into winning at Stalingrad by both sides. As scholars have noted in learned articles, Beevor ignores airpower and only deals sketchily with strategy, but his narrative of the human experience of warfare is more than compensatory.

I first read this book during the summer of 1999 and had never heard of the author beforehand. I took to him immediately and experienced considerable difficulty putting Stalingrad down. I usually read three or four books at a time but could not with Stalingrad as it became my sole concern until it was finished. Beevor makes use of outstanding primary source materials and his narrative technique makes one feel as if you have secret access to the innermost recesses of the minds of Chuikov, Paulus, Zhukov, von Manstein, and, of course, Hitler and Stalin. It reminded me of the old PBS documentary,
"Battleground" for the way in which it flowed. Buy it,I guarantee you won't regret it.

This subject has inspired a good deal of writing, including several one volume works. Beevor's is probably the best. Based on an extensive review of the prior literature, original archival research, and interviews, Beevor has produced a very readable overview of the battle of Stalingrad. Beevor is a very good writer who integrates telling anecdotes seamlessly into narrative giving the gist of situations. He sets the stage well with astute chapters on the Eastern Front conflict up to Stalingrad and does an excellent job of describing both the command level decisions and the essential horrors of combat in Stalingrad. Many aspects covered well in this volume, such as the roles of the NKVD and Soviet deserters, are not dealt with well in other volumes. This is not a blow by blow account of the campaign and may disappoint some readers who expect highly traditional detailed military history. Beevor's judgements are dispassionate, humane, and backed by careful consideration of the evidence. My only criticism is that the book would have benefited from more maps with better detail.

Several months ago, I reviewed (5 stars) a novel entitled WAR OF THE RATS, ostensibly based on the factual battlefield achievements of the real-life, Soviet Army master sniper, Vasily Zaitsev, during the German siege of Stalingrad during World War II. Wishing to learn more about this horrific struggle, I sought out this book, STALINGRAD, a narrative history of the fight authored by Antony Beevor.

STALINGRAD begins, as it must, on June 21, 1941 with the launching of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union by three Army Groups - North, Center and South. Beevor first summarizes from a wide perspective Army Group Center's attack on, and repulse from, Moscow, and Army Group South's surge towards the Volga River and the Caucasus Mountains. Then, the focus is narrowed onto the Sixth Army's and Fourth Panzer Army's drive to Stalingrad and the Volga in the summer of `42. The last three-quarters of the volume then limits itself to the Stalingrad siege, the Soviet counterattack on, and encirclement of, the Sixth and Fourth Panzer armies, their subsequent subjugation, and, finally, the fate of the 91,000 Germans taken prisoner. The main characters of the drama are all brought onto the stage: Hitler, Paulus, Schmidt, von Richthofen, Stalin, Zhukov, Yeremenko, Chuikov, and Rokossovsky.

This is a very reader-friendly account for the simple reason that the author supplies enough information, including maps, to keep the narrative moving along without getting bogged down in the minutiae of minor troop movements and a superabundance of unit designations. He's also included (in the paperback edition) two adequate sections of photographs - always a much appreciated touch. The volume met, if not exceeded, my expectations, and I learned a lot.

During the Siege, there was desperate heroism on both sides. But, it was also war at its most brutal in ways too many to recount. I shall finish with two excerpts, both regarding war prisoners, first from the Russian viewpoint, then the German.

" `When the (German) retreat started on 20 November, we (Soviet POWs) were put instead of horses to drag the carts loaded with ammunition and food. Those prisoners who could not drag the carts as quickly as the Feldwebel wanted were shot on the spot. In this way we were forced to pull the carts for four days, almost without any rest.' "

"Anger at the (prison camp) conditions led to (German) prisoners scraping handfuls of lice off their own bodies and throwing them at their (Soviet) guards. Such protests provoked summary execution."

I've just finished reading Joel Hayward's book on the air war at Stalingrad, so now, having also read Antony Beevor's book, which concentrates on the army side of things, I think I've read the two best books. Beevor's book isn't as good as Hayward's on strategic and operational level matters, but has more on the tactics and low-level experiences. That's why this book is the perfect partner to Hayward's (and Erickson's, of course). Beevor actually deals with civilians at Stalingrad too, and his sections on ordinary peasants and city citizens are very moving. I felt like weeping at their suffering. The book covers both sides, and while the Soviets are always presented more favourably by Beevor than the Germans, he does point out something we must not forget: it was the Germans who were the aggressors at Stalingrad. This is a stunning moving book.

If you want to read about higher strategy this is not the book for you. And If you want to learn about the Luftwaffe's failure to win the Battle of Stalingrad and then keep 6th army alive you'll have to look elsewhere. Where should you look? At Joel Hayward's definitive, excellent STOPPED AT STALINGRAD: THE LUFTWAFFE AND HITLER'S DEFEAT IN THE EAST. But if you want to learn about the suffering of ordinary ground troops on both sides THIS IS THE RIGHT BOOK! Read Hayward and Beevor together and you've got the whole picture. It a grim, miserable but poignant picture. Stalingrad is what happens when the poor recruits of two evil tyrants square off and are not allowed to retreat 'even one inch'.

Having read many works concerning Stalingrad, I suspect that we may be approaching the point where a definitive, detailed, multi-volume history of the great battle could be possible. Indeed, this should probably be attempted before the surviving veterans all pass on. That being said, this is a very acceptable single volume account of the Stalingrad campaign. It compares favorably with Craig's work, _Enemy at the Gates_.

One of the strengths of Beevor's work is his view of the Russian side of the struggle. This is attained through access to now available Soviet archives. It is also attained through the greater willingness of Russian veterans to speak of their experiences without the distorting rhetoric often associated with The Great Patriotic War. The candid discussion of desertion and outright collaboration on the part of some Russian soldiers forms one of the most interesting aspects of this book. Likewise, the fate of approximately 85,000 German soldiers who entered Soviet captivity never to return is treated with even greater detail than that revealed by Craig. Again, I suspect that Beevor enjoyed access to records-- and candor-- that Craig and earlier writers did not.

While I do not completely agree with all of Beevor's conclusions, he makes a convincing case for the primary responsibility of Paulus for the destruction of the Sixth Army through failure to maintain an uncommitted panzer reserve in the late fall of 1942. This failure on the part of a commander is too often ignored in works which blame the destruction of the Sixth Army on Hitler's "stand fast" order and von Manstein's failure to send a "breakout" order.

Students of the campaign should add this volume to their library.

Beevor gives the big picture view of the Battle of Stalingrad. I have read many books of World War II battles, and this is the first that really described the tragedy of what common soldiers go through. It also gave a good look at the Russian and German armies and their commanders. Beevor gives a big picture view of the battle by showing the policies of Stalin and decisions by the generals, but also brings his focus on what the soldiers were going through. Beevor also gives us a look at the brutality of Stalin and Hitler. My only problem is that it would have been nice to have more situation maps detailing the events (military unit maneuvers) in the book. Other than that it is an excellent read.

I've read several accounts of Stalingrad and for me this was the best. Beevor gives you the necessary strategic events and context, but his main purpose is to present the battle from the grunts' view and he succeeds marvelously. His description, for example, of the first encounter and conversations between Germans and Russians when the latter arrive ostensibly to seek the Sixth Army's surrender was memorable. I was also impressed with his research into the anti-Stalinst Russians who fought with the Germans (the "Hiwis"); this was the most extensive coverage I've seen of that issue. Finally, Beevor completes his work with a account of the sad fate of the German prisoners, most of whom succomb to disease and starvation, while their officers, given something akin to VIP treatment by the Soviets, bicker over trivialities like possession of eating utensils.

In short, I really enjoyed this book (if that's the right word for such a horrendous tragedy as Stalingrad) because of the authors' concentration on the fate of the individuals involved. You can get the strategic and military analysis elsewhere, but for a close look at what it all was like for the soldiers on the ground on each side, I highly recommend this book.

Any WWII history buff will love this book. As many reviews state, it is thoroughly researched, and yet it reads like an action-packed novel. 'Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege' has however affected me more deeply than have many other books on similar subjects. Having lived throughout Germany, Poland and (at the time of writing) Russia - and having loved the people in all these countries - I have never understood how the war on the Eastern Front could have deteriorated as it did into a merciless war of genocide and annihilation. Probably, I never will, but however close I come to gaining such an understanding will surely be largely thanks to Beevor. This book gives an incredible, if horrifying, account of the Nazis' virtual rape of the USSR, and of the Wehrmacht's amoral and cowardly toleration as such devastation went on in their wake. And reading this book gave me a new kind of perspective: People may judge the Red Army's apparently low respect for Soviet lives all they like, but when facing a frightfully powerful and indoctrinated enemy that was bent on nothing less than the complete obliteration of the Slavic peoples, perhaps the only thing for it was to retaliate with greater determination and fundamentalism. Also we may deplore the USSR's later acts of vengeance on the German peoples, but if it doesn't excuse or condone it, Beevor's book convinced me of just how certainly Germany could have expected this after their conduct. It is a tremendous lesson for all off us, not so much to avoid wars (as history almost points to their inevitability), but to avoid the kinds of mass-hatred and ideology that can lead to wars of the worst kind. Antony Beevor gives a highly sensitive account of this most horrible and desperate piece of history, both from a Soviet perspective, as well as from a German / German-Allied perspective. He reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to read about such horrors from the comforts of a warm bed.