Marshal of Victory: The Autobiography of General Georgy Zhukov Kindle Edition

One of the best book about world war II in eastern front, from the best general in the world.

This is an excellent book about the soviet experience during World War II. Perhaps unsurprisingly, In this book, Zhukov comes across as a much more likeable person than the bullying careerist portrayed in other accounts. As the editor of the volume points out, this probably stems from the fact that Zhukov wrote the book after the viscitudes of fate had raised him up and cast him down a few times after his triumphs during the war.

There is lots of good information in the book about almost all of the major operations in the war, along with personal anecdotes, insights about personalities, etc. I also found the portions of the book about his upbringing and postwar fate to be very interesting.
Finally, at least until the last couple of chapters, the level of propagandizing is fairly minimal--while Zhukov often praises the communist party for its role during the war, most of it seems sincere rather than forced by censors. And zhukov's attitudes toward the western allies and their war efforts seem to be a common russian perspective about these issues, even today.

Overall a highly recommended read for those interested in the russian front.

Item isn't "Used". It is completely NEW and arrived on time. Very happy with the purchase. Thank you!

Marshall Zhukov writes in painstaking detail, and I do mean painstaking, how the red army was able to amass large concentrations of men and equipment underneath the German army's collective nose, totally undetected and launch attacks at key moments in the war to defeat them. His writing style can be dry because he details such basics as the weight of fuel and ammunition required for such efforts as well as the difference between effective vs. ineffective artillery barrages. Well-prepared attacks succeed, poorly prepared attacks fail. He gives many examples of both kinds of attacks, hence my title, warfare explained. His purpose is to show that the Russians didn't spring up out of the mud in endless numbers; it just seemed that way to the Germans who were consistently unprepared for them. This is not meant to be a comprehensive book on the eastern front but a rebuttal of sorts to the German generals who had written their own memoirs as well as an opportunity to explain the workings of the Soviet high command. It is good to already be familiar with the basics of the eastern front before reading this book, for that I’d recommend Glantz’s book, ‘When Titan’s Clashed’.

Zhukov is open about numerous mistakes made by Russian leadership (including his own) during the war. The parts of the book that I liked the most were when he would do a post mortem analysis of a battle and then reflect on what went wrong and how they could have done better and what general lesson could be learned from the experience. Unfortunately you have to suffer through too many tributes to socialism to get to those moments. He was not self-promoting at all, was never defensive about his errors, and always emphasized collaboration in the war effort.

This book does have its dramatic moments, I will comment on my review to provide some more details that I consider noteworthy. I gave the book 4 stars because you can tell there was censorship, I cannot overlook the total lack of mention about the purges and only one passing reference to war time execution of generals. Since this book is about the Red army's command performance, I consider this omission unpardonable so he gets a demerit here. I would think that purges and execution would have a serious effect on officers and I would have been very interested to hear what Marshal Zhukov thought on the matter and how it affected him.

The editors say this work went to Soviet censors several times. It reads that way. He loved everyone and everyone loves Lenin..

To the Dust bin of History. Just read Stalingrad--it's here on Amazon. That was a great book.

Excellent book

great book fast ship just as described

This new printing of G. Zhukov's Reminiscences and Reflections was made under the direction of Geoffrey Roberts, author of Stalin’s Wars and Stalin’s General. The text is an offset reproduction of the 1985 English translation (many hands) of the official 1974 edition made by Progress Publisher, the official Soviet English language publishing house. The book is 6 ½ ‘by 9 ½ ‘and the typeface of Zhukov’s text is large and clear. The Soviet maps are retained; a few of the more personal photograph are included.

Zhukov’s memoir has the strengths and weakness of the system he so well served. The individual fades into the collective in theory but in practice the collective seems to oversees failures and the individual (Zhukov) manages successes. Equally interesting, the relations of Zhukov to the “Boss” (Stalin) develop as a complex counter point to operational events. While Zhukov’s book may not be the whole story, it is a revealing view of the Eastern Front from the Soviet side.

Geoffrey Roberts also supplies an introduction that details the development of Zhukov’s book. There was a lengthy period when Zhukov tried to get his memoirs published and then there was an extensive editing process by the Soviet publisher. When the Soviet system disappeared, these cuts became available and the question arises, what is the “real” book? For many reasons, Roberts decided that the final 1985 official Soviet version represents the best text. However, he itemizes the cuts in his introduction and he adds two of Zhukov’s writings that the general wrote for “the desk drawer”. These are presented as appendences: “Briefly about Stalin” and “After the Dearth of Stalin”. The “Briefly” text describes in some detail interactions with Stalin during a time of crises and “After the Death” describes Zhukov’s involvement in the center of the Soviet government when Stalin died.
All in all, this is an important book about the Great Patriotic War.