Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the more readable accounts of the great battle, March 12, 1998
By A Customer
As a by-product of the Cold War, the subject of the Second World War as fought in Russia has been largely ignored, but the Battle of Stalingrad was so decisive, and so horrendous, that even general histories of the war cannot ignore it. The battle was fought out from August, 1942, until the surrender of the German 6th Army on January 31, 1943. Much of the fighting took place in the ruins of the city, which came to be known as, "Verdun on the Volga," among the German troops, and as, "the mass grave of the Wehrmacht," to the Soviet press. Today, the city of Stalingrad (subsequently re-named Volgograd after Stalin's official reduction in status in the Soviet pantheon), is rightly a shrine to Russian sacrifice, heroism and tenacity as well as a memorial to the thousands of soldiers and civilians who died there. William Craig's account of the battle is one of the better, more readable histories of the epic of Stalingrad. Craig masterfully weaves eyewitness accounts to put a human face on a campaign and battle of such immense scope and horror that many other writers have failed to adequately compass the subject. This book treats the decisive battle of the Second World War in Europe with the dispassion necessary to form a solid appraisal of where the errors were made by the rival commanders. In this sense, Craig avoids the pat answer of blaming Adolf Hitler entirely for the catastrophic loss of the 6th Army after it was encircled but could still break out. Craig is one of the few authors who deals candidly and fairly with the plight of the Rumanian and Italian armies shattered in the encirclement battle. _Enemy at the Gates_ personalizes the battle with a montage of memories from the participants. Craig's effort is compelling, readable and very effective. Read in conjunction with such works as, _Last Letters from Stalingrad_, and Heinz Schroter's, _Stalingrad_, Craig's work fills out the gap in the historical lexicon of the Second World War.
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96 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting book, despite..., August 5, 2001
This is a book to read if you want to get a sense of the scope, intensity and human drama of the incredible battle between German and Russian armies on the banks of Volga. It was one of the most important battles of the WWII (if not the most important). It demonstrated the incredible heroism of both the Germans and the Russians. It also showed that Hitler made a mistake of underestimating ability of Stalin to regain control and learn from mistakes of disastrous summer of 1941 and determination of Russians to fight for each building in Stalingrad.Written by the American author, the book for the most part describes events from the German point of view. I am Russian and admittedly it is not easy to stay totally objective about an account with slight pro-Axis slant, but I am interested in Stalingrad battle and have read some other books on the subject. I also been to Stalingrad (now city of Volgograd) myself, and my main criticism is this: Mr. Craig, despite the fact that he spent five years researching for this book, unfortunately didn't quite familiarize himself with some aspects of Russian life and culture. I don't know, may be he didn't have an opportunity...But that would have made his book more balanced and more readable for the Russian audience. For example, "Kazakhs" on page 321 aren't "Kazakhs" but Cossacks. There were no "Kazakhs" living on river Don, only Cossacks. Kazakhs live in Kazakhstan. These are two different peoples. "Kaytusha" throughout the text of the book is misspelled; it is really "Katjusha" - a Russian rocket launcher. I was surprised that it was misspelled, since it was not only famous Russian weapon of war, but also a woman's name, derivative of Katja (Russian for Katie). It would be equivalent for a Russian author to call German tank "Mark" as "Mrak". Another example - on page 283 Mr. Craig assumes that December 24th was a Christmas Eve for both Germans and Russians. Close, but no cigar...The Christmas in Russia is celebrated due to Christian Orthodox tradition on January 7th, hence the Christmas Eve is January 6th. But during Communist times it was prohibited anyway. Perhaps as a result of the author's lack of firm grasp of Russia's cultural context, the Russians in a book depicted a little bit like caricatures (despite the author's effort to do otherwise). Germans are more believable, better developed and likeable. To summarize, despite the fact that I thought the book was good, I have encountered many errors about the Russians that it made the book less enjoyable to read and sometimes even a little annoying. Otherwise the book is well written. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history of WWII, military history, and German or Russian history.
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39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The movie should have been based on this book!, January 31, 2001
"Enemy at the Gates" is out of print, but it shouldn't be a problem to locate a copy at a library. It is worth the trouble! This was the first book to put a human face on the Battle of Stalingrad. Because the account was compiled from interviews and memoirs of participants, the book often reads like an exciting novel. In this respect, it closely resembles Andrew Tully's or Cornelius Ryan's accounts of the Battle of Berlin. When I learned of the upcoming film "Enemy at the Gates", I was ecstatic to think that this excellent book would at long last come to the big screen! Alas, only the title is taken from "Enemy at the Gates" -- the screenplay is based on David Robbins' novel "War of the Rats". The movie's focus will be on the historically dubious sniper battle and the hysterically bogus romantic interest. What a pity. For the real flavor of Stalingrad, get the real "Enemy at the Gates" and Antony Beevor's "Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege".
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